Post the introduction of voice calling to the enterprise chat app Slack earlier this year, there was just one lingering question on everyone’s mind. When will Slack introduce video calling to make the platform even more productive for team meetings and discussions? Well, your prayers have finally been answered.
The company is today adding one of the most-requested features in the form of video call functionality to their already robust offering. This make will make it ten times easier for teams to connect right within their workflow, without having to rely on third-party integrations from Google Hangouts or Skype. This move is most likely aimed at killing the dependency of professionals on other messaging services. Talking about the addition of this feature to the Slack client, the official blog post mentions:
Teams have used the phone icon to make calls across the office and around the world. Now this handy button does even more: one-to-one and group video calling.
To initiate a video call on Slack, you just need to tap the familiar phone call button inside the chat window. Once you push this to start the voice call, you can tap the new camera button within the calling window to enable video in that conversation. Anyone can start a one-on-one video call but paid users can connect as many as 15 people at once to hold important team meetings on the fly.
Though video calling isn’t exactly a differentiating feature to add at this instant but this is Slack we’re talking about. So, the company has now ported over its emoji reactions to video as well. Users in a video call have the option to send emoji responses that elicit any of the following responses:
Video calling also includes the calls emoji response feature, so without having to unmute, you can use a ✋ to ask a question, add a ? to show your approval, or ? to thank people for a job well done. These reactions, along with a few others, will display briefly over your video and play a subtle sound.
The video calling feature has currently only been launched for the web client on Mac, Windows, and Chrome but Slack plans to release the same to desktop users in the ‘next few days.’ There is currently no word on the functionality being added to mobile but the company will most likely keep the client updated and ubiquitous across platforms. This will now make a major dent in other rival services, especially the most recent addition to the enterprise scene — Facebook Workplace.
