Chatwork Review
California based Chatwork was founded in 2012. They offer a communication and collaboration platform that is specially designed for teams with small to medium sized businesses. With more than 10 years in the Internet software industry, Chatwork bring the expertise to provide an excellent service.
Features
The standout feature for this service is also its raison d’être, this of course being ChatWork’s task management feature. This combines the chat and task features to provide a simple but powerful tool for collaboration. Other features include:
- File management
- Video chat
- Direct and Group Chat
- Pin groups to the top of your feed
- Keyword Search
- Task Management
- File Sharing
- Voice Calling
- Screen Sharing
It is also good to note that this service is compatible with Google Chrome, Internet Explorer 8+, Firefox 3+, Safari 4+, and Opera 10+, as well as iOS and Android.
Ease of Use
To sign up, you must first provide email, Google+ or LinkedIn access. Then you are taken to a form where you are asked for your Company/Organization Name, your name, email address, and to create a password. Once that is done you can already start using the free trial of the service as it works in-browser.
This platform is extremely easy to navigate with the dashboard showing clear tabs for seamless switching from one section to another. Additionally, users have fine grain control over various aspects of the service. One can set desktops notifications with sounds, or email notifications to appear when you receive a new message or push notification to your phone. Users are also able to manage contacts by accepting/rejecting contact requests, add people through their email or ChatWork ID, and invite users that do not yet have ChatWork. These are just a few of the many controls users are given.
Chatwork Dashboard
Security
ChatWork offers supreme security for their service. All files are encrypted end to end with military grade SSL 256 bit encryption. Moreover, our ChatWork’s source code was audited by a third party security firm. They also have ISMS certification for security management.
Price
It is important to note that they only accept payments through Paypal, for now, on a month-to-month basis. You can start off, however, on their free package to get a feel for the service. With this package you will receive unlimited contacts for: up to 14 group chats, up to 2 video chats, up to 100 voice calls, and 500MB of storage space. Then there is the ‘Personal’ package which costs $4 per month and includes unlimited contacts for: unlimited group chats, up to 4 video chats, up to 100 voice calls, and 2GB of storage space.
Alternatively, there are five business plans that start at $20 total per month for 10 members and includes unlimited contacts for: unlimited group chats, up to 14 video chats, up to 100 voice calls and 20GB of storage space. The packages increase on a sliding scale from this and are: 25 Members and 50GB Storage for $50/month, 50 Members and 100GB Storage for $100/month, 100 Members and 200GB Storage for $150/month, and 200 Members and 400GB Storage for $200/month
Customer Support
ChatWork falls a little short with their customer support, which for a service this easy to use isn’t as bad as it could be. They do not offer live chat or phone support for their service. However, they do offer email support, an FAQ section and a public group chat where users can share ideas and questions. They are also available on their social channels including Facebook, Twitter, Google+, and LinkedIn.
Summary
ChatWork offers a supreme communication and collaboration platform that is both intuitive and offers more features than you will know what to do with. Users are able to communicate through a number of channels including chat, voice calls and conferencing with screen sharing capabilities, so there are really no obstacles to optimal collaboration, even from across the world. We would certainly recommend taking the free trial of the service to see its amazing value.
