Citrix Launches Podio Chat To Bring Instant Messages, Video And Audio Chat To Its Social Business Platform

Citrix today added a new real-time chat feature to its Podio social business platform that allows users to discuss projects, tasks, documents and other items by using standard instant messages, as well as audio and video chats. Citrix argues that this makes Podio, which was already being used by over 200,000 companies at the end of last year, “the first collaboration service of its kind to provide IM and video chat “in context.”

While Podio, which Citrix acquired last year, is quite a fully featured business platform and already included a number of real-time features, including real-time comments, the new chat feature allows for one-on-one and group chats. It features all of the usual chat features you’ve likely seen on Yammer or tools like Convo, including the ability to like comments.

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Citrix notes that Podio Chat is unique in its ability to bring text, audio and video chat together in one platform. Because Podio also allows you to invite users from outside of the company (contractors, suppliers, partners, etc.), the new chat feature should also make it easier and faster to work with them.

As for the video chat tool, Citrix says that it will allow for ad-hoc, face-to-face discussion, as well as allow you to set up recurring team video meetings using the company’s GoToMeeting service.

This feature, Citrix says, will allow businesses to unify their communications on its Podio platform “by enabling teams to communicate in a variety of different ways to get work done, all without email or third-party communication tools.”

The new chat features will be available on the desktop, where it will live in a new chat pane, as well as on Podio’s mobile apps for Android and iOS.