Tools of the Trade: Discord

Welcome to Tools of the Trade, a semi-regular column dedicated to providing our business-minded readers with a range of tools, whether it be software, frameworks, philosophies, or even literal tools, that provide some measure of value to any profession.

This week’s tool is a singular platform that I present as an alternative to some more common communication platforms, like Slack and Microsoft Teams. Discord provides much in the same functionality, with one caveat- from a cursory glance, you can immediately tell who the platform’s target market is: online gamers. How can businesses benefit from using the tool? Let’s take a look.

1. It’s free.

Most importantly to the bulk of businesses, Discord is entirely free. This provides a nice alternative to Slack where a lot of its functionality comes from a dedicated SaaS model. Discord does have a premium version, but the added value for this is more in the way cosmetics rather than functionality. For MSMEs, Discord provides all the necessary functions; separate servers, text channels that can be split for projects or teams, and also…

2. Audio.

Built for gamers, Discord has a very easy to use and functional audio channel. Persistent audio that can be segregated similar to text channels is perfect for co-working and the now regular work-from-home setups. It’s easy to jump into live channels to ask questions to the team members currently looped in, and to leave in order to better focus on individual tasks.

3. Integration

Another feature that translates well from the gaming world into the business one is the integration of various apps and bots. This can simplify and operationalize a lot of different processes in various workflows- from importing data to calling out various functions.

All these benefits said, there are some caveats to using Discord. File size uploads are capped at 8mb, the lack of threads in servers may prove messy for larger corporations, and cosmetically the app really is tailored for a particular market segment. All that being said, I believe the pros heavily outweigh the cons, making this the perfect tool for entrepreneurs, MSMEs, and smaller corporations. Give it a try.