Holistic communication: Slack and Google Chat integration

Slack is one of the biggest business productivity tools available, and one of the best ways to communicate in real-time with your colleagues.

It’s enriched by a variety of bots, GIFs and the ability to support – or upset – your colleagues through the language of emoji. It’s no wonder that this is one of the most requested integrations from our customers, which is why we’re stoked to announce Happeo's integration with Slack.

[Update October 2020] Happeo now also integrates with Slack's direct-messaging feature. 

What does our Slack integration do?

Let’s say your development team has a channel on both Slack and Happeo; link the two and our Happeo bot will instantly share updates from the Happeo Channel to Slack. Now you're empowering employees to choose where the conversation takes place.

New in our Slack integration, you can now also directly message each other straight from your Happeo profiles. No need for dilly-dallying between all your various work tools: you can perform your most important work and pressing communication directly from your Happeo. The journey starts with an administrator enabling the integration. Users will then receive an in-app prompt, informing them of the new feature and taking them through the steps to enable it. And if Slack doesn't float your boat, rest assured, each user has the ability to enable or disable this feature individually.

Why would I use Slack and Happeo together?

TL;DR? Who doesn’t want an integrated digital workplace that brings all forms of communication and work together?

Slack has an awesome variety of features for fast communication. Happeo is a different kind of communication and collaboration platform – one that makes it easier to store and view information for the long term, ensure that important messages get read and that work can be done in the platform itself. Different strokes for different folks. In our framework, Happeo provides Static and Dynamic communications, where Slack is the master in Rapid communications. Bringing these two tools together creates a holistic communication environment.

Start by opening your Happeo integrations tab, then add the Happeo bot to your Slack workspace.

What if I don't use Slack?

Never fear, Google Chat is here! We’ve implemented the same functionality with Google Chat, meaning you can also take advantage of the Happeo bot through your existing Google Workspace package. 

The connection between these two platforms works by linking your Happeo and Slack channels together, allowing a dedicated Happeo bot to instantly share updates from your Happeo channels directly into your Slack workspace. This integration empowers employees to choose where their daily conversations take place, bridging the gap between different communication environments. In addition to channel updates, the integration supports Slack’s direct-messaging feature, allowing users to send messages directly to their colleagues from their Happeo profiles.

By combining these features, the system ensures that employees do not have to waste time switching back and forth between different work tools. Instead, they can perform their most pressing communication tasks directly from one unified platform. This setup is designed to improve workflow efficiency by keeping everyone connected, regardless of which tool they prefer to keep open during the working day.

Setting up the system is straightforward and begins when an administrator enables the integration. Once this administrative step is complete, users will receive a prompt directly inside the app, which guides them through the necessary steps to enable the feature for themselves. Because individual preferences vary, every user retains the ability to enable or disable this feature on an individual basis.

Using both platforms together creates a holistic communication environment by combining different types of business communication into one integrated digital workplace. While Slack is highly effective for rapid, real-time messaging, Happeo serves a different purpose by focusing on static and dynamic communications. This combined approach ensures that all forms of workplace communication, from quick chats to long-term information sharing, are housed under one virtual roof.

Slack excels at fast-paced conversations, quick updates, and interactive elements like emojis, GIFs, and bots. However, it is not always the best tool for storing information that needs to remain accessible over the long term. This is where Happeo complements it, offering a structured space where important messages can be easily read, searched, and archived, and where productive work can be completed directly within the platform itself.

Integrating these tools means your business does not have to choose between speed and structure. Instead, employees can benefit from the rapid messaging capabilities of Slack while maintaining the organised, long-term knowledge base provided by Happeo, ensuring that critical announcements and documents are never lost in a fast-moving chat stream.

If your organisation does not use Slack, you can take advantage of the same integration functionality through Google Chat. This option is designed to ensure that businesses using alternative productivity suites are not left out. The integration leverages your existing Google Workspace package, allowing you to deploy the dedicated Happeo bot within your Google Chat environment without needing to invest in additional software or external licenses.

The Google Chat integration replicates the core features of the Slack connection, enabling seamless updates and communication flows across your organisation. By utilising the tools already included in your Google Workspace, you can build a connected digital home that brings your team’s conversations and long-term documentation together, mirroring the holistic communication benefits enjoyed by Slack users.

This flexibility ensures that regardless of whether your business relies on Slack or Google tools for its daily messaging, you can still establish a unified communication hub. It allows organisations to maintain their preferred chat software while fully integrating it with a structured intranet platform to keep employees informed and aligned.