Employee communication apps for enterprise teams

Internal communications: The heartbeat of business success

In today’s hyper-connected, rapidly evolving business landscape, internal communications isn’t just a function – it’s a strategic driver of business performance. From crisis response to everyday alignment, how your employees communicate determines how fast your organization can moves and innovates.

For large, complex enterprises with thousands of employees, the stakes have never been higher – and the potential for impact never greater. 

Consider some of the key developments of the modern enterprise landscape:

• Unprecedented levels of change and volatility make the ability to pivot at speed a non-negotiable
• Hybrid and remote work
  has become the norm
• The needs of frontline employees have evolved – and their impact on operations is being given greater recognition
• Integrating AI safely has become a key boardroom priority

With all these in mind, the ability to connect and engage with every member of your workforce has moved well beyond “nice to have” status. It’s now an absolute necessity.

Why enterprises need apps for employee communication – now more than ever

Modern enterprises operate in real-time, across borders and business units. Employee communications apps are the best way to ensure all of these people in different locations are effectively aligned with business priorities. Here are a few key reasons why:

Accelerated information speed

In the digital age, the speed at which information flows through an organization can make or break its competitive edge. When critical updates, decisions, or alerts need to be communicated, delays can lead to lost opportunities and operational risks. Employee communications apps ensure that information reaches the right people in real-time – whether it’s an executive directive, a customer escalation, or a shift in strategy.

By enabling things like instant messaging and live notifications, staff communication apps minimize lag time between action and awareness. This agility is essential in environments where market conditions change rapidly or when businesses are managing complex, multi-team operations.

Enhanced productivity

Clear communication is the backbone of workplace productivity. Without this, even the most capable teams struggle with duplication of effort, missed deadlines, and poor coordination. Modern employee experience platforms streamline workflows by integrating key digital workplace elements – such as messaging, file sharing, and task management – into a single ecosystem. Ensuring the same information is easily accessible via the desktop interface or employee app.

This seamless environment reduces the friction caused by jumping between different platforms or hunting down documents. Employees spend less time searching and more time executing.

Greater engagement

Good internal communication leads to greater engagement. This is a proven driver of performance and retention. employee communications app play a central role in shaping that experience, as they facilitate two way communication. Not only are people connected to what leaders are saying, but they’re also empowered to share their own feedback and insights – at the speed required.

The state of communication on the frontline

For large enterprises, the needs of deskless and frontline staff are paramount. Unily’s exclusive frontline research paints a striking picture:

• On average, frontline workers wait 4.5 days to receive important information, which can stretch to over a week in industries like telecommunications
• Disconnected frontline experiences cost enterprises over $80 billion a year, with frontline workers spending 376 hours annually searching for or re-doing work due to inaccessible information
• Only 24% of frontline workers feel their feedback is truly heard by leadership
• 71% use personal devices or unsanctioned apps to complete their jobs due to slow or fragmented official communications channels, posing huge compliance risks

These stats underscore the urgency for enterprises to think differently about their internal comms for productivity and security. Mobile apps bridge the gaps currently being seen on the frontline, enabling work wherever employees may be.

Disconnected and disengaged:

The economic cost of frontline friction

Discover the consequences of a poor frontline EX
– and actions you can take to prevent this.

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What makes a staff communication app best-in-class?

The rise of digital workplaces has brought a wave of new tools. But not all internal comms apps are created equal. Here’s what separates the best from the rest when evaluating best staff communication apps for the enterprise:

1. Unified communication: All comms channels (desktop, mobile, email, chat etc) are in one streamlined platform – reducing app sprawl and fatigue.
2. Real-time messaging and mobile-first design: Instant chat, push notifications, and a rich mobile interface mean that all parts of the business can stay connected and informed easily.
3. Intelligent insights: The best apps aren’t just about the front-end. Admins should be able to access dashboards and analytics that reveal what content resonates, which teams are engaged, and where improvement is needed.
4. Two-way engagement: It’s not just about broadcasting – it’s also important to enable company-wide feedback, recognition, and knowledge sharing.
5. Personalization and targeting: Content can be tailored based on role, function, and location. This cuts through the noise and ensure relevance for everyone.
6. Integration and security: Easy integration with core business systems (such as HRIS, payroll, project tools) and enterprise-grade security are essential for complex organizations.
7. Multilingual and accessibility features: As workforces become more global, automatic translations into as many languages as possible become a must-have.

Using feedback to shape the employee communications app experience

Internal comms teams we work with often stress the importance of getting real feedback early. Involve frontline managers, IT power users, and end-users in demos and pilots. Key questions to ask include:

• What features save them time?
• Where do bottlenecks remain?
• How can they see this fitting into their daily workflow?

The best employee communications apps support continuous improvement and innovation at every level. 

Unily: An employee communications app built for enterprises and agility

With over 20 years of experience, Unily’s platform shows what’s possible when an internal communications solution is purpose-built for large enterprises. The latest updates in Unily Version 19 reinforce this commitment. This includes:

• Native real-time Chat across mobile and desktop – seamless, secure, and contextually integrated.
• AI-powered insights – customizable dashboards for tracking email and message engagement, ensuring every campaign lands with impact.
• Multilingual communications – send a single message in every language your workforce needs, managed from one dashboard.
• Broadcast Center – target and schedule employee messaging across all channels and devices, integrating with Microsoft Teams and Slack where needed.
• Agent Orchestrator – in an intranet industry first, you can bring your own digital assistants and use Agent Orchestrator to ensure employees are sent to the right AI agent for their needs – unlocking more tailored workplace intelligence and reducing digital noise.

As a result, enterprises can streamline communications, move faster, and accelerate decision-making for tangible business impact.

Gaining a competitive advantage with the right staff communication app

In a world defined by complexity, change, and relentless competition, a best-in-class employee communications app can be the difference between you lagging and leading. The data is clear: poor communication costs enterprises billions, saps productivity, and increases risk. They can be the difference between you lagging and leading.

Take the time to audit your current tech stack and ask whether it empowers employees and elevates performance. When looking for a replacement, engage with stakeholders look for a platform built for enterprise needs and scale.

This is more than just a tech investment – it’s a performance enabler. 

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