On June 6, Slack added the ability to place voice calls directly from Slack, without needing to add a 3rd party integration. 1:1 calls are available to everyone, and team calls of up to 15 people are available for paid plans. This is just voice calls, video chat and screen sharing are not yet available.
This is a good move for Slack, as this starts their customers down the path of needing one less integration. As highlighted in my report "Why Your Organization Should Buy a Collaboration Platform Instead of a Best-of-Breed Solution” , the more core functionality a software vendor provides the better, as it results in a simpler, more consistent, and more secure environment.
The group chat market is a very competitive one, and while Slack gets a majority of the media attention, several of their competitors also offer voice integration, and some offer features Slack does not yet have.
In the video below I show how the new voice calling feature works, and share my thoughts on the points mentioned above.
I'd love to hear your feedback on this new feature, Slack in general, or any of their competitors that you are using.
