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Google Chat vs. Lightning Tools Social Squared Discussion Board

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    Overview
    ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price

    Google Chat

    Score7.9 out of 10
    N/AGoogle Chat, formerly Hangouts Chat, is a collaboration tool competing with Slack, designed to make it easy for teams to be able to get their work done in one place. From direct messages to group conversations, Chat helps teams collaborate, and with dedicated, virtual rooms to house projects over time — plus threaded conversations — Chat helps users track progress and follow up tasks. Chat currently supports 28 languages and each room can support up to 8,000 members.N/A

    Lightning Tools Social Squared Discussion Board

    Score9.1 out of 10
    Enterprise companies (1,001+ employees)
    Social Squared is a SharePoint Discussion Board App that can be deployed across SharePoint Online and Microsoft Teams. Social Squared improves productivity and efficiency by providing structured discussion forums for employee and student discussions. For Microsoft SharePoint Social Squared is a SharePoint discussion board application where users can post questions within relevant forums and receive answers to their questions from subject matter experts. The…

    $2,200

    per year per installation

    Pricing
    Google ChatLightning Tools Social Squared Discussion Board
    Editions & Modules
    No answers on this topic
    Social Squared Discussion Board
    From $2200
    per year per installation
    Social Squared Discussion Board Enterprise Edition
    POA
    per year per installation
    Offerings
    Pricing Offerings
    Google ChatLightning Tools Social Squared Discussion Board
    Free Trial
    NoYes
    Free/Freemium Version
    NoNo
    Premium Consulting/Integration Services
    NoYes
    Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
    Additional DetailsPrices stated are minimum per installation for "stock" products. $2.20 per user/year on top of base price. Enterprise editions can be amended to suit business needs if deemed necessary, additional costs incurred and TBD. All packages include free technical support. Free upgrades available to latest versions of tool as they are released.
    More Pricing Information
    Community Pulse
    Google ChatLightning Tools Social Squared Discussion Board
    Considered Both Products
    Google
    No answer on this topic
    Lightning Tools
    No answer on this topic
    Key User Insights
    Would buy again
    92%
    Would buy again
    24 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    Delivers good value for the price
    100%
    Delivers good value for the price
    26 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    Happy with the feature set
    92%
    Happy with the feature set
    24 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    94%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    16 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    Implementation went as expected
    95%
    Implementation went as expected
    19 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    Features
    Google ChatLightning Tools Social Squared Discussion Board
    Project Management
    Comparison of Project Management features of Google Chat and Lightning Tools Social Squared Discussion Board
    Feature
    Google Chat
    8.3
    26 Ratings
    7% above category average
    Lightning Tools Social Squared Discussion Board
    9.1
    1 Ratings
    16% above category average
    Task Management8.014 Ratings00 Ratings
    Gantt Charts8.29 Ratings00 Ratings
    Scheduling8.616 Ratings00 Ratings
    Workflow Automation7.412 Ratings00 Ratings
    Mobile Access9.225 Ratings9.11 Ratings
    Search9.123 Ratings9.11 Ratings
    Visual planning tools7.713 Ratings00 Ratings
    Communication
    Comparison of Communication features of Google Chat and Lightning Tools Social Squared Discussion Board
    Feature
    Google Chat
    8.9
    26 Ratings
    11% above category average
    Lightning Tools Social Squared Discussion Board
    9.1
    1 Ratings
    13% above category average
    Chat9.826 Ratings9.11 Ratings
    Notifications9.126 Ratings9.11 Ratings
    Discussions8.824 Ratings9.11 Ratings
    Surveys9.417 Ratings00 Ratings
    Internal knowledgebase8.915 Ratings9.11 Ratings
    Integrates with GoToMeeting8.07 Ratings00 Ratings
    Integrates with Gmail and Google Hangouts8.215 Ratings00 Ratings
    Integrates with Outlook9.06 Ratings00 Ratings
    File Sharing & Management
    Comparison of File Sharing & Management features of Google Chat and Lightning Tools Social Squared Discussion Board
    Feature
    Google Chat
    8.6
    26 Ratings
    7% above category average
    Lightning Tools Social Squared Discussion Board
    9.1
    1 Ratings
    12% above category average
    Versioning8.817 Ratings9.11 Ratings
    Video files7.623 Ratings9.11 Ratings
    Audio files7.922 Ratings9.11 Ratings
    Document collaboration8.021 Ratings9.11 Ratings
    Access control9.318 Ratings9.11 Ratings
    Advanced security features9.319 Ratings00 Ratings
    Integrates with Google Drive8.115 Ratings00 Ratings
    Device sync9.624 Ratings00 Ratings
    Best Alternatives
    Google ChatLightning Tools Social Squared Discussion Board
    Small Businesses
    Flock
    Score9.5 out of 10
    Flock
    Score9.5 out of 10
    Medium-sized Companies
    Troop Messenger
    Score9.8 out of 10
    Troop Messenger
    Score9.8 out of 10
    Enterprises
    Cisco Business Edition 7000 (discontinued)
    Score9 out of 10
    Cisco Business Edition 7000 (discontinued)
    Score9 out of 10
    All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
    User Ratings
    Google ChatLightning Tools Social Squared Discussion Board
    Likelihood to Recommend
    9.2
    (26 ratings)
    9.1
    (1 ratings)
    Likelihood to Renew
    8.0
    (2 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Usability
    8.9
    (9 ratings)
    9.1
    (1 ratings)
    Support Rating
    7.3
    (3 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    User Testimonials
    Google ChatLightning Tools Social Squared Discussion Board
    Likelihood to Recommend
    Google
    It is a easy and quick way to chat and send instant message using the Google account, even send files, emojis, create groups. I have used it to communicate even with external people with a personal gmail account and is great to stay in touch with all around. I recommend it for anyone who wants to stay communicated using a google account.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Lightning Tools
    Their customer service it top notch and always responsive. I struggled in the beginning a little bit because I'm not tech savvy and we had to add it to our SharePoint site but they helped me along the way and even had share screen meetings with me to assist!!
    Read full review
    Pros
    Google
    • When discussing about a specific project, I can quickly share google docs or sheets within the chat which helps my team to view the document in real time and they do not have to leave the conversation.
    • Scheduling a meeting with someone is very easy on Google Chat.
    • We have remote team members in different time zones and instead of waiting for emails we use Google Chat to quickly discuss anything.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Lightning Tools
    • Organizing Data
    • Opens up discussion, whether publicly or anonymously
    • Easy to setup
    Read full review
    Cons
    Google
    • Google Hangouts Chat has a room for improvement in customizing the themes background.The themes are outdated and hard to change if you don't know the right key to change it.
    • It could be more user friendly if there will be no hidden features. Formatting messages is very likely to use and fun.
    • With conversations going on about everything all the time, it's easy to get pulled into far too many discussions but sometimes its hard to mention names because it shows many result even the users are not included on the chat room.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Lightning Tools
    • I would love to be able to assign various people as administrators of different topics (this may be an option now but a couple years ago it wasn't)
    Read full review
    Likelihood to Renew
    Google
    The updates, support, general reviews on Google Chat are great everywhere. The development of the features is ongoing and this adds a great value to Google as a big company in the market. Other applications are limiting communication while Google Chat is allowing communication to grow. It is very easy to use it and teach others how to use Google Chat.
    Read full review
    Lightning Tools
    No answers on this topic
    Usability
    Google
    As stated from the starting we found this application is well suited for a small audience and a group of people across the organization can be communicated easily with no additional hectic of doing any setup. When you have a Gmail account ready then you can easily access google chat and continue the communication. This tool is simple,secure and robust helping the global leading partner for their internal precise communication and handling the tasks in a great way
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Lightning Tools
    Our employees really like the fact that they can find things easily with the search feature and add questions and comments as they see fit.
    Read full review
    Support Rating
    Google
    I have not needed to contact the support folks for Google Hangouts Chat, so I can't speak to this with any accuracy. The online instructions are fairly clearly written, so it is fairly intuitive to start with. I did not feel the need to use the support people anyway.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Lightning Tools
    No answers on this topic
    Alternatives Considered
    Google
    Slack has a few more features than Google Chat. Slack, for a long time, had thread chats that grouped a thread of thoughts together, making the main chat group space a lot less cluttered. A while back, Google Chat implemented a similar thing in a different but similar way, making the group less crowded. They are catching up.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Lightning Tools
    No answers on this topic
    Return on Investment
    Google
    • In my work it allows us to report troubles that may cost loss of investment thru Google Hangouts Chat we were able to communicate on how to fix it.
    • I hope we can make it on our own choice of colors to heightened workers vibe
    • It is connected to your email
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Lightning Tools
    • We signed up for a 3 year contract and hope to do another 3yr contract when this one is up. :)
    Read full review
    ScreenShots

    Lightning Tools Social Squared Discussion Board Screenshots

    Screenshot of MODERN, RESPONSIVE SHAREPOINT DISCUSSION BOARD
Discussion Forums can be created for a variety of different reasons. This example is a Forum Group for the Microsoft 365 technologies such as Teams, Planner, and SharePoint. Forums are then created within the Forum Groups for more specific discussions. Under the SharePoint Forum Group, there is a Forum for SharePoint On-Premises and SharePoint Online. Anyone looking to ask a question regarding SharePoint 2019 for example would be able to post their question under SharePoint On-Premises rather than SharePoint Online. This also allows subject matter experts to focus more on the questions that they can respond to and provide value.Screenshot of SHAREPOINT DISCUSS BOARD – TOPICS VIEW
When navigating into a forum, the topics and discussions that are taking place are shown. Any new topics that not yet read will be highlighted. It also displays whether topics have been answered, their average ratings, how many views and posts are within the topic, and also provides the ability to subscribe to the forum to be notified of new posts within it.Screenshot of READING DISCUSSIONS AND PROVIDING FEEDBACK
Social Squared offers a threaded discussion view with the ability to provide feedback to other users.

Posts can be rated, voted upon, or liked by users in order to give feedback to the user creating or responding to a post. Additionally, replies can be marked as answered or marked as featured, which gives readers of forums assurance that the response they are reading is validated to be the correct answer.

Users also receive feedback through the earning of badges. The more users post or mark posts as answered, the more points are rewarded. This makes it easy to spot subject matter experts.Screenshot of SUGGESTED TAGS
Social Squared provides a rich text editor for creating and replying to topics. The Rich Text toolbar provides functionality such as inserting images, YouTube videos, Stream Videos, Formatted Code Inserts, as well as font formatting.

While typing, suggestions on how to tag a post appear. Selecting an existing tag will provide consistency in the tags used making it easier for other users to discover the post.Screenshot of SOCIAL SQUARED TAG CLOUD VIEW
The Social Squared Tag Cloud view makes it easy to navigate to posts within a specific category even if they span multiple forums. The more a tag appears in different posts, the more prominent it will be in the tag cloud. Users can navigate to posts with the tag in one click.Screenshot of DISCUSSION BOARD WITHIN MICROSOFT TEAMS TAB
Social Squared is a Discussion Board App for Microsoft Teams Tab’s and Microsoft Teams Personal Apps. Social Squared provides information workers the ability to post questions within relevant forums, and receive answers from their team. The Discussion Board layout for posts makes it easier to find answers to questions that may have already been asked before. Through features such as “Mark as Answered”, “Forum Moderation”, “Post Rating”, “Post Likes”, “Post Voting”, users will be assured that the answers they are reading are validated.