Slack Reviews

I appreciate the ability to create multiple private or open channels.

• The ability to create ad hoc channels for certain projects has made us more effective.
• The mobile app allows us to communicate on the go, which saves time as well.
• Onboarding new users is easy thanks to Slack's great UI.

There seems to be several minutes of delay between getting notifications on the Mac OS app and then receiving them on the iPhone app.

I’ve been using Slack for over a year.

We haven't really had any stability issues.

The product works very well. I haven't personally had the need to contact Slack's support. I did have a question about using Slack several months ago which I posted on Twitter. Their Twitter support team was very responsive and helpful.

We used Skype before Slack. We switched because Slack offered:

• The ability to create multiple channels
• A more user friendly interface
• The ability to keep us more organized and effective

I would recommend considering staying on the free version. It does limit you in terms of the history of communication and storage, but I think that these problems can be worth overcoming. This is the case especially if you are a smaller team or a startup that needs to watch where you spend your dollars.

We decided to just test Slack out first with no intentions to switch from Skype. However, the whole team fell in love with the product. At this current moment, we are experimenting with Workplace though.

Once you sign up, try keeping things clean by creating multiple channels. This will ensure that individual conversations are relevant and that the team does not get distracted by unnecessary chatter.

The ability to create separate channels is valuable.

For projects, it's improved how we share files. The Google Drive extension means that files can be housed right inside of Slack. We can focus on work without distractions.

Microsoft and Google are creating competitive equivalents. Slack needs to find a "secret sauce" that can differentiate them further.

I have used Slack on and off for the past few years. I use it with some side projects.

We have not had any stability issues.

We have not had any scalability issues.

We did not have a previous solution.

The initial installation was not at all complex. It was very WYSIWYG.

I use the free version.

We did not evaluate any alternatives.

It comes right out of the box. Start exploring!

Direct messaging and having conversations in channels. I love the channels feature, because it allows you to sort conversations. The only people who will see those conversations are people who are interested in that channel or are part of that initiative/project.

We have slashed our internal emails by 30% and streamlined the tools we use for instant messaging.

The profile feature needs improvement. There is little room to add details to this section. It would be nice to be able to add more links or have other ways to connect in this section.

The ability to flesh out the Profile section in Slack by including links
to multiple social channels, a beefier bio and a link to a website would
be helpful for communities using Slack. This feature may not be as
necessary for teams using Slack as an internal communication tool, but
it would encourage them to follow each on other social channels and
potentially spark more engagement across channels.

I have been using Slack for just over a year.

We have not had stability problems.

We did have scalability issues. If you are on the free plan, you are only allowed 10,000 messages before everything is archived. This is a big problem for an alumni group which I am a member of that uses Slack.

Our messages are archived every two weeks, which makes it challenging to search for former conversations.

The price of using Slack would be $30,000/year for that community, which I think is quite steep.

I've never used technical support.

I used Skype for instant messaging and LinkedIn/Facebook groups for community engagement. Skype is clunky and has an outdate user interface.

Slack is slick, smooth, and easy on the eyes.

LinkedIn/Facebook groups are cluttered and distracting. It's too easy for an "oh, shiny" moment to happen on those social platforms.

The setup was straightforward. Slack is great about walking you through the process of setting up channels and inviting people to join.

Stay on the free version and use PaperBot in every Slack channel to "archive" conversations. This helps you work around the problem with 10,000 messages.

We looked at Skype for instant messaging and Discourse for community engagement.

If you're looking for an asynchronous/real-time communications tool, you will not find any app that comes close to Slack.

The feature that is most valuable is the ability to be a part of multiple Slack channels that are all specific to our needs i.e. a product, infrastructure, personal one-on-one, small specific group, feature discussion, IT assistance, company announcements, etc.

The quick line of communication, most certainly improves the functionality of our organization. Discussions can happen at the drop of a hat, in a Slack channel and a critical decision can be agreed upon to take further action. Triage of customer issues can happen at the moment of crisis and this is of huge assistance as to how we can get our product back up and running, when needed.

I'd like the ability to re-organize the channels in my list. You can favorite a channel but you can't organize them in a specific order, that fits your every day use. I'd also improve it's security. It can be breached easier than an email client, so we tend to keep more confidential conversations out of the app.

I have personally used this solution for over two years.

Our Slack bots have issues from time to time. There have been a few times where the app was done but other than that, it has been a solid performer.

There were no issues with the scalability.

I have personally not used technical support for Slack.

We were using Gchat as a source to speak to each other but channel functionality is very important in Slack.

I was not part of the initial setup.

I am sure that other options were evaluated but I was not a part of that decision-making process.

Providing API connections to your bug database and any other database that you use, can give you updates and links inside of a channel, which is a huge help.

• Channel conversations, because it's an easy way to get to a few people or a whole team at the same time.
• Private conversations, because they're simple, convenient and they work!
• Slackbot reminders, because it's a simple way to set a reminder for yourself or a colleague, without messing with calendars.
• Integrations. For instance, thanks to integration of our own application Woodpecker.co with Slack through Zapier, we get notified each time one of our users starts the paying process and each time they complete it. We can actually see the new customers coming on board in real time.
• Slack is just a communicator, no more. It has a narrow set of features focused on team communication. It's simple. I guess that's why it works so well for us.

Everyone's up to date with what's going on in our product development, marketing and sales. We communicate faster and no one has any troubles learning how to use the communicator.

I would like to see if someone has already read my message, but that's just a whim, not really a necessary must-have feature.

We have used the solution for over two years.

We hardly ever had any issues with stability. I remember Slack was only down once over the whole time I've been using it so far.

We haven't yet had any issues with scalability, but our team is quite small with only 17 people at the moment.

In fact, I never felt the need to contact support, so I have no experience with that, but I guess that's great!

We used a number of solutions which were really only a feature of a bigger product.

The setup was simple for me, but I was joining the team someone else set up.

We're using the free version and some people from our team wish that the message history had not been removed, so if you sometimes need to go back a few months in a conversation, the paid version would be something to consider.

Definitely give Slack a try.

• Seamless integration between devices
• Effective organization of shared content (documents, images, etc.) keeps team on same page
• Syntax highlighting
• Nice overall UX

Slack kept several remote employees working cohesively and seamlessly together, allowing us to more easily synchronize our efforts and work collaboratively rather than "islands unto ourselves," so to speak. Coding, writing, editing, etc. was all done in an effective manner, as a result.

Honestly, I feel like I am nitpicking when I say the UX can be improved. But it is true, incrementally, the UX could see an improvement through extensive tweaking and testing.

I have used it for three years.

We have not encountered any deployment issues; it was very smooth.

Slack has proved to be the most stable communication tool I have used, to date.

We have not encountered any scalability issues; large teams seem to be handled quite well.

I previously used HipChat. The decision was not mine to switch, but I found the switch to be a very positive one. Slack was just more slick, especially with sharing content and keeping a history of it, visible to conversation participants as needed.

• Managing notifications
• Status updates
• Reminders
• Selective involvement in conversations with relevant threads when they are of value
• Avoidance of email clutter
• Bots which enable focused streams of information available in one place for the relevant, interested people
• All kind of integrations: File sharing services, application performance management, incidents and monitoring alerts, which are flexible and easy to develop through an API
• A powerful search through chat history to find references and pieces of information promptly
• Recent threaded comments feature

• Increased productivity avoiding email "chat" and creating space for focused conversations which are topic or action oriented
• Increased visibility and "situational awareness" of people in the team at their own pace (asynchronous), avoiding interruptions
• Increased serendipitous communication and shared thoughts on general channels.

Better ways to help people get up to date when away from a conversation for a long time, or after bursts of a particular discussion.

Slack has different features to follow up on updates when not directly through notifications.

You can use Show Activity to see where you have been mentioned recently.

You can mark items with Stars to follow topics in a kind-of to-do list. And even if you have a granular control on mobile push and email notifications, when you have been away for sometime, or visit the channel from time to time, and there are channels with a lot of activity, you can have some difficulties to go through the new messages since, without risking to confuse important from non-important conversations.

Recent threaded messages help people center around topics, but still where there's people that come to the channel from time to time, they can feel overwhelmed to go through everything since last time.

Some summary feature can help target most heat or important messages or conversations, or some kind of view of the recent messages by "heat" level (kind of the sorting algorithm of Facebook or LinkedIn for the news feeds).

We have been using the solution for one year.

We have not encountered any stability issues. It is a very simple, effective, and stable solution.

We have not encountered any scalability issues.

We never required the technical support.

• Email
• Mailing lists
• Forums
• Internet relay chat
• Wikis

In the cases where it fits best with the team, Slack can be a replacement and enhancement to collaboration, increased productivity, and reduced clutter in email.

The setup is very easy. I was responsible for implementing it. It required a low level of expertise to deploy and administer. It required a medium level to manage integrations and to develop integration over other software towards Slack through its API.

We evaluated HipChat and Yammer.

Microsoft Teams was not out yet, which may suit companies with a Microsoft toolset.

Facebook Workplace wasn't yet available.

Interestingly enough, Slack is even more friendly in all platforms including a native Linux client, and has an excellent browser based version.

Consider the resistance to text based communication of people not used to it and those with a fear of transparent communication who are worried about the saturation of technologies.

Some gamified training can help and advocate in order to guide, moderate, and curate the channels, set some "netiquette", and encourage use and constructive behaviors.

People are getting used more and more used to text based communication through Whatsapp and other apps.

Consider that it has a strong community across the world and that is a powerful source to leverage.

This product is so flexible and powerful that it can be used as:

• Virtual space for teams
• Topic or action based rooms
• A bot answered service channel
• A back channel for events
• A lot other use cases depending on team appetite and creativity

Certainly within the right culture, it will enhance and reduce friction in communication.

The integration with third-party automation services such as IFTTT and Zapier has significantly boosted productivity.

We receive automatic notifications of certain business activities and planned events, instead of having to send out manual emails to disseminate that information.

It has encouraged more transparent communication, getting more staff members exposed to and involved in different areas of the business.

Many of the advanced features and integrations are built with developers in mind. More functionality and integration for other use cases would be welcome.

Slack integrates with bots that automate tasks and add functionality. A large portion of these bots do things specifically to help developers do their jobs, such as accessing code repositories and sharing code with colleagues.

It would be great if there were more bots and third-party integrations that targeted other groups of potential Slack users.

We have been using the solution for 18 months.

We have had no major issues with downtime or with the apps crashing.

We are using the free version, which only keeps a limited number of messages archived. As our team has grown, we go through this archive allotment fairly quickly.

We have not had to use technical support.

We did not previously use a different solution.

The solution was very easy to set up. I created the team through the Slack web site, which automatically invited everyone else via email and instructed them to download the client apps.

The free version can do pretty much everything you need it to. You'll have to pay if you have a large team or if you have specific security and compliance requirements.

We did not evaluate any other products.

Make a significant effort to get user buy-in right from the start.

If people see it as just another system, not a powerful email reducer and productivity booster, adoption will lag.

You really need everyone on the team to be on board for it to succeed. If even one person sticks to email-first communication, it makes everyone else rely more on email, which defeats the purpose of having Slack.