Soon, Slack might let you call Microsoft Teams' users
As remote working continues to grow due to the coronavirus pandemic, work communication platforms Slack and Microsoft Teams are doing everything possible to give the best experience to their increasing user-base. Just recently, Teams launched a bunch of new features, and now, in a rather surprising move, Slack has said it is working on a way to allow calling with Teams' users. Here's more.
Integration to call users on Teams
Slack and Microsoft Teams have long dominated as arch-rivals in the work chat space. However, during a recent call with RBC analyst Alex Zurkin, Slack CEO Stewart Butterfield said, "We're working on Teams integrations for calling features." The remark, first reported by CNBC, clearly indicates that Slack may eventually offer the ability to let users call (audio/video) those using Teams, directly.
No other details were revealed by Butterfield
While the statement from Butterfield shows Slack's intention to ditch the rivalry for mutual growth and helping as many users as possible during this crisis, there is no word on how the said Teams integration would work. Previously, Slack had integrated Microsoft apps like OneDrive using the Redmond giant's public APIs, but in this case, the two companies may have to collaborate more closely.
Release timeline is also unclear
Apart from questions over basic working, there is also no clarity on when the new calling feature would be introduced for Slack users around the world. So far, the companies have not officially commented on the matter or confirmed that they are working together to bring this capability to life. Either way, if that happens, users of both platforms would certainly welcome the upgrade.
How cross platform calling would be useful
The ability to call Teams' users from Slack would help in many ways. For instance, you can communicate with your former colleagues who joined a different branch of the company where Teams is being used.
Microsoft Teams recently surpassed Slack in terms of user-base
Despite launching more than three years after Slack in late 2016, Microsoft Teams has been able to match, even surpass, the former. According to fresh numbers, Teams' usage has soared to a whopping 44 million daily active users (DAUs) due to the surge in remote workers lately. Meanwhile, Slack recently revealed it had raked in a record 12.5 million concurrent users.
