Please describe the story behind the company: What sparked the idea, and how has it evolved so far?
Working with multiple communication and collaboration apps is overwhelming, time-consuming, and annoying for everyone, but we still need all of them. That’s why we created Spike – By turning communication into simple conversations, you can work and collaborate seamlessly with clients and team members – in a more natural way. We combined modern email, team chat, calendar, note-taking & docs, todos, video and audio calls, groups, and channels – and made it available on iOS. Android, Mac, PC, and web browser. Spike has already been adopted by more than 100k teams.What is the mission of Spike?
Too many work apps leave us overwhelmed, frustrated, and burnt out. That’s why we created Spike — By turning communication into simple conversations, you can work and collaborate seamlessly with clients and team members – in a more natural way. Spike does the organization legwork for the users so they always have a tidy and easy to manage Inbox.What services do you offer?
Spike offers a complete digital workspace that combines email, notes, tasks, calendar, voice messages, audio calls, and group chat. We start with Conversational Email where threads appear in chat-like form so keeping track of conversation is super simple. We then added built-in Notes and Tasks into your Inbox so you can manage projects and to-dos, personal docs, and collaborative notes that can sync across all devices for real-time collaboration. One of our most loved features is Priority Inbox which automatically sorts your Inbox so your most important emails remain front and center and neatly places promotional items and newsletters (non-essential items) into your Other Inbox. We included snooze and scheduled send as well so you can become an email power user with just a few taps. Our sophisticated AES256 email encryption keeps your data safe and your email chats secure. Of course, your calendar is integrated as well and you can merge events from multiple accounts (Gmail, iCloud, etc) in a single easy-to-read list. Here’s the full list of our services: Real-time chat – Enjoy messenger functionality in your Email Inbox Priority Inbox – See important messages first, deal with low priority messages later Manage Tasks – Never miss an important deadline with built-in task management File Storage – Store images and all file types in Notes. Access anytime, anywhere Snooze Emails and Tasks – Hide emails and tasks and set reminders To-Do Lists – Create and manage To-Do lists right from your inbox. No need for separate apps Multiple Calendars – Connect all your calendars and easily access them from Spike Advanced Search – Lightning-fast results, search by contact, keyword, tag, or file Data Privacy & Safety – Sophisticated AES256 email encryption keeps your data safe and your email chats secure Voice & Video Calls – Voice and video calling built into your Inbox Instant file preview – Preview files with detailed thumbnails – no need to download attachments Dark Mode – on all devices Works everywhere – iOS, Android, macOS, Windows, and web browser — for seamless remote collaboration Undo Send – You’ve got 10 secs to undo a message Send Later – Schedule a sent item to hit someone else’s Inbox at the right time Instant Email Unsubscribe – Unsubscribe from spam email with just a tap Bulk Actions – Clear out your Inbox in seconds. Mark as Read, Delete, or Archive thousands of email messages in one tap Customizable actions – Tailor Inbox modes, notifications, and swipes Voice messages – send a voice message to anyone with your email, even if they’re not on Spike More expression, more fun – Get your message across using GIFs, voice notes, emojis, drawings, photos, and videosWhat is unique for Spike?
Until Spike, there has not been any meaningful innovation in email. Sure, some other apps offer new features, but no one has fully taken the powerful technology behind email and created something new. At Spike, we took the best of messaging and combined it with the power of email, to create a modern communication and collaboration solution – turning your inbox into a powerful digital workspace. You can do all of your work without leaving your Inbox. Conversations are now as real-time or asynchronous as you want, interaction is more human, and the experience is fast, fluid, and most importantly – effective. On a personal level, one of the unique things about Spike is the emphasis our team places on being approachable by our users. Whether it is through our patient and supportive customer success team, our sales team, or directly through me – every user is heard.Which trends and technologies do you find to be particularly intriguing these days?
Digital Communication is going to even more heavily rely on voice/ voice messaging. We just launched voice messages in Spike. It’s the first fully integrated voice messaging over email. We don’t think communicating should be complicated. It should feel personal like you can express yourself and have a real conversation – without adding another event to the calendar. We’re also fully integrating video calls and audio channels into Spike as well. Teams and businesses need more than just typed words to collaborate. Spike is leading the way for a future where our communication and collaboration apps are both fully integrated and make our work easier and more enjoyable.How has COVID impacted your customers and business?
Many businesses had to instantly shift to working remotely. Since Spike is simple to start using — all you need to do is sign in with your email account, many teams and businesses quickly adopted Spike. Spike’s Conversational Email with real-time awareness and read notifications, Video and Audio calls, and Voice Messages also helps teams feel connected, even if they are not in the office, or even in the same time zone. Spike is available on iOS, Android, Mac, Windows, and web browsers. Here are the mobile app store links: Android: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.pingapp.appiOS: http://itunes.apple.com/app/id707452888?mt=8 Spike on social media: Twitter – https://twitter.com/SpikeNowHQ Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/Spike Linkedin – https://www.linkedin.com/company/spikenow/ Youtube – https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCXCtZ69yFPj-9AGEpD3RB6w