Visual collaboration software was created to help businesses develop more collaborative and immersive methods for engaging their customers. Designed to work in remote, hybrid, and in-person events, these visual tools empower users to bridge the gap between moderators and audiences.
But to truly enhance the way a business communicates with its customers, visual collaboration tools must be able to integrate with various technologies used throughout the business world. What integrations are most important, though? And which features do you need to engage customers and ensure every interaction is as valuable as possible? We’ll answer both of these important questions in the sections below.
Must-Have Integrations for Collaboration Tools in Business
Ideally, whatever collaboration tool you choose will integrate with the most widely used communication and collaboration tools for business. Here are three examples of must-have software integrations.
1. Teams and Google Meet
Some customers use Microsoft communication apps while others prefer Google. Whatever the case may be, your visual collaboration platform should be flexible enough to integrate with the calling and chat services your customers prefer. For example, the Alleo app can integrate with both Microsoft Teams and Google Meet. This streamlines the meeting process so no one feels confused and everyone is accommodated.
2. Google Drive and OneDrive
Sharing and editing documents is a common practice when collaborating on a project with your customers. But things can quickly become unwieldy, and information is easily lost in translation, if companies cannot integrate their visual collaboration tools with file storage tools. To make things easy, Alleo integrates with the two most widely used cloud file storage platforms — Google Drive and OneDrive.
Our streamlined interface allows users to connect their Alleo visual collaboration asset library directly to their Google Drive or OneDrive to easily access and upload files. Additionally, our tool allows users to edit documents in Google Drive or OneDrive without ever leaving the Alleo platform. This allows you to edit a document while meeting with a customer and update all of the information in real-time.
3. Zoom
Widely regarded as the most popular video conferencing app, Zoom is a critical platform to integrate with. On its own, Zoom is fine for a basic video call or meeting. But adding a comprehensive and interactive visual collaboration tool enhances the overall video call experience significantly. Alleo integrates with Zoom to provide activities, visualizations, and other custom experiences. Simply select the “Collaborate” button in the Alleo Zoom app panel, and all attendees can access and interact with your collaborative meeting space.
In the end, you want your visual collaboration solution to be flexible. Having expansive integration capabilities with common communication tools ensures you, and your customers, will get the most out of the experiences you create in your visual collaboration program.
The Alleo Difference: Bonus Embeddable Assets and Document Sharing Tools
In addition to integrating with the above listed platforms, Alleo offers embeddable assets to further enhance any interactive presentation or meeting experience. These assets include:
- YouTube
- Vimeo
- Spotify
- TEDTalks
- SoundCloud
- Twitch
- Getty Images
- Google Maps
- Gfycat
- WordPress
- Codepen
- Flickr
We also support various file types so you can adapt your activities to best suit your customers’ needs and preferences. Our supported file types include:
- Images (JPG, PNG, GIF)
- Audio files ( SVG, MP4, MP3, WAV)
- Documents (PDF, Word, HTML)
- Spreadsheets (Excel, Google Sheets)
- Presentations (PowerPoint, Google Slides)
What Are the Essential Features for Collaboration Software?
Collaborative tools are meant to answer two challenging questions for businesses:
- How do you collaborate with team members remotely, in person, and in hybrid settings?
- How do you collaborate with customers in all settings?
To truly provide a solution to these complex internal and external communication challenges, a visual collaboration software must be flexible, equitable, and engaging. Let’s explore each of these key features in more detail.
☐ Flexible
The ideal visual collaboration solution will allow you to design and host your meetings in a single, virtual space. It should also provide various functionalities to help you create unique experiences for every engagement. Some important features that enhance flexibility are:
- Customizable templates, activities, and experiences
- Interactive widgets
- Whiteboarding
- In-platform chat capabilities
☐ Equitable
Everyone prefers to communicate in different ways. Whether in-person or remote, your audience should be able to participate at the same rate. Therefore, your events and presentations should be created with equality in mind and adjusted to accommodate multiple communication styles. Vital equitable features for visual collaboration include:
- Interactive whiteboards
- Notepads
- Polling activities
- Image reactions and emojis
- Audio and visual aids
- Real-time feedback (like surveys)
☐ Engaging
A visual collaboration tool should help you create experiences that hold everyone’s attention, regardless of the attendees or the environment. Important engagement features include:
- Vibrant and interesting visuals
- Real-time data display
- Live demonstrations of products or processes
- Ability to support synchronous and asynchronous work
- Real-time commenting
- Embedded media
What Type of Software Is Used for Collaborative Efforts?
When it comes to collaborative software, you deserve a solution that does it all. Alleo allows you to host various interactive events such as presentations, workshops, demos, hybrid events, strategy sessions, and more. Our real-time dashboards and synchronized view allows all users—including your customers—to interact with various visualizations and content in a single, infinite persistent canvas.
Ultimately, we believe that online collaborative tools and processes should foster greater connectivity and equitable engagement. Ready to collaborate? Connect with us and book a demo to get started.
