Communication among team members is crucial to an organization’s productivity and success. Despite this, 60% of businesses lack a long-term internal communication strategy.
Poor internal communication can lower morale, impair employee productivity, and increase employee turnover, therefore it’s a perilous position to be in.
Fortunately, there are numerous employee communication solutions available to assist.
They will boost employee happiness and engagement while also reducing email clutter if you use them. However, with so many choices, finding the proper fit for your team can be difficult.
I’ll go over the top internal communication tools in this article to help you select the correct functionality for your needs.
Criteria for comparing team communication software
What factors should I consider when choosing the finest employee communication software?
The following is a list of my evaluation criteria:
User Interface (UI): Employee communication tools will (hopefully) be used by all levels of every department, hence it must prioritise intuitiveness and user appeal.
Usability: Will employees find it simple to use both at work and on the go?
Is onboarding, training, and support effective for all levels of employees?
Integrations: Can the software be easily integrated with the productivity and collaboration tools that employees use on a daily basis? Are there any interfaces with popular workforce apps already in place?
Value for money: Does the pricing make sense per employee for both small and large businesses? Is your price straightforward, transparent, and simple to comprehend?
Key Features of External Communication Software
Direct, instant messaging is a major aspect of today’s communication software, allowing team members to connect one-on-one or in groups.
Employees require clear notifications when they receive messages or when relevant messages are posted in a group.
Users can distribute files by sharing them from the cloud or uploading them from their device.Team members should be able to offer a clear indication of their present availability in status updates.
The activity stream keeps employees informed about communications sent to them individually or in their groups.
Users must be able to search for and easily locate past messages using keywords. Managers can utilise interactive tools like surveys and polls to gather feedback and make informed team decisions.
Access to a company-wide knowledge base avoids repetitive questions and speeds up the process of finding the information needed.
The 10 Best Employee Communication Software Overviews
Here’s a quick rundown of each employee communication Software, including its greatest use case, notable features, and screenshots of the user interface.
1. Empuls – Best for centralized internal communications
Empuls is a digital workplace engagement solution aimed at improving company culture and bringing the entire digital workplace to life. Empuls is used by people leaders to create a culture of appreciation, bring teams together, break down silos, and give every employee a voice. Empuls has features including one-on-one feedback, peer and societal recognition, and a variety of rewards and advantages. Your HR team can focus on strategizing incentives and recognitions instead of being weighed down by operational complications with Empuls. Empuls also allows you to use a social intranet platform to centralise internal communications and inspire staff with a reward of their choice when they do well and exceed expectations. You can also operate incentive programmes that drive business success, link employee recognition programmes with company culture and values, and make recognition easy, frank, sociable, and enjoyable. Real-time feedback can also be used to assess the impact of your employee engagement activities and employee attitude. Empuls works with HRIS, HRMS, and HCM systems, as well as single sign-on technologies.
2. monday.com – Best for employee communication around tasks & projects
Monday.com is primarily marketed as a workflow solution for growing businesses, but it also includes various HR capabilities. They aren’t strictly HR software, but they do cover a lot of the essentials, especially when it comes to internal communications and cooperation (in which they very much excel).
With built-in communication features like commenting, approvals, @-tagging, notifications & alerts, customizable dashboards, a built-in inbox, social media-esc “likes,” and email integration, monday.com can be your day-to-day workflow management tool for deadlines, HR workflows, and resource tracking.
Use their “documents” feature to create collaborative or read-only company manuals, checklists, or wikis for the greatest employee communication functionality. You can also create “request forms” for your staff to use in the platform to report issues or new ideas.
Slack, Google Workspace, Gmail, Jira, GitHub, Trello, Dropbox, Typeform, and many more are among the project management tools available through Monday.com’s Zapier connections.
3. Workvivo – Best communication app for building human connection and emotional commitment between employees and your company
Workvivo is an employee experience software that promotes employee engagement and emotional connections with your company culture, regardless of where they are situated.
Their platform combines a modern intranet, engagement platform, and communications hub into one social networking experience.
Traditional communication services like as corporate news and event updates, as well as SMS push notifications to all employees, are supported by their system. You may also utilise their platform to host live video streaming, such as town hall meetings, to promote leadership transparency by engaging all employees in multimedia interactions. Podcasts, which provide a deeper look into your company culture and have been proved to generate more engagement than typical company newsletters or emails, can be hosted on their system.
Workvivo is compatible with a variety of HR software, including payroll software, Slack, and Microsoft Teams. Workvivo provides customised price information upon request, as well as a free trial via their website.
4. Gmail + Hangouts – Best for those already in the Google ecosystem 
Around its enormously popular Gmail email solution, Google has built a suite of communication and collaboration capabilities. These apps have become the de facto choice for millions of companies throughout the world, thanks to continued investment and innovation. These technologies have proven their worth in a competitive setting, having been built for the cloud and backed by Google’s vast resources.
Google apps are ideal for businesses in need of a free employee communication system. Almost everyone has a Google account and is familiar with basic Google operations like Gmail. The premium Google Workspace solution, on the other hand, may grow with their company, even to the enterprise level.
Almost every workforce app is built to work with Google, therefore this solution rates well in terms of integration possibilities.
5. Staffbase – Best for a mobile-first intranet
Staffbase seeks to alleviate employee communication problems by bringing together disparate teams in different places. This end-to-end internal communications platform aids in the distribution of critical information to employees across a company.
Editors may design, produce, and publish content using the Staffbase Experience Studio, then track its impact. No technical skills are necessary for distributed editors to add local content.
Staffbase is a mobile-first solution that helps big scattered enterprises improve internal communication. To facilitate corporate-wide communications, the employee mobile app interfaces with company intranet software. As a result, frontline team members receive the prompt assistance they require, while management receives precise information and reporting.
6. HubEngage – Best for engagement and deep insights
HubEngage set out to provide employees with a better working environment. The programme allows team members to submit ideas and stories for consideration, as well as distribute information such as news, videos, and documents to employees. Organizations ranging from small hospitals to major worldwide industries use HubEngage.
Gamification features, for example, increase employee connection and engagement while simultaneously offering incentives to perform well. Members of the team can interact with one another through likes, comments, and sharing while earning points and incentives. The programme enables both top-down and bottom-up sharing of company news feeds and other information, as well as employee feedback.
SSO, Microsoft Teams, SharePoint, Workday, ADP, Ultipro, and other similar apps are all supported.
7. Appspace – Best for a simple workplace engagement and productivity tool
Appspace provides employee communication technologies that link all of your employees, regardless of where they work or when they work. The programme seeks to cut through the clutter of emails, chat, and other overburdened communication channels to highlight vital information that employees should be aware of. Updates can be scheduled and shared from anywhere, and urgent and emergency messages can be communicated promptly.
Appspace can be used to send messages to everyone in the organisation using common communication channels. Managers can track the performance of released material and measure and analyse engagement. These insights can then be used to improve retention and generate a stronger communications plan.
Slack, Webex, Microsoft Teams, and other communication systems are all simply integrated with the programme.
8. PeopleONE – Best for comprehensive corporate communications
PeopleONE is a digital workspace software solution aimed at enhancing internal communication. It includes pre-defined features for HR, IT, facilities, and business teams, making it easier to give personalised news, holiday calendars, health information, events, and leadership messages. Content production, authorization, and approval methods are all clearly owned by the software.
PeopleOne distributes corporate news, events, and announcements using Microsoft Office 365’s SharePoint, while the document management system offers access to processes, policies, and procedures. Leaders can also communicate with their employees to offer information, ideas, and perspectives.
PeopleONE comes pre-configured with major email and messaging systems, Office 365, and social media platforms.
9. Cerkl Broadcast – Best for time-sensitive communications
Cerkl assists businesses in streamlining the channels through which they interact and engage with their audiences. Content management, dedicated email, and business insights are among the features. Artificial intelligence is used to ensure that the appropriate message is sent to the appropriate person at the appropriate time.
Managers can use email, texting, or mobile apps to communicate internal content. A central dashboard provides real-time information that can be used to improve communications. Cerkl is being used by companies all around the world to enlighten management and ignite the potential of their staff.
SSO, Slack, Teams, Sharepoint, and other prominent software platforms are all supported by the programme.
10. Happeo – Best channel-based communication
Happeo is a social intranet that attempts to improve employee collaboration and communication. Businesses that employ Google Workspace will benefit from the software.
Happeo promotes employee engagement, two-way interactions, and workflows by combining a social network with a team collaboration platform.
Channels, the digital workspaces where team members connect, interact, and cooperate, are where all employee communication takes place. Channels provide a safe, social space for communicators to share messages, efforts, and likes. Google Workspace, Trello, Slack, and Salesforce are among the Happeo connections.