Apps

On-site Team Collaboration & Communication Tools for Event Professionals

Written by Kaylynne Hatch
Buffer

Struggling with walkie talkie range limits, waiting for people to answer their phone or text messages, or just trying to figure out how to keep everything all in one place? Maybe it’s time to drop your headset or ditch the walkie talkies.

After all, it’s 2019 and there are quicker and easier ways to communicate and collaborate with your team while on-site. We’ve rounded up some of the best tools and apps to help you and your team operate as smoothly as possible and stay in communication at all times whether you’re setting up, keeping things running, or tearing down.

Slack – Slack is widely known and used by teams in both B2B and B2C contexts alike and is even being utilized by busy event teams. The app is quickly killing email as teams favor its more chat-like flow, the ability to share media, and better integrations with event management software such as Bizzabo. Even Glisser found a way to hack the application for events management by using 7 channels. Between it’s low cost (the basic level is free indefinitely) and the mobile version of the app (allowing team members to maintain communication while on-the-go), it’s easy to see why Slack is rising in popularity amongst events professionals.

HipChat – If you’re not fond of Slack, you might instead turn to one of its biggest competitors, HipChat. Much like Slack, this app allows teams to have private and group conversations in different ‘rooms’ and integrates with more than 80 other online tools. Many people who prefer HipChat over Slack appreciate its cleaner and more simpler interface and notification system.

Heytell – So you’ve ditched the walkie talkies in favor of using your phone, what app do you look to in order to provide voice communication without making calls? Heytell. Heytell is a cross-platform voice messenger & simple walkie talkie app that is available on all platforms including Android, iOS, and Windows Phone 7 devices. With a superior audio quality (twice the frequency range of a cell phone call) it utilizes less data than sending an email and but is faster than sending a text.

Onyx by Orion Labs – No matter what your team is doing and where they are, they need to stay focused and get work done. Traditional tools like email, voice calls, and texting can steal focus without making it easier to reach co-workers.  Orion Push to Talk provides reliable push-to-talk communication for teams of any size. Use it on the go with a smartphone, or at a desk with a tablet. Set up your Orion groups and business automations in minutes, not days.

Voxer – Voxer is a voice messaging app with live voice text, photo and location sharing. Because voice messages are sent as they’re being recorded, the app effectively turns your phone into a walkie talkie. It can even allow up to 500 team members to participate in voice messaging conversations. And unlike walkie talkies, there are no range restrictions and team members are able to ‘re-listen’ to their messages because they are stored like texts.

Redbooth – The creators of Redbooth describe the app as, “easy-to-use online project management software for creating high-performing teams.” The tool is designed to facilitate better communication and collaboration between team members, so it provides a clean workspace to keep team members on-task and your project moving forward. If you’re looking for a way to quickly and efficiently assign individuals different tasks while you’re on-site, then Redbooth is the tool for you.

Team Tracker – Onsite we spend a lot of time just radioing for location of folks on the team.  Get the real time location information for your teams on the field, chat with individual team members & broadcast important message to the whole team with the Team Tracker app.  No more asking — just consult the map to get everyone’s geolocation.  Great for city-wides!

Next time you’re looking for a better way to communicate with your team on-site, consider for a moment what method of communication works best for you. Do team members typically send a mix of media and text messages? Then perhaps a tool like HipChat or Slack is best. Prefer voice messages or push-to-talk capabilities? Look into Voxer or Heytell. And if you just need a simple way to quickly track tasks as they’re accomplished while you’re moving about the event space, then be sure to take a look at Redbooth.

Featured Image credit: Buster Benson ©2015 under a Creative Commons License

The following two tabs change content below.

Kaylynne Hatch

Editor / Social Media Manager at The Meeting Pool
Kaylynne Hatch is a social media expert and online marketing manager. With a Bachelor of Science in Communications and New Media from the University of Utah and a background in graphic design and entrepreneurship. She has been working in the events and travel industry since 2013.
X