Initially it was audio-only, although later on it added video-calling, file-sharing, and other communication features. It’s also still around today, which makes it open for inclusion on this list. But, for many people, it was the first one they used. Skype wasn’t the first online phone service (that would have been early 90s tools like Free World Dialup and Speak Freely). And hopefully helps transform communication for your team along with it. The result is an app - currently available exclusively for Mac - that redefines the experience of voice chat online. (For those times when users would rather read text, cutting edge voice recognition tools also transcribe each message for reading.) Listen receipts make it clear when a message has been heard, ensuring that users know when their colleagues have had the opportunity to listen. In the event that they are offline, the messages are saved until they are online once again. Using Echo, users can send voice messages to individual colleagues or workgroups, as well as highlight their current status: either online, offline, or focused on another task. It’s a business-focused app like Slack, designed for remote team communication, but leaning far more heavily into voice. Instead of telephone-style voice calling, it’s based around the notion of sending recorded asynchronous messages which can be listened to at the leisure of the user. EchoĮcho is unlike the other voice chat apps on this list, although it shares elements with several. What are the best and most popular voice chat tools for communicating online? Let us guide you through some of the top choices.

Offline with voice messaging skype