Discord for Business – Communicate Safely At Remote Work
Jason Citron, the founder of the platform, thought Discord would become a popular messenger for gamers. However, in 2020, when the world was forced to move to remote work, Discord’s audience changed. More and more people have started to use Discord for business communication during the coronavirus. Therefore, Discord later reoriented itself from gamers to mass audiences.
Thanks to the website redesign, the number of users is increasing. As of 2021, the platform serves over 150 million users – about a third of Twitter or Snapchat’s audience, Forbes compares. In the last round of funding, experts valued the company at $ 3.5 billion. What is the secret of the company’s success? Is the platform safe for business? You will find answers to these questions in our article.
10 Reasons Why Businesses Should Use Discord
Many successful companies are interested in Discord and note that the platform has taken a leading position as a professional tool for remote communication. Here are the main reasons high-profile companies are switching to Discord:
- Voice, text, and video chat. The platform allows users to communicate conveniently, be it text, video, or voice recording. That is, users have the opportunity to be active on several text and VoIP channels at the same time.
- Simple registration. To start working in Discord, a user needs to create an account, a new server, and invite the team to join.
- Availability. The user does not need to buy the program. Any of you can visit Discord, evaluate its capabilities, and use it for free if you wish.
- Screen sharing. Discord users can not only share files but also show presentations by enabling screen recording. Moreover, you can give the team access to screen sharing. The team will be able to contribute to the development of the project and improve your ideas.
- Without borders. Compared to Slack, Discord doesn’t limit your work. Over 25,000 online members can connect to the servers, which is several times more than Slack or Zoom. Also, note that you can create up to 500 channels – we have no idea what the command should be to reach this limit!
- Permissions. The platform allows you to manage calls, control server logins, and transfer rights to another channel administrator.
- Bots. Discord allows bots to make your job easier. For example, you can set up a bot to check the quality of content or share music, videos from YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, or other platforms where downloading content is prohibited.
- IP and DDoS protection. Discord is concerned about user safety and provides an IP location blocking feature. Thanks to this feature, users will know when someone has logged into their account from an unusual place. You can also enable two-factor authentication, which will each time request a code sent to your phone number or email to prevent DDoS attacks.
- Premium membership. As we noted, most of the Discord’s features are free. However, users looking to improve team communication, screen sharing, and higher virus scanning of files can purchase a premium membership.
- A great alternative to Slack. If you like Slack’s channel interface but are looking for more features, Discord is a good alternative. Discord has a mobile app, provides support, and instantly responds to user requests for errors. Plus, Discord has no chat history limits – you can find any message.
In addition to the above advantages, users note that Discord has good sound and video quality, excellent program optimization, an intuitive interface, and modern design. Therefore, the platform is suitable for any business segment.
5 Reasons Why Discord Is Insecure
The main reason people use Discord in business is because of its vast array of features. However, how reliable and secure is Discord? We found five issues Discord users were experiencing.
Poor Platform Management
Discord has been around for over six years and, over the years, has failed to find the perfect balance in product management. Users note that the program interrupted calls for more than an hour without any warning or explanation. Unfortunately, Discord dismissed any complaints about this issue. Moreover, managers have banned users who wanted to tweak the platform manually and used external tools to solve this problem.
Weird Collecting And Using Data
Discord’s data collection policy is suspicious. Firstly, the platform does not offer a form to sign a consent to collect your data. Second, the Privacy Policy states that you automatically agree to the use of your data, but the company does not give you the right to vote when managers collect client data. What’s more, Discord bypasses some of the tools you use to protect privacy.
Data Harvesting
Discord can manipulate other applications that are installed on your device. Through them, Discord may collect your data. As a result, you risk falling prey to a hacker demanding ransom for business data.
Malware Risks
Although Discord notes that it controls the quality of content, they do not check files and links that users share for viruses. This is the main problem that leads to the rapid spread of malware and attacks on your device. Such viruses can transfer administrative rights to hackers, and you will lose access to business data.
IP Tracking
Discord tracks your IP address and activity from the moment you log in to log out. There is a possibility that the company may sell this data to advertising platforms or third parties, as the company does not give an exact comment on how it encrypts or uses customer data. Moreover, if you tie social networks to your Google account, Discord can infiltrate there without your knowledge and use information against you.
Safety Precautions When Using Discord
If you intend to use Discord for business because you are attracted to its benefits, we recommend that you follow these security measures:
- Turn on 2FA. No outsider will change your username or password, as you will receive notifications about unsuccessful login.
- Configure bots. Let Discord bots analyze the content sent by your chat partner. When artificial intelligence detects a threat, you will know about it.
- Set up the sending of private messages. This function will allow you to decide whether to accept a message from a stranger or delete it. In addition, the system helps to detect spam.
- Turn on Spoopy Link Filter. The system filters out suspicious links and warn you about the presence of viruses or harmful programs.
- Turn on account verification. A person with an unconfirmed phone number will not be able to connect to the chat.
- Set up automatic server moderation. The system automatically detects and deletes uploads that do not correspond to your work or harm your business.
All of the above measures together will increase protection from ill-wishers. You can also manage friend requests, making it easy to filter out spam accounts.
Use VPN For Stronger Privacy Protection
If you don’t want Discord to track your online activity and location, use VeePN. The service encrypts your real IP, so tracking becomes impossible. In addition, the company has developed its Smart VeePN protocol, which allows you to bypass any geo-restrictions. High-speed 2500 servers will be available to you, which will help to hide the most valuable business information and ensure safe Internet use.
Final Words
Discord went well with developing a functional platform listing. However, today the confidentiality problem remains unresolved. Yet, if you take all the precautions above, Discord can be a good business helper.
