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AirSend service will reach End of Life (Dec 31, 2022) and is going open source. Please export your channel data (actions, files, wiki, and messages) from AirSend for safekeeping.
July 29, 2020
AirSend Android Updates: Voice/Video Calling, GIF Support, and More!
Month: July 2020
Alright, folks. It’s time for another update to our Android app, AirSend. Our mission is to deliver an app that allows productivity to happen from one space. To do that, we made some slight improvements to our app. Here is what they are:
GIF/image keyboard support
Call Support
Slash Command Integrations
Mute/ unmute channels from the main dashboard
Without further ado, let’s dive into the latest AirSend Android updates!
GIF/Image Keyboard Support
It is self-explanatory on how to work your GIFS and Image through your Android keyboard. Spread a little fun with some GIFs.
Voice, Video and Screen Sharing
AirSend now offers built-in video and audio calling. Join calls by tapping the associated bot message, the dedicated call button, or the call notifications.
Having built-in calling makes collaboration easier. Users can brainstorm new ideas while also taking notes.
Slash Command Integration
Image of AirSend Android slash command
Users have a variety of options with the forward-slash capabilities. With forward-slash, users now have the option to:
Inspire: show an inspiring message to your team
Emote messaging: Ask AirSend Bot to speak in your name
Call
Transfer ownership: transfer ownership of channel to another member
Kick @user: remove a user from the channel
Mute/Unmute: disable and enable all notifications from the current channel.
Join_role/Invitee_role: The channel owner can now set default roles for when users join or are invited to the channel. For joining the channel, the default roles that the owner can establish are collaborators and viewers. For invited users, the default roles that the owner can establish are manager, collaborator, and viewer.
Image of slash command in action with inspiring message
Mute/Unmute Channel Notifications from the Main Dashboard
Image of AirSend Public Channel: The Binge on Mute
From the dashboard view found on the “homepage,” users can mute and unmute all channel notifications. First, click on the three dots located on the right-hand side.
After clicking on the three dots, a set of options will appear. One of them is muting the channel. Click on “mute channel.”
AirSend Channel Options
How to Leave us Feedback
We are always seeking to improve our product, so all feedback is appreciated. To find out where to leave comments and/or suggestions, you can visit our public channel or visit us at our support page.
AirSend is a versatile digital workspace that allows users to share files, send messages, and complete tasks. See how AirSend can help you.
Due to the Coronavirus, there is an increased dependency on communication tools for remote teams. Imagine a company that has multiple teams across the globe. For global teams to work, there needs to be a working communication tool that allows productive conversations. Skype used to be the solution for remote teams.
However, there are rumors that Microsoft will be shutting down Skype as of July 31, 2021. Microsoft’s goal is to encourage people to start using Teams. But, not everyone likes using Teams due to its complexities. To see alternatives to Microsoft Teams, click here.
If you are a person using Skype, there are more holistic alternatives that can deliver more than what you have. To figure out which communication tool is best for your remote teams, we provide a list of alternatives. Here are the five best skype alternatives.
AirSend is a simple communication tool designed for remote teams. Our platform provides built-in:
Conversation spaces
Video and audio calling
Sharing files/notes
Task and Business management
AirSend’s capabilities will allow remote teams to work better and faster. No more distractions, everything is found in one space. Even more notable is that users can also plan and communicate on upcoming projects from multiple devices. Working from any device allows users to constantly stay in the loop without missing a beat.
Furthermore, our user interface carries a sleek and simplistic design. A clean design allows users to view all features needed for a channel, such as writing/tracking notes.
Finally, AirSend can do large file transfers, downloads, and uploads.
Discord is known for its all-in-one voice and text chat. While Discord is originally meant for gamers, they offer a lot of features for a free communication tool. Compared to Skype, Discord offers way more functionality to seamlessly get work done. With Discord, users can
Organize their servers/channels
Install bots and moderator roles
Do basic code
Audio/video calling
However, Discord is originally designed for community building. What this means is that Discord’s features and tools are made for communities. But, if you can get past the community features, which also work great for a team chat setting, then Discord may be a good choice.
Telegram is a cloud-based mobile and desktop messaging app with a focus on security and speed. The selling point to Telegram is that it is available on many of the most widely used platforms. Telegram is also free.
With Telegram, you can send messages, photos, and videos to people who have Telegram, and to those who are in your phone contacts. You can also create groups for up to 200,000 people or channels.
They also have cool features like bots, secret chats, self-destructing messages, and support large files. If you are looking for a free communication tool that carries a lot of features, Telegram may be worth considering.
Though Telegram carries a lot of features, they lack the features and functions for team collaboration. Like WhatsApp, Telegram is made for casual conversation with friends and family.
Zoom is a web-based video conferencing software. Though the platform lacks channel-based functionality, we believe that the video/audio quality is much better than Skype. With Zoom, you can have guest links and scheduled meetings. Additionally, Zoom can house up to 50+ people in a call without any lag. However, Zoom has a 40-minute call limit in the free version.
Tox is a great alternative to Skype. The tool features encryptions and is fairly easy to use. Additionally, the platform supports text, voice, and video chat. They also support screen sharing. One of the main selling points to the tool is that it has zero central servers. This means that the entire network is comprised of the users. This also means no server outages that could disrupt workflow.
Summation
As you can see, each platform carries its pros and cons. However, we believe these tools are currently the five best Skype alternatives. It is all a matter of what you feel would be the perfect team chat software and alternative to Skype.
Several months ago, we wrote a blog post on apps that our distributed marketing team uses. Because it has received much attention, we felt that it is time to do a blog post on apps that our distributed sales team uses. We want to share our list of apps hoping that it might help other sales teams or small businesses like us. We asked what apps our sales team uses, and we broke them down into four categories:
Communication
Email Marketing
Knowledge/File Sharing
Outreach
A sales team’s responsibility is to convert prospects into customers. To understand a problem and to provide a solution. To do so, our sales team uses several different tools to maximize their outreach, have stellar communication, and keep tabs on the latest leads. Here are the apps our sales team uses:
Our sales team uses Salesforce as our CRM. Salesforce needs no introduction. It is the #1 player in the CRM market. Most salespeople are familiar with Salesforce and they know how to use it effectively to connect with customers.
The good: The great thing about Salesforce is that it keeps everything in order. Salesforce keeps everything organized through its task handling. Additionally, Salesforce sales cadence, provide call reminders, email followups, and other tasks on potential clients. Having a sales cadence makes customer reach out easier. Finally, Salesforce offers a clear view of the state of accounts and helps teams forecast sales based on account activity.
The bad: The UI is a bit complex making maneuvering through the app cumbersome. Further, the platform is expensive. Often times, users have to pay for add-ons to get the most out of the software. The cluttered interface makes navigation and simple tasks unnecessarily complex.
A Quote from our Sales Team on Salesforce
Sales cadences are very useful. This way when new leads come in a cadence, it is attached, and based on the cadence it will send you for those tasks. For example, the calling task will appear. You can call them and if they do not answer you just mark complete and it will send the automated email you put in for this cadence and then set the next reminder three days out again to call again.
Skype is a communication platform made by Microsoft Teams. The platform specializes in chat and VoIP between computers, tablets, and mobile devices. Our sales team likes using Skype for its convenient calling system.
The good: Skype is useful for calling phone numbers or hosting quick conference meetings for a quick follow-up.
The bad: Skype does not offer much else other than their calling system. Getting work done can be difficult with Skype.
Youtube is self-explanatory. They are the gold standard for video-sharing. Our sales team likes to use YouTube to stay in the loop on competitive products. YouTube Music is also a particular favorite among our team. Listening to music improves focus.
The good: YouTube is a great platform to learn about competitive products.
Like SalesForce, Calendly is another tool our sales team uses heavily. Calednly is an easy-to-use scheduling tool. It eliminates the old-school way of using email and phone tags for scheduling appointments.
The good: It is easy to schedule and organize appointments. Calendly also has a user-friendly interface, syncs with Google calendar, and marks available times for meetings.
The bad: The platform is basic, and has a ton of email reminders.
AirSend is an all-in-one collaboration tool. Our platfrom features all the essentials we need in contrast to tools like Slack. Our teams use AirSend to carry meetings with our newly built-in audio/video calling, track and manage notes, organize files, and keep track of tasks.
The good: the clean, clutter-free UI is excellent compared to platforms that carry a busy UI design. Having built-in essentials makes it easier to collaborate with teams and clients.
The bad: Currently, AirSend does not have many integrations as our competitors.
For webinars and video conferencing, our sales team uses Zoom. Zoom is great for providing links to external parties to hold meetings and present demos.
The good: Links for external parties to use. The free version allows up to 40-minute calls, which is more than enough for most meetings. Finally, screen sharing and recordings of customer interactions are helpful.
The bad: Zoom is not great for one-on-one calls. For example, with Mac, there are glitches. Additionally, we find it annoying when the app starts when you click on a meeting link in your browser when it would be more convenient to have a call in the browser.
Trello is a task management tool with a kanban-like design to it. A particular plus is its smooth UX and aesthetic themes.
The good: Trello helps our teams stay organize and keeps tabs on priorities. It is also easy to assign members on Trello cards for easier collaboration. It is also super fast.
The bad: It is a freemium platform, so there is a limitation to the platform’s powerup usage. There is also difficulty in searching for archived cards, and card descriptions have no history.
FileCloud is an enterprise file sharing, sync, and backup platform. With your Filecloud server, users can run their own private dropbox-like file sharing and sync solution.
The good: FileCloud has data governance, self-hosting, and remote access to data. There is an ease of use and stability.
The bad: The setup process can be a bit intimidating.
OneNote is a free-form multi-user collaboration tool with users’ notes, drawings, screen clippings, and audio commentaries. Think of OneNote as an advanced form of GoogleDocs.
The good: It is easy to take notes while talking with a customer.
The bad: It is sometimes difficult to find specific notes due to the somewhat complex UI.
MailChimp is an easy-to-use platform with drag-and-drop capabilities to create beautiful emails without code.
The good: It is a great tool for newsletters and CSM reach outs. Creating an onboarding series (workflow), which creates personal touchpoints with customers in an automated way, is also a plus.
The bad: it can get pretty expensive. Another limitation is that there is no type of campaign that allows you to create a loop for a single campaign.
Similar to MailChimp, SalesHandy is an easy-to-use email sending and tracking platform.
The good: It is excellent for sending one-on-one emails and campaigns. The statistic function is also a plus. Finally, the platform is user-friendly and integrations with Microsoft and Google.
The bad: It can be expensive, and you have to use the app itself to send emails.
Screenpresso is a screen capture that allows you to grab an image or video of what you see on your computer screen, annotate, and share it with anyone.
As a team grows, a necessary tool needs to contain and share information like product social media accounts logins and email address logins. To keep our shared account usernames and passwords safe and in one place, we use KeePassX.
Apexure helps with driving conversions on web and landing page design. The platform takes a data-driven approach to increase conversions.
The good: With Apexure, your website and landing pages will have a design optimal for user experience. All of Apexure designs are created from the ground up to better match your brand.
The bad: There is none so far.
What apps do you use?
As you can see, we use quite a few apps, tools, and services to run our sales team. We hope that sharing this list and talking about our likes and dislikes can help you find the right mix of apps for your needs.
Happy working!
Source: Slack webpage
Slack has continuously promised that they will replace email. With the launch of Slack Connect, comes the emergence of a better way to work with external partners. So, what is Slack Connect? And how does it compete with AirSend? In this blog post, we will provide a thorough overview of Slack Connect capabilities and functions. Additionally, we will compare both platforms to see, which is the ideal project management tool.
What is Slack Connect?
Source: Slack webpage
According to Slack’s webpage, Slack Connect is a better way to work with external partners. “Designed to replace email, Slack Connect extends channel-based messaging to everyone you work with- inside and outside your organization,” so long as they have a Slack account (Slack webpage, 2020).
The new launch allows companies to:
Collaborate with unprecedented speed
A secure connection across organizational boundaries
Automated workflow with integrations
The idea of connecting with external partners is game-changing. However, Slack Connect has a few significant setbacks. The first is that Slack Connect is not available to free users. Companies must pay for the new platform, which can be costly. For startup businesses or bootstrap companies, Slack Connect may not be an ideal choice. To see free alternatives to Slack, check out our blog post.
The second major setback is that companies must have a Slack account to use Slack Connect. In a way, this is a bit ironic to their message of working better with external partners.
When companies collaborate across organizations, the assumption is that all parties have a paid Slack account. But, what if their partners do not have a Slack account, let alone a paid version? The inability to collaborate then poses a problem.
To work with internal/external partners, everyone must have a Slack account. AirSend does not require all parties to have an account, which we will look at shortly.
In conclusion, Slack’s new feature is a useful tool for those who:
Have a Slack account
Pay for Slack
“For the most part, the channel will look and feel like regular channels in Slack but have people from different companies inside.”
Slack webpage, 2020.
The new platform is undoubtedly efficient compared to the free version. Companies no longer have to exit out of their organizations to jump into another organization. However, the current limitations of Slack’s new feature poses are the inability to collaborate with non-paid users and users who do not have Slack accounts. The final question we ask is, how does AirSend compete with Slack Connect?
Slack Connect vs. AirSend
As mentioned before, Slack’s new external function is somewhat ironic. To connect with businesses outside of your own company, external parties must have a paid Slack account. With AirSend, this is not the case. AirSend does not require external partners to have an account.
For example, Company A is looking for third-party PR agencies (Company B). Company A hires Company B. As long as Company A has an AirSend account, Company B does not need to have one. How this works is that Company B can communicate with Company A via email. Their messages will be displayed in the Company’s A AirSend channel. Doing so does not inhibit the collaboration, nor the communication. Additionally, AirSend is currently free.
Unlike Slack that offers a ton of integrations, AirSend offers built-in essentials:
Video/audio calling
Task management
File storage/organization
Note management/tracking
Public channel
Summation
In summation, Slack Connect and AirSend are both ideal tools for project management. Whereas Slack Connect finally offers external companies to collaborate with others, companies must have a paid version of Slack.
In contrast, AirSend, currently free, does not require all parties to have an account. So long as one company has an account, external parties can communicate via email. Their messages will be displayed in an AirSend channel.
Additionally, companies that use Slack have more accounts through third-party integrations. On the other hand, AirSend offers built-in essentials and no extra accounts.
It all comes down to whether companies want to have a paid version of Slack and a ton of third-party accounts through integrations. To see what others are saying about us, check out the latest review on us.
With the recent increase in remote work, many companies are having to pay for collaboration apps, such as Slack. Everyone knows Slack’s paid version is costly, but the free version is also extremely limited in functionality. Due to the limited functionality of Slack’s free plan, most companies resort to paying for Slack. See the problem?
Companies who use Slack pay more money to get work done, whereas companies who use the free version struggle to get any work done.
Slack’s Free Plan
In Slack’s free version, there is limited functionality. These limits are:
10K searchable messages
10 apps and integrations
1-to-1 video calls
These limits prohibit companies and teams to get work done seamlessly.
But what if you could have a free alternative that delivers equal or better quality than the free version of Slack?
Here is our list of free slack alternatives:
AirSend
Chanty
Dino
SquidHub
Riot.im
Zulip
Discord
In this blog post, we will discuss the main functionalities of each free alternative. Let’s dive into the seven best free slack alternatives.
AirSend is an all-in-one collaboration tool that provides all your business essentials through built-in functionality. These essentials include:
Task management
File organization/storage
video/audio calling
Note tracking/management
Conversations
Office 365 and Email integration
Unlike Slack, AirSend offers extensive search history of conversations and more abundant file storage (100 GB vs. 5 GB). Additionally, compared to Slack’s busy UI design, AirSend takes the approach of clean and simple.
Finally, the most notable feature to AirSend is that when it comes to having multiple clients/partners, only the host needs to have an AirSend account. Guests and external parties can communicate via email, and their message will show up in AirSend.
Chanty is a simple AI-powered team chat tool. Chanty’s features include:
TeamBook: a single hub for neatly organized tasks, conversations, pinned messages, and all the content you share.
Task management
Kanban board view
Control team spaces with roles and privileges
Third-party integrations
Video/audio calling
There is also a paid version of Chanty ($3 per user/per month). In the free version, Chanty is limited to:
Ten team members
One guest
20 GB file storage per team
Up to 10 integrations
To get the calling features, users must pay for the business plan. Chanty is a useful tool for focused collaboration. Previous users of Slack will have less trouble transitioning to Chanty due to its similar design. However, people looking for a free slack alternative that doesn’t involve a Slack-like design, may not find Chanty to be a useful tool.
Dino is a modern open-source chat client for the desktop. It focuses on providing a clean and reliable Jabber/XMPP experience while having your privacy in mind. XMPP is an open standard for communication, mainly used for instant messaging. It is a secure battle-tested protocol developed by an independent standards organization.
Features to Dino are:
Encryption
Open source: anyone who downloads Dino can modify the tool to fit their needs best
Developed by Github, Dino is an ideal tool for developer collaboration. You can download Dino from certain distributions:
Arch Linux
Debian
Fedora
FreeBSD
Gentoo
Guix
NixOS
Ubuntu
Alpine Linux Edge
Void Linux
While Dino is not limited to developers, most companies/collaborators may feel the UI/UX too complicated for everyday usage. Nonetheless, Dino is a good free slack alternative for those wanting to prioritize security.
SquidHub is an ideal tool for project management and collaboration. The platform features:
One Dashboard to view a shared to-do list, files, and team messaging
Third-party file storage integration
Direct messaging
Shared task list
Guest functionality
Audio/video calling powered through Jitsi integration
There is also a paid version to the platform ($4.99 per user/per month). However, the majority of the features listed above are only for premium members. There are limits to the free version:
Two groups
1000mb storage
Unlimited search
For small teams and projects, SquidHub is a useful tool. For organizations larger than $50 people, the free version may not be ideal.
Riot.im is an open-source interoperable collaboration app that builds bridges with users who use other team chat apps. They are currently running on Web, iOS, and Android. Riot.im features:
Conversations
Integrations
Security
Open source and open standard
Ideally, Riot.im provides a convenient communication solution to partners who use different team chat apps. The platform is available on Windows, iOS & Android, and Linux.
Zulip combines the immediacy of real-time chat with an email threading model. With Zulip, you can catch up on meaningful conversations while ignoring irrelevant ones. Zulip features:
Aesthetic messaging
Markdown
Drag and drop
Integrations and API’s
Configurable notifications
Zulip solves the lack of organization and context in Slack channels. Users who heavily use Slack have to manually scan through hundreds of messages a day to find content relevant to them. The drive behind Zulip is asynchronous communication. Zulip’s free version is limited to:
Discord is a great platform that enables all-in-one voice and text chat. Slack and Discord carry almost the same UI design. If you are looking for a “busy” design, Discord may be a good free alternative. Further, the selling point to Discord is that they give you full control over your server.
Creators of a server can establish roles, permissions, and organize channels. Like AirSend, users with Discord can seamlessly switch between private and public channels. Additionally, Discord does not offer integration with third-party apps you might use for work.
While Discord is not limited to the gaming community, the majority of the audience are gamers. Additionally, while it is also a free chat tool, Discord lacks some functionalities needed for project management/collaboration. Nonetheless, Discord is a good free Slack alternative.
Conclusion
The question that needs to be asked it, why pay more money to be productive when you could save money and be equally or even more productive? With Slack, companies will be paying more to get work done.
We have provided a list of the seven best free Slack alternatives. These free Slack alternatives will not only save you money but also allow you to get equal or more work done. Each tool has its pros and cons, but they all provide equal or better functionality/quality than Slack’s free version.
Want to know more about AirSend and Slack? Click here to see which tool is better for you.
Welcome back to our podcasts series! It’s been a while since we last made one of these, and with all the commotion going around, we felt that it might be time to make another post on the latest podcast. Today’s podcast theme is accounting. Without further ado, let’s dive into the best three accounting podcasts of 2020.
The Abacus show is a podcast centered around accounting careers and job searches. This podcast is excellent for first-time accountants looking to get into the industry. The Abacus show also features top thought leaders, teachers, and accounting professionals. They share their experience to help you become a top performer.
The episode we recommend for first-time listeners is: “5 simple tricks to find accounting jobs faster.”
“5 simple tricks to find accounting jobs faster.”
In this episode, learn the five simple things you can do today to speed up your job search. While listening to the episode, Hannah Morgan, a job search strategist, mentions some notable advice. Bob the CPA and host of the Abacus show preface with a question:
Bob the CPA: “What would you say is the fastest way to get your job search going?”
Hannah Morgan: “People don’t like hearing this, because their natural inclination is to jump right on the job boards. I have to say that the first thing that people need to do before they embark on a job search is really be clear about what their strengths are, what their weaknesses are, and really begin to pinpoint what they are best suited, and what they want to do.’
Some ideas and questions to consider while listening to this episode are:
How to think about your skills and what type of job you want.
How to identify “Target Companies” in your area.
When should you ask for help in your job search?
Why have sires like LinkedIn become so important?
Coaching Note: a new way to think about goals.
You can find the Abacus show on iTunes, Stitcher, or at their website. Onwards to the next accounting podcast.
The Accounting Best Practices podcast covers essential information on a broad range of business subjects, including accounting technology, controls, closing the books, financing, payroll, and much more. Most episodes are just 7 to 10 minutes long and are jam-packed with information. You can find their podcast on their website, Spotify, iTunes, or Google Play.
The episode we suggest for first-timers is: “Episode #286: Accounting for Investments.”
Episode #286: Accounting for Investments
In this podcast episode, some key points made by Steve Bragg, host of ABP (accounting best practices), are:
Discuss how and when you account for investments, buy security, brokerage fees, and service fees.
Discussing trading securities- when a business may have debt securities are acquired with the intent of selling them in the short term for a profit.
Discussing held-to-maturity investment and available-for-sale.
As mentioned before, each episode is jam-packed with information. This podcast is perfect for accountants and those interested in accounting—moving on to the next podcast.
Accounting Today talks with thought leaders and changemakers from across the public accounting profession. This podcast is an excellent podcast for those already in the accounting industry who want to hear the latest accounting news. Think of this podcast as a newsroom that centers on accounting. You can find this podcast on their website, iTunes, Google Play, and Spotify.
A great episode to listen to for first-time listeners is: “The impact of Coronavirus on firm valuations.”
The impact on Coronavirus on firm valuations
This episode focuses on the Mergers and Acquisitions landscape and what the future will look like with the pandemic. Some key points mentioned in the episode are:
CPA firms and their interest in mergers and acquisitions due to the loss of clients from the pandemic
When can we expect to meet face-to-face with clients?
The difficulty of conducting business through meeting platforms, such as Zoom
The future of CPA firms and the virus impact- depending on the effects of the virus, there will be a boom in M&A
2021 to be the busiest year for M&A
AirSend helps accountants by providing a versatile digital workspace to share files, send messages, and complete tasks. See how AirSend can help you.
Have conversations, share files, complete tasks, and get work done in one space.