Microsoft Teams must copy Slack’s new message scheduling option

Slack’s new option to schedule messages is worth following, and Microsoft should take note.

What you need to know

• Slack today announced a new option that lets you schedule messages in the app.
• Microsoft Teams lacks native functionality to schedule messages.
• Imitating Slack’s new feature would help Microsoft Teams keep pace with its competitor.

Yesterday Slack announced a new option that lets you schedule messages (via The Verge). This feature allows people to schedule messages in chat rooms, as direct messages, or in group discussions. People can schedule messages on slack’s iOS, Android, and desktop versions.

Because many people work remotely, the schedules don’t always match. For example, our news editor, Rob Carnevale, and I work in different time zones. I usually sign out around 7pm in England, and he stays on for several hours because he’s based in the United States. Carnevale often leaves messages for “future Sean” with the intention of seeing them when I sign up in the morning. This works fine in some cases, but is a tricky solution.

Being able to schedule messages for any time in the future opens up new possibilities. A person can schedule a reminder that’s sent while they’re on vacation, or a boss can schedule a congratulatory message for when a major event closes.

Currently, Microsoft Teams does not provide a native way to schedule messages. Nearly 2,000 people have requested the functionality through UserVoice.

There’s an app available for Microsoft Teams called “Send Later” that lets you schedule messages, but you’ll probably have to pay for a subscription to make it useful. The free version only allows 10 messages per month from two users.

Source: windowscentral