In January Skype announced integration with enterprise messaging app Slack that allows Slack team members to make Skype voice and video calls from directly inside the Slack app.

Now Slack Technologies, Inc. has made it even simpler for teams to collaborate — at least on voice calls — with the release of a new native conference calling feature in its app.

The new “Calls” feature is currently in beta and limited to voice calls in Slack’s latest desktop app for Mac and Windows and the Web app in Chrome. Calls uses WebRTC so no additional plugin is required.

Using the Calls feature, any member of a Slack team can start a voice call with any other team member in a Direct Message while teams on Slack’s Standard plan and above can also start calls in channels and group Direct Messages (DMs).

To use Calls, your Slack Team Owner or Admin will have to opt-in to Slack’s new Calls feature.

How to add Calls to your Slack team

To turn on Calls for your team (Team Owner or Admin only), go to your Team Settings page > next to Calls, click expand > check the box next to Enable Calls for this team > click Save Setting.

This enables Calls for all team members and only Team Owners and Admins can disable the feature again.

To disable Calls for your team, follow the same steps as above and untick the box next to Enable Calls for this team. Remember the save your new setting. 

How to make voice calls in Slack

Calls supports one-to-one calls in DMs (available to all Slack teams) and group calls up to 15 participants in channels and group DMs (only for paid teams on the Standard plan and above).

To start a voice call in Slack, open a channel or DM and click the phone icon at the top of your screen.

In one-to-one and group DMs, your call will start immediately and the team member(s) you’re calling will be notified of an incoming call via a pop-up.

Note: If the team member you’re calling is set to away, the call will ring for 30 seconds. If they’re in Do Not Disturb mode, your call will not go through.

In channels, Slack will first confirm that you want to start a call in that particular channel. You can give your call a custom name and click Start new call to get going.

Note: All members of a channel can see and join your call if they want to. A maximum of 15 team members are supported per call.

If you’d like to invite specific team members in a channel to join your call, click on the plus icon in the upper right corner of the call window and start typing a name. The list will filter and you can pick the team member to invite to the call.

How to answer or join a Slack call

To answer a call in a one-on-one or group DM, simply click the green phone icon in the pop-up notification. To reject a call, click the red phone icon.

To join a group call in a channel, click Join this call on the invitation. The call window will show all participants and who is speaking at any given moment.

While in a call, you have options to control your microphone (mute/un-mute) and audio, send emoji, add team members to the call, and exit the call.

While Calls are limited to voice and desktop only for now, Slack says video calls, screen sharing and mobile support (iOS and Android) are all coming. And support for Linux will be added too.

Source: Slack Help Center

Image credit: Wikimedia Commons