Slack is adding a ton of new features to its repertoire, including a few that you actually asked for. Most of these new features aim to emulate the in-person work environment (but really just emulate Discord), while others bring straightforward improvements to the Slack interface. Here’s a rundown.
Slack Huddles: Always-Open Audio Chatrooms
Slack
Here’s my pitch for Slack Huddles—it’s like Discord, or Clubhouse, or the voice chat thing that Twitter is trying to do. Basically, Slack Huddles is an always-available audio chatroom. Employees can come or go at any time, allowing you to hash things out with your coworkers and bypass the time-consuming Zoom call.
Huddles includes options for video chat and screen sharing, though it’s really an audio-first feature. It could come in handy when you need to round up the gang for a quick brainstorm, and although I’m poking fun at it, Huddles does seem like a genuinely useful feature.
Slack says that Huddles is currently rolling out to paid teams. Depending on how long its rollout takes, you might need to wait awhile before hosting your first Slack huddle.
Video, Voice, and Screen Recordings: Skip the Typing
Slack
Sometimes, you need to express your feelings without the awkward barrier of text-based chat. That’s why Slack now allows you to record video or audio messages for your coworkers. Just press the camera icon in the message field, choose an audio or video message, and hit the ground running.
Oddly enough, this new audio and video messaging feature includes a built-in screen recorder. You can quickly record something on your screen to show coworkers, such as a broken webpage or a few slides from a PowerPoint presentation.
But the best part of this feature is actually Slack’s improved playback software. You can speed up or slow down any video dropped into Slack, or check automatically generated transcripts (which are keyword-searchable and archived for posterity).
Voice, video and screen recordings are coming to paid teams over the coming months.
Slack Atlas: Detailed Info on Employee’s Roles
Slack
Joining a new Slack team can be incredibly confusing, especially when you’re still learning everybody’s role in the company. Slack Atlas adds extra details to everyone’s profile, including a company hierarchy tree, so you can quickly understand who’s who.
Unfortunately, Atlas is an additional purchase that’s only offered to select Business+ and Enterprise Grid customers.
Slack Scheduled Messages: FINALLY!
Slack
Announced earlier this month, Slack is finally rolling out its long-awaited Scheduled Messages feature. Yes, you can type out a message, set a date and time for it to send, and schedule the dang thing. You can even use Scheduled Messages to send out photos, videos, or screen recordings—whatever your heart desires!
Scheduled Messages is rolling out for all Slack teams, not just the paid ones. You can access it from the expandable toolbar next to the Send Message button.
