Communication and Collaboration Tools for Businesses during Pandemic

Individual Report

Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
MAIN BODY..................................................................................................................................3
Communication and Collaboration Tools and how they have helped many businesses to
survive the current pandemic.......................................................................................................3
Advantage, Disadvantage, suitability, and applications of cloud storage and computing..........5
Positive and negative aspects of services and products being sold online and offline................7
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................8
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................9

INTRODUCTION
Information communication technology can be defined as use of modern tools and
techniques which will be useful in communicating with each other. It is the best way to interact
with people with the help of tools which are available such as, email, web conferencing,
WhatsApp, fakebook, Instagram and many other so that it will be easy to communicate. During
pandemic all the persons are using this tools to communicate and complete their work. In every
organisation this tools are useful and help in communicating with each other (Ratheeswari,
2018). In the present report, different communication and collaboration tools are discussed which
are useful in communicating. Cloud storage and cloud computing is discussed and its
advantages, disadvantages, suitability and applications are described. Further, online and offline
products or services is discussed in which positive as well as negative impact are discussed and
which type of shopping is most preferred by consumers.
MAIN BODY
Communication and Collaboration Tools and how they have helped many businesses to survive
the current pandemic
Communication and collaboration tools are those tools that facilitate communication and
collaboration when individuals are not able to communicate directly. There are several tools and
these tools have specially helped businesses during pandemic as majority of the workforce was
working remotely and this increased requirement for use of these tools for communication and
collaboration. Communication and collaboration tools are-
Slack- This is one of the highly used communication and collaboration tools by businesses.
Slack is an easy to use messaging service and also integrates with platforms like Twitter and
Dropbox. In this channels and conversations are organised on the basis of topic and regarding
topic, users can have as much as they want to (Francesca Cassidy, 2020). Along with this one of
the feature of Slack involves that any type of file can be shared through Slack with colleagues
within fraction of time. Slack also have function of video call where maximum 15 participants
can join video call and this also facilitates meeting over communication and collaboration tools
for businesses. Benefits of using this app includes that it is very simple to be used and new users
can start it without much time in set-up. Integration is also a benefit or advantage of Slack in
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which list of apps can be integrated for discussion across various platforms. However there are
drawbacks or limitations associated with it such as it can be disorganised and is also shallow.
Zoom- During the global pandemic this was one of the tools and was used by millions of people
and it became a true success during pandemic. Zoom is a cloud based service and integrates
video conferencing, online meetings, chat and mobile collaboration. Zoom is also second most
downloaded app in the world. Benefits of Zoom include that it enables to have clean, high
quality audio and video, class can also be recorded for future references and review and this is an
important feature for businesses, screen of Zoom can be easily shared and events or meetings
over Zoom can be scheduled in advance. Along with this events can be exported to calendars and
guests invited can also be decided and updated in advance. This ensures that no member of team
supposed to be present at meeting miss the calls and meetings when working remotely (Mahr and
et.al., 2021). Advantage of Zoom includes that it offers interoperability in which users can
connect to virtual meeting through Desktop, Laptop and mobile devices seamlessly. For small
businesses and personal use Zoom app is free and this is also a benefit of it and work over Zoom
is flexible and meeting can be organised effectively through its feature of scheduling meetings.
Zoom also allows better service on slow connections. Drawbacks of Zoom can be considered as
delayed services of customers and also security concerns of Zoom.
Microsoft Teams/Office 365- This is also an example of communication and collaboration tools
that businesses can use. This tool provides big range of features and this is a cloud based solution
that offers traditional word-processing, spreadsheet, and slide-show capabilities and allow
multiple people to edit document in real time. Microsoft Teams also offer feature of video
conferencing and through this, teams can now streamline remote communication through high
quality virtual meeting rooms (Mercurio, 2018). Advantage of Office 365 includes seamless
collaboration of team and regular and automatic updates of the app and advanced protective
features enables to reduce security risk associated with app. Drawbacks of Office 365 includes
that it has compatibility problem and internet connection is primary requirement for connecting
with Office 365.
Teamwork- With reference to the current pandemic of covid, teamwork plays an important role
in terms of establishment of collaboration among the members of the team and assisting the
company to face the pandemic. Teamwork is a group effort in which the team will be made by
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