Australian software and collaborative tools company Atlassian has added group video conferencing to its HipChat collaborative software platform. It is much more than a shot over the bow of Slack, Hangouts, Yammer, Skype, Facebook Messenger et al. – it does not use apps, browser plugins, and proprietary formats and all users need to do is click on a link.
Steve Goldsmith, general manager of HipChat at Atlassian, said, “PBX and VoIP-based video conference systems are going the way of taxis and home phones – no one needs them anymore."
From a hardware perspective, today laptops provide everything necessary to chat, call, video conference and collaborate with teammates. Collaboration tools such as HipChat have made the laptop the nexus of collaboration and communication.
Goldsmith added, “There are plenty of consumer tools out there, but they’re not built for teams to work and take action together.”
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Initially, the software has a 10-user limit and is available in desktop and web platforms. Mobile is on the anvil. It is part of the HipChat Plus which costs $2 per user per month.
More details are here.
“HipChat is the first app we open to start the day. It’s our company watercooler and work communication in one place,” said Jürgen Altziebler, chief creative officer, Intridea.
iTWire has a primer on Atlassian here.