What Your Business Should Know About the Collaboration Platform Discord

While it isn’t officially a business solution, the collaboration platform Discord has seen some popularity as a means of facilitating a business’ internal communications. Listed below are some tips to enhance your use of the platform, in case you are part of a company that does so. 

Consider the big question: is Discord a good option for businesses to use?

Is Discord a Solid Business Solution?

As you’d expect, the answer to this question isn’t so clear-cut; it really depends on what you intend to use it for. As Discord servers can’t be individually separated by privacy settings, they aren’t well-suited to businesses that need a tool for both their internal and external communications. There is also no guarantee that your messages will be accessible in the future, making it less than ideal for keeping a record of your communications. Moreover, the automations built into Discord (called “bots”) offer effectively nothing that could serve any practical business utility.

On the other hand, while it can’t effectively serve as a single solution for all of your communications, it does provide a few features that make it an effective tool in the right situation, and it doesn’t hurt that the basic version is free. Adding users is a simple, one-step process, and you can even grant these users different roles that dictate what they can see on your server.

Speaking of the server, it is also critical to acknowledge what it resembles more than anything else: a live conference call line to the rest of the office. Does this help to recreate the open office environment amongst a remote team, in terms of just speaking up to start a conversation? Absolutely… you just need to keep in mind that the practicality Discord offers is somewhat limited.

We leave the decision of whether or not to use Discord to you. In case you do, here are a few tips you might find useful:

How to Create a Discord Server

In Discord, look to the left side column. This is your dashboard, and it is the place where you can open a new server by simply clicking the “+” button. Name it, select your region, and click Create. You’ll then want to define the roles that different users on your server can have, which is how you can effectively mimic access controls.

How to Send Customized Invites

Once your server is created, you’ll want to add your users. From your new server select the Invite your friends option. This can be found in the dropdown menu at the upper left of your window. Select Invite People, and you’ll be given the option to search for someone by their username, invite one of your existing friends on the platform, or (most fitting to our needs) send them a link to your server. 

Under the displayed link, you’ll find the option to Edit invite link, which gives you the ability to set an expiration date, a maximum number of users who can click it, and the option to kick anyone who uses it out of the server again once they disconnect unless they have been assigned an official role. Once you’ve customized it to your liking, Generate a New Link, Copy the link by pressing the button and paste it into any message you send your intended user. Mind you, this is all assuming you’re working from the desktop.

So, let us know: have you tried using Discord as a business tool? If you have, what did you think? Are you interested in learning more about other collaborative solutions? We can help with that, too. Give Macro Systems a call at 703-359-9211 today to find out more about how we can get you set up with a platform that is built to see to your business’ needs to better ensure its success.