4 ms·

Slack launches Huddles, Discord-like audio calls you can hop in and out of

69 points by Garbage 5y ago

dcroley 5y ago
So basically, it's just a slack call with the video off?
- monkey_monkey 5y ago
  I don't think so, it's more like a Discord Voice Channel - ie it's always on, and you can enter or leave whenever without needing to start up or tear down a call or invite anyone
  - bluefirebrand 5y ago
    You can also be in one alone to signal "I am willing to have a conversation right now" and people who want that too can just join at will.
- yjftsjthsd-h 5y ago
  Tech-wise, maybe, culturally it makes a difference.
tannedNerd 5y ago
I wish discord would support fast account user switching. I vastly prefer it to slack but I also enjoy having good workplace hygiene so having my gaming friends pop up during my work hours is less than ideal.
- joshstrange 5y ago
  Agreed, I don't love the fact that my username is tied to all my discord activity. For my friend-based Discord's that's fine but for larger communities or ones that I'd prefer to just be anonymous it's annoying that I either have to tie it all together or I have to log out/in constantly.
  - monkey_monkey 5y ago
    I use the Discord PTB (public test build) and the stable client to separate out personal and professional. It's less than ideal though, it would be so much better if Discord supported multiple accounts
- aclelland 5y ago
  I use Discord in different browsers to keep separate accounts active at the same time. It works pretty well in Firefox and Edge. Running in the browser also means discord can't snoop on what apps you have installed or what games you're running and report them back to home base which is another plus.
  - tannedNerd 5y ago
    I’ll have to give this a try. I already use it in a browser since for some silly reason the discord Mac app blocks virtual cameras like GoPro or manycam.
  - fish45 5y ago
    you can also use Firefox containers to keep it all within Firefox
  - lytedev 5y ago
    You would enjoy Firefox Containers!
- CodesInChaos 5y ago
  Not supporting multiple identities is discords biggest feature gap IMO. On windows you can use sandboxie to start multiple instances in parallel using different credentials, but it's somewhat annoying to use and breaks occasionally.
  - Jaxkr 5y ago
    You should try running your Discords in Firefox Containers [1]. Even if you don’t use Firefox to browse, it’s superior to Sandboxie for containing multiple Discord instances. [1]: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/multi-account-containers/ https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/multi-account...
JaggedJax 5y ago
I really like this idea and think it would be very useful for our team. I do worry how well it will work because I've never used a less reliable voice chat in my life than Slack calls. My entire team has problems with it about half the time and it has never gotten better.
sdflhasjd 5y ago
I honestly can't believe it's taken them so long. It's a killer feature of discord, and the Slack audio calling at the moment still feels clunky and unreliable. Every big Slack update, I've been disappointed that the calling hasn't been overhauled. The only other thing I want from Slack is to be able to invite guests (proper guests, not guest accounts) into calls/meetings. Our customers use Teams, and it's a nice experience being able to join a meeting without an account or downloading some meeting app. It's the only reason why we still use Zoom.
- pxue 5y ago
  Agreed. Imho kinda crazy the zoom slack integration works better than slacks own native calling function.
- markshepard 5y ago
  AirSend is able to invite guests for audio like discord/Slack huddle. Not only that external customers can join public online meetings (audio/video) without an account using AirSend. (Note:https://www.airsend.io/blog/index.php/2021/06/30/create-public-calls-in-airsend/ https://www.airsend.io/blog/index.php/2021/06/30/create-publ...).
thdxr 5y ago
I'm sure to a lot of people this may not seem like a big deal. However I think this makes a huge difference in lowering the friction to quickly hop in/out of audio. It seems minor but is pretty transformational in how remote communication happens
toqueteos 5y ago
Isn't this how Ventrilo, Mumble and TeamSpeak have worked since decades ago?
- willcipriano 5y ago
  Isn't Ventrilo, Mumble and TeamSpeak just a digital version of a party line[0]? [0]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Party_line_(telephony) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Party_line_(telephony)
supergirl 5y ago
poor choice of name. probably many non native english speakers don't know what it means and sounds like a lazily made up word to them

69 points by Garbage 5y ago

dcroley 5y ago

So basically, it's just a slack call with the video off?

monkey_monkey 5y ago
I don't think so, it's more like a Discord Voice Channel - ie it's always on, and you can enter or leave whenever without needing to start up or tear down a call or invite anyone
- bluefirebrand 5y ago
  You can also be in one alone to signal "I am willing to have a conversation right now" and people who want that too can just join at will.
yjftsjthsd-h 5y ago
Tech-wise, maybe, culturally it makes a difference.

tannedNerd 5y ago

I wish discord would support fast account user switching. I vastly prefer it to slack but I also enjoy having good workplace hygiene so having my gaming friends pop up during my work hours is less than ideal.

joshstrange 5y ago
Agreed, I don't love the fact that my username is tied to all my discord activity. For my friend-based Discord's that's fine but for larger communities or ones that I'd prefer to just be anonymous it's annoying that I either have to tie it all together or I have to log out/in constantly.
- monkey_monkey 5y ago
  I use the Discord PTB (public test build) and the stable client to separate out personal and professional. It's less than ideal though, it would be so much better if Discord supported multiple accounts
aclelland 5y ago
I use Discord in different browsers to keep separate accounts active at the same time. It works pretty well in Firefox and Edge. Running in the browser also means discord can't snoop on what apps you have installed or what games you're running and report them back to home base which is another plus.
- tannedNerd 5y ago
  I’ll have to give this a try. I already use it in a browser since for some silly reason the discord Mac app blocks virtual cameras like GoPro or manycam.
- fish45 5y ago
  you can also use Firefox containers to keep it all within Firefox
- lytedev 5y ago
  You would enjoy Firefox Containers!
CodesInChaos 5y ago
Not supporting multiple identities is discords biggest feature gap IMO. On windows you can use sandboxie to start multiple instances in parallel using different credentials, but it's somewhat annoying to use and breaks occasionally.
- Jaxkr 5y ago
  You should try running your Discords in Firefox Containers [1]. Even if you don’t use Firefox to browse, it’s superior to Sandboxie for containing multiple Discord instances. [1]: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/multi-account-containers/ https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/multi-account...

JaggedJax 5y ago

I really like this idea and think it would be very useful for our team. I do worry how well it will work because I've never used a less reliable voice chat in my life than Slack calls. My entire team has problems with it about half the time and it has never gotten better.

sdflhasjd 5y ago

I honestly can't believe it's taken them so long. It's a killer feature of discord, and the Slack audio calling at the moment still feels clunky and unreliable. Every big Slack update, I've been disappointed that the calling hasn't been overhauled. The only other thing I want from Slack is to be able to invite guests (proper guests, not guest accounts) into calls/meetings. Our customers use Teams, and it's a nice experience being able to join a meeting without an account or downloading some meeting app. It's the only reason why we still use Zoom.

pxue 5y ago
Agreed. Imho kinda crazy the zoom slack integration works better than slacks own native calling function.
markshepard 5y ago
AirSend is able to invite guests for audio like discord/Slack huddle. Not only that external customers can join public online meetings (audio/video) without an account using AirSend. (Note:https://www.airsend.io/blog/index.php/2021/06/30/create-public-calls-in-airsend/ https://www.airsend.io/blog/index.php/2021/06/30/create-publ...).

thdxr 5y ago

I'm sure to a lot of people this may not seem like a big deal. However I think this makes a huge difference in lowering the friction to quickly hop in/out of audio. It seems minor but is pretty transformational in how remote communication happens

toqueteos 5y ago

Isn't this how Ventrilo, Mumble and TeamSpeak have worked since decades ago?

willcipriano 5y ago
Isn't Ventrilo, Mumble and TeamSpeak just a digital version of a party line[0]? [0]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Party_line_(telephony) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Party_line_(telephony)

supergirl 5y ago

poor choice of name. probably many non native english speakers don't know what it means and sounds like a lazily made up word to them