Top 10 Business-ready Signal alternatives for Eastern Europe

2025. Microsoft to cut Teams from Office 365 to avoid EU sanctions



Microsoft has decided to spin off the corporate messenger Teams from the Office 365 suite to avoid an EU fine of 10% of its global annual turnover. In addition, prices for Teams plans without video conferencing will be reduced and compatibility with competing software will be improved. The antitrust investigation against Microsoft began after a complaint from Teams competitor Slack in July 2020. The European Commission then pointed out that the integration of Microsoft's IT platforms creates an unfair advantage over other market players. In 2024, the European Commission accused Microsoft of violating antitrust laws due to the fact that the IT company sold the Teams messenger in Office 365 and Microsoft 365 packages for several years.


2024. Google Chat now supports IFTTT integration



The enterprise messenger Google Chat has added a new integration with IFTTT. You can now set up triggers for new messages, members, or workspaces, and perform actions such as publishing a message or creating a new chat. For example, when adding a new member to a group or uploading a file from Google Drive or Dropbox, you can automatically send an email or message. IFTTT integration is also available for other Google Workspace services, such as Gmail, Drive, and Calendar.


2024. Microsoft’s Copilot is now on Telegram



Microsoft’s Copilot, a marvel of generative AI technology, has found its way onto Telegram, where it now lounges comfortably as a beta chatbot, pretending to be your well-informed but mildly eccentric friend. You can summon it by searching for @CopilotOfficialBot and after the obligatory sharing of your phone number (it’s only polite, after all), you’ll be able to ask it anything, from what movie to watch on a rainy Tuesday to who’s winning the latest sporting event. It’s free, available on both mobile and desktop and hints at Microsoft’s grander plans to infiltrate every corner of our digital lives with Copilot—starting with its appearances in Microsoft 365, Teams and even Copilot+ PCs. Telegram’s just another stop on the journey to AI world domination.

2021. MyChat implemented Kanban access rights and Lite Manager integration



The new version of the LAN chat, MyChat 8.10, introduces flexible user permissions for projects. For example, you can grant access to adding tasks, comments, and editing project parameters for each specific project. You can create permission groups and user groups and link them together. Source code can also be pasted into the chat—a feature that software developers will appreciate. You can copy a piece of program code from your IDE and paste it into the chat. Furthermore, the developers have integrated Lite Manager, a system for remote administration and management of computers on a local network and over the internet. The feature also supports rendering QR codes and barcodes scanned by Android smartphones, and inserting code images and text into the chat.


2020. Slack now allows calls to Microsoft Teams



People once believed that all messaging apps would merge into a single network, allowing their users to communicate with each other. But messaging providers have always carefully guarded their boundaries. Therefore, it's surprising that Slack (perhaps riding the wave of global unity against the coronavirus) added the ability to make audio calls to its rival system, Microsoft Teams. During a call, you can see the names of Teams participants. Slack users also now have the ability to use IP telephony services such as Zoom, Cisco Jabber, RingCentral, and Dialpad to call mobile numbers from the app.


2014. Blackberry added disappearing messages to its messenger


You're probably familiar with Snapchat, a very popular messaging app that gained popularity thanks to its disappearing messages feature (users can send each other messages or photos that disappear a few seconds after viewing). Well, Blackberry thought this feature would be useful for business users too, so they added it to their BBM messenger. Why? So you can send messages that can't be used against you later—like offers of kickbacks. Another new feature is "recall message." If you accidentally sent a kissing photo to your coworker instead of your wife, you can now delete the message on the recipient's phone with one tap.