The 8 best employee communication software tools to engage & inform your teams

Effective employee communication is  crucial for maintaining an agile and engaged workforce. And it’s particularly vital for organizations with frontline, distributed and deskless workforces.

Ensuring frontline team members are informed, connected and heard requires more than just crossing your fingers and hoping they see team communications and company news, though. 

That’s where the right employee communication software can help.

It’s a crowded market out there, so how do you choose the right solution? Below, we explore everything you need to know to find the best app for your organization, including the top 9 employee communication tools for 2025.

What is employee communication software?

Employee communication software is built to facilitate seamless internal messaging, disseminate timely updates and foster a sense of community and engagement across an entire organization. It acts as a hub for your company’s internal dialogue, bridging communication gaps that inevitably arise in organizations with distributed, remote teams, multiple departments or various physical locations.

While in-office teams can sometimes lean on simple email and instant messaging apps, distributed, frontline workforces often require more deliberate initiatives. For employees in retail stores or warehouses, on factory floors or out in the field, employee communication software must go beyond the desk. It needs to be mobile-first, easily accessible and relevant to their day-to-day work.

Why is employee communication so important?

Investing in the right employee communication software isn’t just about sending memos more efficiently—it’s about cultivating an engaging hub for organizational knowledge sharing. Doing so offers wide-reaching benefits from business performance to company culture and more.

• Company-wide alignment, culture and responsiveness: When everyone is on the same page, from leadership to the frontline, the entire organization can move in a more coordinated fashion. When employees feel connected to the mission and values, culture thrives. Plus, efficient and dynamic knowledge-sharing allows businesses to more quickly respond to market changes, customer feedback and internal challenges.
• Trust and transparency: Distributed, frontline employees can easily feel disconnected from the broader organization. Effective communication builds trust by providing transparency into company decisions, performance and future direction. When they feel informed, they feel valued.
• Reduced turnover: The costs of high turnover rates, especially on the frontline, can add up quickly. Employee communication software helps reduce employee turnover by connecting employees to the bigger picture—infusing their day-to-day work with purpose within the organization. It also provides companies a platform for recognizing hard work and achievements, helping to make employees feel appreciated.

▶️ Internal communication strategy that actually works (+ downloadable template)

Must-have features for employee communication tools

While your unique needs for an employee communication app may vary, there are a number of must-have features that are crucial for just about every organization.

• Real-time messaging: The ability to send and receive urgent updates, safety alerts or critical operational changes instantly is non-negotiable. Whether it’s a store manager needing to communicate a sudden closure or a logistics hub needing to reroute deliveries, real-time communication is crucial.
• Integration with HRIS, LMS, scheduling tools and more: Your communication platform shouldn’t operate in a silo—it should work seamlessly within your existing workflow, including your Human Resource Information Systems (HRIS), Learning Management Systems (LMS), employee scheduling tools, project management, collaboration tools and other software.
• Multi-channel reach: The right solution meets employees in the flow of work, offering multi-channel reach—including a dedicated mobile app, email, intranet portals, digital signage, SMS notifications and targeted push notifications—to ensure messages get through, regardless of an employee’s device or location.
• Targeting and segmentation: Limiting irrelevant communication is a crucial element of maintaining engagement. That’s why the ability to segment your audience and target communications based on role, department, location, language or even shift patterns is essential to ensure relevance and prevent message fatigue.
• Employee feedback tools: Communication isn’t a one-way street. Effective employee communication platforms encourage two-way conversations by incorporating feedback tools like polls, surveys, comment sections and Q&A forums. This gives employees a voice, allows leadership to gauge sentiment and fosters a culture of open communication.
• Analytics: Advanced analytics are crucial for measuring read rates, engagement levels (likes, comments, shares), message effectiveness and overall platform adoption. These insights allow you to measure efficacy, refine your strategy and demonstrate ROI.
• Security and compliance: Protecting sensitive company information and employee data is paramount. Look for features like enterprise-grade encryption, secure access controls, audit trails and compliance with relevant data privacy regulations.

▶️ Also read: Signs your frontline workforce has information overload

Types of internal communication software

A solid employee communication strategy accounts for the best way to share different kinds of information. Internal communication channels may include:

• Email newsletters
• Instant messaging/chat
• Video conferencing
• SMS and mobile push notifications
• Social advocacy tools
• Digital signage and alerts

Beyond these general internal communication strategies, there are several specialized categories of employee communication solutions built to cater to specific internal communication needs and goals.

Employee engagement platforms (like Workvivo) often emulate a social media or intranet-like experience, focusing on building company culture, fostering connections between colleagues, sharing user-generated content and boosting overall morale and engagement.

Engagement also means cutting through the noise, especially for frontline teams. Axonify helps streamline communication by delivering only the most relevant updates, task reminders and feedback—all within the same mobile experience frontline employees already use for training. The result: a steady flow of essential information that keeps teams connected and aligned, without overwhelming them.

Employee recognition and rewards tools (like Nectar) are designed to facilitate peer-to-peer and manager-to-employee recognition. These tools help in celebrating achievements, reinforcing desired behaviors and making employees feel valued.

Content management and scheduling platforms (like Google Workspace and Guru) help to organize, store and distribute information (like knowledge bases or shared document repositories). While not directly within the employee communication space, they can still play a big role in ensuring employees have access to the information they need to learn and do their jobs.

Best employee communication tools for 2025

The market for corporate communication software is bustling, but not all platforms are created equal, especially when it comes to specialized communication needs—for a frontline workforce, for example. Many tools are designed with desk-based and in-office employees in mind. Only a select few truly understand what it takes to reach and engage on-the-go workers.

Here’s a look at some of the leading platforms, starting with the only solution purpose-built for the frontline.

1. Axonify

Best for: Organizations with a large, distributed and/or deskless workforce that need either a unified solution for communication, training and task management—or a powerful standalone tool for internal communication.

Axonify is purpose-built for frontline teams in industries like retail, logistics, hospitality and healthcare, where a significant portion of the workforce is deskless and mobile. Whether you’re looking for an all-in-one platform or just need a communication solution that truly reaches your frontline, Axonify is designed from the ground up for them.

You can use Axonify Communications on its own to engage and inform employees at any scale—with targeted, two-way communication tools your teams will actually use. And if you want to extend your solution later, training, task management and AI-powered support are all built in and ready to go.

Our enterprise-grade platform offers a number of key strengths for frontline teams, including:

• Targeted, automated communication flows to deliver the right information to the right people at precisely the right moment, triggered by specific events, roles or locations.
• Two-way feedback channels and polls that make it easy to capture employee sentiment and ideas, fueling a culture of open communication.
• Embedded learning and compliance nudges (optional) that seamlessly weave bite-sized training and reminders right into your communication flow.
• Conversational AI with MAX, your AI-powered assistant that personalizes messages, surfaces real-time insights and helps managers tailor their communication.
• Proven frontline adoption: Over 4 million employees use Axonify every day, with high engagement even in fast-paced, distributed environments.
• Mobile-first and frontline-friendly: Employees can access communications from POS systems, handheld devices, tablets or their own smartphones—wherever they are.

Employees can access internal communications—plus answers to FAQs, job aids, training content and other resources—right from the systems they already use (including POS systems, hand

Axonify pricing: Custom pricing based on organization size; contact us for a custom quote

2. Slack

Best for: Office-based teams or knowledge workers who thrive in a chat-powered digital workplace

Slack is immensely popular for real-time messaging, channels and its vast library of integrations. It’s a great option for desk-based teams.

While it has a mobile app, its design and feature set are not always optimal for the quick, targeted interactions needed by shift-based or non-desk workers who may not be continuously logged in. Plus, information (and particularly content like images and documents) can get lost in busy channels.

Slack pricing: Free plan available; paid plans from $8.75/user/month

3. Microsoft Teams

Best for: hybrid work environments and knowledge workers embedded in the Microsoft ecosystem

Microsoft Teams is a strong contender, especially for organizations already embedded in the Microsoft 365 ecosystem. The tool includes video conferencing, file sharing and chat—it’s also part of Microsoft 365 plans, which offer a broader suite of Microsoft products including Office apps, Outlook email and Microsoft Copilot AI.

On mobile, the large feature-set can be overwhelming, so it’s a less intuitive option for frontline employees who need quick, streamlined access to critical information and tasks.

Microsoft Teams pricing: Plans start at $4/user/month; Microsoft 365 plans start at $6/user/month

4. Zoom Workplace

Best for: Video conferencing and team collaboration

Zoom offers high-quality virtual meetings, webinars and company-wide announcements. It’s a household name and trusted leader in video-first communication for a reason.

But its functionality is largely limited to meetings. Zoom wasn’t built for ongoing, asynchronous updates, targeted messaging, or feedback collection outside of a live video context. While Zoom Workplace plans include some basic features for team chat and email, it’s not a comprehensive employee communication software.

Zoom Workplace pricing: Business plans start at $18.32/user/month

5. Workvivo

Best for: Large enterprises looking to foster a sense of community and encourage social interaction

Designed to emulate a vibrant modern intranet platform or internal social media experience, Workvivo’s employee experience platform (now owned by Zoom) focuses on building company culture and boosting employee engagement.

The company offers a capable mobile app, but it can be less flexible than those purpose-built for the frontline.

Workvivo pricing: Custom enterprise pricing starts at $20,000

6. Staffbase

Best for: large organizations needing a dedicated internal communication tool with robust mobile capabilities for broad employee reach.

Staffbase is a comprehensive platform specifically designed for effective internal communication at scale, particularly within large enterprises. The platform covers a lot of bases for diverse enterprises, including features for intranet, an employee app, email, SMS and digital signage.

Staffbased also offers a strong mobile app and features tailored for reaching large, often dispersed workforces.

Staffbase pricing: Custom enterprise pricing

7. ContactMonkey

Best for: Organizations heavily reliant on Microsoft Outlook or Gmail

ContactMonkey is primarily an internal email and newsletter tool that enhances traditional email communication. For orgs that still rely on email as their primary channel for employee communication, this platform offers a way to improve email design, tracking and engagement.

If your currency internal comms strategy rests heavily on Outlook or Gmail, this email-centric approach may work for you. That said, it’s not ideal for frontline workers with limited email access or a preference for more real-time mobile channels.

ContactMonkey pricing: Custom enterprise plans starting at $600/month

8. Cerkl Broadcast

Best for: automating and personalizing internal communications

Cerkl Broadcast focuses on omnichannel messaging, leveraging advanced analytics and segmentation to both personalize and automate employee communication.

The platform aims to deliver personalized content to employees across various channels, while offering a single platform for internal comms teams. Cerkl also integrates with other communication tools (like Microsoft Teams, Slack and Sharepoint) and HRIS platforms.

Cerkl Broadcast pricing: Custom plans start at $799/month; plus 20% per month for access to Android and iOS mobile apps

Key features to consider when choosing your employee communication software

When you’re focused on optimizing communication for the frontline, there are a number of other key features and considerations to keep in mind while evaluating software, including:

• Mobile optimization that meets workers where they are—a must-have for frontline accessibility
• An intuitive, user-friendly interface that’s easy for all levels of literacy and tech-savviness 
• Automation and scheduling for recurring updates and manager workflows
• AI capabilities like smart content recommendations, news feeds, automated segmentation, insights and more
• Engagement analytics to help you track employee engagement—who’s reading, who’s taking action and who isn’t
• Personalization at scale to power role-based and location-based targeting to deliver the right message to the right people, at exactly the right time.

▶️ Grab your copy of The ultimate guide to frontline communication

How your employees actually want to communicate

The best employee communication software has to do more than just meet your organization’s needs—it also needs to meet your employees where they are, catering to their communication preferences and fitting seamlessly into their existing workflow.

While individual preferences may vary across your teams, employees often…

• Ignore email communication—especially on the frontline
• Rate mobile apps and SMS highly for their immediacy and accessibility while on-the-go
• Resonate, and engage, more with voice and video messages
• Pay attention to digital signage and screens in shared spaces

Solving for these preferences is the most crucial piece when it comes to choosing a tool your employees will actually adopt and use—so understanding their preferences is key, especially for the oft-overlooked frontline. That’s why the best employee communication software for the frontline meets employees where they are, enabling you to share internal communications that are both accessible and engaging.