HipChat could use a few more features but does its job well
June 30, 2016
HipChat could use a few more features but does its job well
Score 8 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Overall Satisfaction with HipChat
We used HipChat to replace another instant messaging platform a couple of years ago and it's been working near perfectly for us since. It's worked great as both a direct messaging and channel-based chat system to get messaged to one another around this office and at home as well as a way to quickly disseminate information to a specific group or all employees at once. The mobile app has also been instrumental in getting organized and keeping everyone informed in the event of any kind of urgent situation or emergency. It's even great for the occasional witty banter and catching up on the last episode of Game of Thrones without having to leave your desk and actually, physically speak to someone. There's nothing quite as satisfying as social interaction about your favorite shows without any actual, physical exchange. Besides, you can't share a good .gif with words, now can you?
Pros
- The ability to notify everyone in a channel at once is particularly useful when people are out of the office.
- The mobile app is nice and clean and not too invasive when it comes to notifications.
- The customizable emoticons tend to be a good way to get a point across and keep things lighthearted when they need to be.
Cons
- The ability to add just minor formatting like bold and italics to the messages you type would be a great addition.
- The ability to customize the desktop interface more would be nice.
- The 'new chat' interface was recently changed so that you have to search for something specific (person or channel) by name instead of selecting from a list. I liked the list better. Both would probably be ideal actually.
I've also used Slack pretty extensively. I prefer slack for communicating with friends due to it's customization, message formatting and bot programmability. I'm also really happy with the way it handles being a member of multiple teams. I'm only a member of a single team in Hipchat so I have no basis for comparison there. Nevertheless, I can see Hipchat being a bit better in a business environment thanks to its simplicity in leaving out those formatting and customization options.
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