Navigating the enterprise messaging market - why and how to choose the best fit for your business needs

Companies looking for a messaging solution are spoilt for choice - how to choose the right one?

In the world of business communication technology, we've certainly come a long way. The days of slow, noisy fax machines and landline telephones are now largely a distant memory. In the last decade or so, we've seen the relatively modern technology of emails fall short as an even newer mode of communication, enterprise instant messaging platforms, continue to rise.

According to Gartner, the number of consumers using messaging apps and personal assistant apps is growing. The company found that 35 per cent of over 3,000 respondents used virtual personal assistants (VPAs) in 2016, up by four percentage points from 2015. They also found that 71 per cent of respondents used messaging apps, up three percentage points from 2015.

These figures are supported by Flock's own user surveys. Since 2014, our users have reported reducing in-person meetings by 60-70 per cent, email traffic by 50-70 per cent and an increase in internal knowledge sharing by a quoted 200 per cent - demonstrating the increased demand for enterprise messaging services to not only streamline communications, but also to boost team productivity.

More than 5 million people actively use team messaging services and platforms across the world today, and I believe that in 10 years' time, that figure won't be far off the 1 billion mark.

With such a high demand for software and services that support this growing business necessity, the market for these messengers is quickly becoming saturated. There are already so many established players, and new ones are being launched every month; from Slack, Microsoft Teams, Stride, Flock, Facebook for Work and Skype for Business to new enterprise messengers from international names like Amazon's Anytime.

In such a crowded marketplace, what should one be looking for in a good enterprise messenger?

Moving forward, the most obvious focus is on newer technologies in the domain, such as artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning. It's no surprise that many enterprise messaging platforms are increasingly differentiating themselves by making use of these new technologies.

Some of the bigger players in the game are already taking note of these developments and are stepping up their game. Apple has announced the launch of Apple Business Chat for next year and Google's RCS business messaging standard, Google Jibe, is also poised ready to take the market. So, it's fair to say that the enterprise messaging space is heating up.

I expect that AI, and similar technologies such as virtual reality (VR) and the Internet of Things (IoT), will completely revolutionise the way we work, communicate and administer our business lives. How so? Take scheduling a meeting. In today's world, this typically involves emails and phone calls and back-and-forth to find a suitable time and place; then there's the nightmare of repeating the process if one of you has something urgent to attend to. With AI, that headache will be a thing of the past. AI can check calendars, room availability and potential diversions in a matter of seconds - and make recommendations for you based on your business needs. Take that up a level to AR and finding a room won't even be necessary. International team communication will be intensely streamlined, and time will be saved. These advancements will make global businesses more connected, robust and able to deliver on their goals.

These technologies have an integral role to play in the future of office work and there are many more exciting things to come from this space. Sooner or later, the only tasks that will remain as exclusively human ones will be those that require more strategic, decision-making levels of thinking. These are the types of tasks that only a human can provide context for and that will still require human-to-human communication - whether face-to-face or through a platform.

While it's important to look for apps that incorporate these technologies, it's equally important to choose a tool that lets you bring all your workflows and conversations into one single place. This will be even better if the app lets users create customised functions specific to their business' unique needs and goals as part of the app.

Ultimately, workplace instant messaging and productivity tools should make workers' lives simpler on a daily basis.

Bhavin Turakhia is the founder and CEO of Flock - a real-time messaging and collaboration app for teams. A startup evangelist, Bhavin has over 19 years of experience in the sector, and has founded 11 companies to date.