9 best virtual workspace solutions for 2023

Fueled by the pandemic, virtual workspace solutions have become increasingly popular in the past few years.  

Gallup’s poll of 140,000 US employees surveyed since the pandemic began reveals that employees now prefer remote or hybrid work:

The best way for organizations to support fully remote and hybrid work models is to offer employees a shared workspace online where everyone can work together.

This guide will show you what functionality to look for in a virtual workspace system and highlight the nine best virtual workspace online solutions to use in 2022 and beyond.

What is a virtual workspace?

A virtual workspace is a working environment in which users can connect and communicate online from any location. They might use instant messaging, video calls, document sharing, and screen sharing tools to interact and collaborate on projects and tasks.

Who benefits from a virtual workspace?

Here are four scenarios highlighting how different types of workers can benefit from a virtual workspace:

Hybrid workers: A virtual workspace ensures employees use the same environment, whether they’re working from home or in the office. 

Remote workers: Fully-remote employees also benefit from a virtual workspace, because it helps them stay connected to their peers. 

Mobile workers: Virtual workspaces are ideal for employees who are on the move, such as sales reps and delivery drivers. They can log in to a virtual workspace from their mobile device to read important updates and check on the status of projects.  

Healthcare workers: A virtual workspace allows emergency responders, doctors, and healthcare staff to access encrypted patient data instantly, which can be critical when providing treatment or attempting to diagnose an acute symptom.

What to look for in a virtual workspace

Following are 11 features to look for when choosing your virtual workspace software.

Ease of use and implementation

Organizations want a virtual workspace that’s quick to implement and easy to use. That’s why the majority prefer cloud implementations over on-premise ones.

Research by the Nielsen Norman Group shows the average time of creating a virtual workspace shrank from just over 6 years (74 months) in 2011 to 17 months in 2021:

Image: Nielsen Norman Group survey results.

With Happeo, the average launch time is only six to eight weeks. That means companies implementing Happeo get a quick return on their investment.

Image: Happeo customers can begin using their virtual workspace in weeks, not years. 

Knowledge sharing

To make the most of your collaborative virtual workspace, you need an easy way to share knowledge between teams and individuals. Ideally, a virtual workspace should also be a “self-serve” environment, meaning employees can find what they need without asking for help.

Image: Types of files and information employees might access from within Happeo.

Content management

You can use your virtual workspace as an internal content management system (CMS). Choose a CMS that comes with templates your staff can use to create, publish, update, share, and archive content without special development or design skills.  

Image: Happeo’s easy-to-use CMS. 

Internal Communication tools

Make sure your virtual workspace comes with a solid set of internal communication tools, like chat, video, and direct messaging.

Universal Search 

A universal search feature lets employees find files outside the virtual office software, but not all platforms have this feature. 

Happeo’s Universal Search can find everything in your platform, Google Drive, OneDrive, and SharePoint. You can search through different formats and content types, including documents, tables, PDFs, emails, photos, and videos — even Slack messages.

Image: Happeo’s universal search functionality. 

Social collaboration

A vital feature of a virtual workspace is collaboration. Teams need to work on documents together, share ideas, and communicate openly regardless of hierarchy or location.

Happeo’s Channels feature lets employees: 

• Post and share messages, articles, photos, and videos.
  
  
• Connect with colleagues and share personal stories.
  
  
• Comment and like posts and get feedback.

Image: Happeo makes it easy for employees to collaborate from any device. 

Employee directory

An employee directory helps staff match names with faces and build stronger connections.

Happeo’s automatically-created people directory allows staff to browse employee profiles and visualize their organization's structure.

Image: Happeo’s automatically-generated organizational chart. 

Personalized employee experiences

A customizable platform encourages employees to use their virtual workspace every day. Happeo users can decide what they want to see in their feed, which employees they want to follow, and what content to share with others. 

Happeo’s Pages let admins create a company homepage with relevant dynamic content for each user, role, and function. Plus, the drag-and-drop builder makes it easy for anyone to create a page without any coding.

Image: Create a personalized homepage in Happeo. 

User and content analytics

Analytics and insights help you refine your virtual workspace content. For example, you can: 

• View which pages drive the most engagement.
  
  
• See the most active and popular channels.
  
  
• Review post performance.
  
  
• Identify employee ambassadors.

Image: Happeo Post Analytics. 

Integrations

Using a single platform makes it easier to search for files, manage documents, chat with colleagues, and schedule meetings — as long as it integrates with your existing collaboration tools, like Google Workspace and Microsoft 365.

Happeo’s Google Workspace integration allows you to: 

• View and edit Google Files directly from within Happeo.
  
  
• Embed Google files into Happeo Pages.
  
  
• Store files securely.

Image: Happeo Google Workspace integration.

Security

The best virtual workspaces include enhanced security features to ensure your sensitive data and content remains safe at all times. 

Happeo’s best-in-class security includes: 

• ISO 27001 certification
  
  
• SSL encryption
  
  
• GDPR compliance
  
  
• Google Single Sign-On (SSO)
  
  
• Google Cloud storage
  
  

Image: Happeo’s security features.

9 best virtual workspace software platforms

Now that you know what to look for, let’s examine the nine best virtual workspace software platforms.

Happeo

G2 rating: 4.5

Notable brands: Doctolib, SmartRecruiters, Decathlon, Pinterest, True, Marqeta

Happeo is an easy-to-use and fun virtual workspace that teams love. It brings all your sources of information together in one digital platform and provides a place for employees to interact.

Virtual workspace features:

• Universal Search makes it easy to browse the entire platform, including your calendar and emails, and files in Google Workspace or Microsoft 365.
  
  
• Federated Search searches across all company tools and databases.
  
  
• Channels allow users to post, comment on, collaborate on, and share content.
  
  
• Easy customization features include a drag-and-drop builder, widgets, and style and branding templates.
  
  
• People directory helps employees find and connect with colleagues.
  
  
• Pages let you effortlessly create personalized employee experiences with relevant dynamic content for each user, role, and function.
  
  
• Advanced analytics helps you optimize your virtual workspace content and craft engaging posts.
  
  
• Enhanced security ensures your sensitive data and content remain safe and compliant 24/7.

“Our leadership team has already adopted Happeo as the way that they communicate whenever there’s an important announcement, an action item, or something that needs to be acknowledged by the broader team.

And leadership really enjoys that information is then stored in a way on Happeo where you can search and access it later.”

Google Workspace

G2 rating: 4.6

Notable brands: Salesforce, Bushel, Lush, BHI, Deliveroo, RSPCA, Monzo, All Saints, Custom Ink, PWC, Revolut

Google Workspace includes all of the productivity and collaboration tools you know – Gmail, Calendar, Drive, Docs, Sheets, Slides, Meet, and Chat – and optimizes them for business use.

Your employees can use Google Workspace to collaborate on documents, share files, communicate, and attend virtual meetings. And since everything syncs automatically to the cloud, you won’t lose any work. 

Virtual workspace features:

• Custom and secure business email.
  
  
• Video meeting with up to 500 participants.
  
  
• Customer, partner, and supplier collaboration.
  
  
• Secure searchable file storage.
  
  
• Enhanced security and management controls, including advanced endpoint management.
  
  

Bit.ai

G2 rating: 4.2

Notable brands: New Zealand Post, Canon, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Harvard University, Georgetown University, University of Michigan, The New York Stem Cell Foundation

Bit.ai allows you to keep all your documents in one place, collaborate with colleagues, partners, and clients, and share them across departments.

Virtual workspace features:

• Multiple workspaces for individuals, teams, departments, and clients.
  
  
• Customizable workspaces where users can organize and pin document.
  
  
• Customizable workflows to break down silos and foster collaboration.
  
  
• Content libraries to save assets for each workspace.
  
  
• Smart Search lets you search workspaces, documents, and content inside of documents. 
  
  
• Document branding, templates, and themes.

Microsoft 365

G2 rating: 4.6

Notable brands: Clifton, Siemens, Toyota, Zurich

Microsoft 365 combines familiar Microsoft Office apps – Word, Excel, and PowerPoint – with cloud-based communications and collaboration services, including Exchange, SharePoint, Office, and Teams. 

You can work, learn, organize, connect, and create from anywhere through the virtual workspace. 

Virtual workspace features:

• SharePoint lets you create dynamic intranet sites and manage content. 
  
  
• Exchange provides business-class email and calendars. 
  
  
• Teams lets you meet, chat, call, and collaborate in one place. 
  
  
• Access files wherever you are using OneDrive secure cloud storage.
  
  
• Enterprise-grade security protects your information, devices, apps, and data.

Pesto (formerly Pragli)

G2 rating: 4.3

Notable brands: Enhatch, Sortify, Hello, Fullstory, AiPass, Tidal Migrations

Pesto enables team collaboration and communication in virtual rooms that support audio, video, screen sharing, and screen drawing. 

Virtual workspace features:

• Use avatars to present your authentic self instead of turning on the camera.
  
  
• Integrate with your favorite products like Spotify.
  
  
• Collaborate in virtual “rooms.”
  
  
• SOC 2 Type 1 compliance. (ISO 27001 compliance coming soon.)
  
  
• HD video and 4k screen sharing with whiteboard drawing.

• Communicate through direct messages or organized discussions.

Wurkr

G2 rating: 4.8

Notable brands: WeWork, Freshworks, Deel, Hivemind, Hello Monday, One Tree Planted

Wurkr offers advanced video technology, flexibility, and a focus on employee well-being.

Virtual workspace features:

• Customizable workspaces let you simulate the physical workspace.
  
  
• Real-time chats, multi-screen sharing, and video conferencing enable you to communicate with colleagues anywhere.
  
  
• Integration with tools like Google and Slack eliminates multiple messaging apps.

Tandem

G2 rating: N/A

Notable brands: Medium, Asana, Lyft, Spotify, Dropbox, Airbnb, Notion, Instacart

Tandem is a virtual office for hybrid and remote teams. With a single click, you can get a sense of what’s happening in your office, check who’s available to chat, and collaborate on projects.

Virtual workspace features:

• Hybrid collaboration lets you brainstorm and whiteboard together as if you were in the same room.
  
  
• Socialize and get to know your teammates.
  
  
• Join hybrid meeting rooms for scheduled conversations or start a random chat on the open floor.
  
  
• Hybrid Spaces let you “teleport” around the office, connect, and collaborate with your team.
  
  
• Integration with over 200 existing office apps.

Sococo

G2 rating: 4.3

Notable brands: AgileCraft, FlexJobs, Iguazu, JetBlue, ICAgile, Ultimate Software

Sococo is a virtual workspace where remote teams can work together, side-by-side, through voice, video, chat, and screen sharing. The platform has a virtual office space with separate rooms, including a conference room, chill zone, silent den, focus room, and breakout rooms. 

Virtual workspace features:

• Real-time discussion with teammates via chat or video call in your preferred room.
  
  
• Live audio and HD video conferencing.
  
  
• Multiple concurrent screen sharing.
  
  
• Shareable meeting links for guests.
  
  
• Integration with Zoom, Webex, Google Meet, and Microsoft Teams.

NexGen Virtual Office

G2 rating: 4.4

Notable brands: TrekSecure 

NexGen Virtual Office is an online simulated office space where users “go” to work every day. You can design a custom digital office for your remote team with real-time in-office status, one-click secure video conferencing, and advanced chat.

Virtual workspace features:

• Interactive custom floor plans and branding.
  
  
• Encrypted video conferencing and simultaneous screen sharing.
  
  
• Chat file sharing and document storage.
  
  
• Custom video conferencing rooms.
  
  
• Application Console integrates with all of your favorite tools and applications in one place.

Benefits of investing in a virtual workspace

Here are the top 7 benefits of investing in a virtual workspace:

• Reduced costs. Employees can work from anywhere, so there’s no need to rent a large office space or, in some cases, any office space. 
  
  
• Greater employee satisfaction. A centralized technology stack simplifies work, increases staff engagement, and provides a better overall employee experience.
  
  
• Improved productivity. Simplified workflows save time and effort so staff can focus on work, not on finding information.
  
  
• Stronger business continuity. When you back up everything in the cloud, you can rest assured your assets will be available when you need them. 
  
  
• Increased scalability. It’s easier to scale operations by adding or removing apps and resources in a virtual environment.
  
  
• Enhanced security.  Access permission control capabilities ensure that only authorized users can access sensitive data.
  
  
• Sustainability. Working in remote and hybrid teams reduces commuting and carbon emissions.

Create your virtual workspace with Happeo

Following the pandemic, more employees now prefer hybrid or fully remote working. 

As a result, companies are embracing virtual workspace solutions to ensure all their employees can do their best work together regardless of location.

Happeo’s virtual workspace features make it perfect for remote and hybrid workforces. And it’s quick to implement and easy to use. 

You can use Happeo to:

• Share knowledge between teams and individuals.
  
  
• Create, publish, update, share, and archive content.
  
  
• Communicate via chat, video, and DMs.
  
  
• Collaborate and interact socially with teammates.
  
  
• Find employees in the visual people directory.
  
  
• Enjoy personalized and relevant content.
  
  
• Analyze user and content insights. 
  
  
• Store your content securely. 
  
  
• Work seamlessly with Google Workspace or Microsoft 365.
  
  
• Search for information across the platform and third-party apps.  

Watch the demo video to see how Happeo can become your digital headquarters!