Do Enterprises Need a Secure Texting App?

Texting apps like WhatsApp, Snapchat and Kik are gaining mass popularity in the consumer space, but what about texting apps for the enterprise?

Apps like TigerConnect Clinical Collaboration Platform – Standard are widely popular in the healthcare sector due to HIPAA regulations around texting PHI, but with more companies embracing bring your own device (BYOD) policies, there is a strong business case for enterprises needing a secure texting solution.

A study from last year found that more than 60 percent of enterprises allow employee use of personal devices to access enterprise data. With that in mind, companies should without a doubt pay close attention to the channels their employees use to communicate. To manage compliance risks and safeguard their network security, several organizations are questioning if they should turn to secure texting, and the answer is a resounding yes.

Why?

Secure texting not only fosters a collaborative environment, but it also enables users to quickly communicate and coordinate with other colleagues while eradicating the need for multiple devices and tedious communication channels. Unlike emails, secure texting is instantaneous and avoids outside threats or hackers. Messages sent across a secure texting app are encrypted in transit and at rest, removing the risk of hacking.

Additionally, with secure text messages, information can be sent and received on the go without having to repeatedly log in to a website or console to view them. Beyond the mobility features, more and more organizations are turning to this form of communication outside and inside the office as it ensures a safer way to share information. After all, why risk a company’s corporate data when it’s so easy to use an app for the purpose of communicating? Secure texting encompasses everything we love about mobile messaging, but with built-in features and tools to help one work faster and more easily with his or her team.

Enterprise-Worthy Features

• Privacy and Security –Secure texting is encrypted, safe and helps comply with many enterprise regulations including HIPAA, FINRA, SOX and more. Additionally, messages can be set to immediately self-destruct upon being read, ensuring the messages never end up in the wrong hands.
• Keep Your Personal Phone Number Private – With BYOD becoming the norm in the workplace, it’s only fair that one should be able to keep their personal mobile number private. With secure texting, users don’t need to exchange mobile numbers to reach each other with their mobile devices.
• Instantaneously Chat with Colleagues – Unlike emails, which often take time to draft, texts can be created and sent quickly and on the go.
• Stay in Touch with Remote or Offsite Colleagues – Today’s workforce is more mobile than ever. Secure texting offers employees the ability to reach remote coworkers without hassle.
• Separates Personal Conversations from Work Conversations – With separate inboxes, one never has to worry about using multiple apps or communication channels to chat with family and loved ones, in addition to colleagues.
• Message Read Receipts – Wondering if your coworker has read your email? This is never the case with secure texting…delivery and read receipts ensure users when a message has successfully been delivered and read.

It’s logical to see there’s a strong case to be made that enterprises need secure texting. BYOD will soon be the rule in the workplace, rather than the exception. And with plenty of enterprise-worthy features, it only makes sense to forgo basic texting. The enterprises that see the benefits of such an app and deploy it will be well ahead of the game when it comes to the future of workplace communication.