Will We All Be Communicating By App In The Future?

Apps are increasingly taking over every aspect of our lives. How often have you asked yourself “I wonder if there’s an app for that?” Just a few years ago, none of us had even heard of apps, and now we increasingly rely on them for everything from banking to booking a vacation. It seems as though there’s an app for anything that you could possibly want to do. Do you want to track your health and fitness? No problem. Do you want to know what the weather will be like next week? You’re covered. How about placing a bet at a live dealer online casino? Yes, it’s all there for you in the palm of your hand.

One of the main uses for apps these days is for communication. There’s a world of different messaging apps for you to choose from. Hangouts, Facebook Messenger, Whats App… just a few of the best known options on the market today. Messaging app communication is developing with every year that goes by, so how will the future of communication solutions look?

The State Of Play So Far

Messaging apps are already in common use among all levels of society. Whether for personal or business use, communication solutions via apps are popular choices. Already, these options are being used to distribute content, to communicate directly with customers, to offer a personal and speedy service to consumers or to simply allow for conversations to take place between individuals who aren’t physically together.

Conversational marketing has even become possible thanks to messaging apps. By using the automated chat functions of WhatsApp and other similar options, content and dialogue marketing are able to be combined in personalized communications that are tailored to appeal to the individual.

Messaging apps are also beginning to replace once commonplace office solutions like email. As today’s society expects faster and easier ways to exchange information, apps like Slack are taking over from the standard email format which could take some time to reach the recipient.

Enterprise Social Networks – The Way Forward In Communications

ESNs (Enterprise Social Networks) like Google Hangouts and Slack are becoming commonplace in workplaces of the 21st century. Since its launch back in 2013, Slack has seen a growth of 350% in active user growth and it has been estimated that this app alone has been responsible for reducing internet email numbers by almost 50%.

This has clearly brought about an enormous transformation in the way that businesses manage their internal communications, improving project and team efficiency on a daily basis. As yet, Slack hasn’t entirely replaced email, however it’s well on the way to replacing it in an internal workplace environment.

Personal And Professional Messaging Communications Via Apps

The trends that we see in our personal lives often indicate what will happen soon in the workplace. When it comes to communication, online messaging apps have turned the world of group and one to one conversations upside down. WhatsApp currently handles around 30 billion messages each day and the rise of these platforms have coincided with a decline in the number of SMS messages being sent and received.

In the professional environment, messaging apps are helping to improve efficiency in the workplace. Teams are able to communicate more effectively through communications apps like Slack. However, companies need to review their strategies more frequently and become ready to change and develop as technology progresses in order to make financial savings by switching to these app-based solutions.

Will It Ever Be Possible To Communicate Solely Through Apps?

While email and telephone conversations still have a place in our personal and work lives, the latest sophisticated messaging apps are starting to have a major impact. At the present time, email remains a robust communication method, with auditable trails of sent messages and read receipts. However, Slack, Basecamp, Trello and Google Hangouts are starting to bring onboard alternate channels of communication which are growing in popularity and have reduced our workplace reliance on emails.

As we move ever-further into a digital age, it’s appropriate to ask whether other forms of communication apart from apps will be fully replaced within our lifetimes. For some people, this has already happened. Many generation Zers have never called any of their friends on the telephone and have rarely sent an email. As more remote workers enter the arena, physical offices are also disappearing and messaging apps are becoming more prevalent. It’s clear that success is possible even without traditional communication methods being present.

Even more importantly, values and norms change with time. Not so long ago, every workplace had a dedicated landline telephone extension for each member of staff. They also had fax machines in the office. Now, those things are already seen as obsolete. Soon email and telephone conversations could be joining those relics of the past.

All technology will eventually have an expiry date since this is innovation’s nature. For the foreseeable future, however, it’s likely that traditional communication methods will be around for some time yet. Yet, as time goes on, it’s probable that they will fall out of fashion and there will be increasing reliance on messaging apps as the future of communications – that is until something new takes their place!