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Remember when the humble pager was the cutting edge of healthcare tech?

Well, things have moved on… Healthcare systems worldwide are embracing new technology like never before.

This is — in part — due to the challenges facing the healthcare sector. An ageing population with complex healthcare needs. A shortage of healthcare staff. And patients who expect the same ease, convenience, and digital access they enjoy when completing other life admin tasks.

Technology is one of the only ways to do more with less. It’s a way to improve patient care and reduce recruitment challenges. It’s also a way to reduce costs. According to McKinsey, health systems that invest in digital and analytics capabilities now could cut costs by $200 billion to $360 billion.

So, where are things up to in 2025? Today, nearly 90% of health system executives say that digital and AI transformation is a high or top priority for their organization. And many facilities are already seeing benefits from the digitization of healthcare.

Want to join them? Let’s get you up to speed with what the digital transformation of healthcare looks like and how to get your next digital project off the ground.

What is digital transformation for healthcare?

Digital transformation for healthcare means using technology — like AI, cloud computing, and data analytics — to improve patient care and streamline processes.

In your healthcare organization, that might look like any of the following:

• Using telemedicine to see more patients and triage for in-person care
• Using electronic health records (EHR) to share patient information and provide joined-up care across departments
• Using wearables to monitor patients remotely, in real-time — providing “hospital at home” care or supporting patients with chronic conditions
• Using AI technology to complete routine admin tasks
• Using data analytics and AI to spot health trends and make early diagnoses
• Using robotic systems to improve surgical precision
• Using employee apps and intranet platforms to improve communication among healthcare staff  

The benefits of digital transformation for healthcare

Digital transformation can help you create the kind of organization that keeps pace with the pressures facing the healthcare industry in 2025.

Yes, it takes effort — new systems, new ways of working, the odd bump in the road. But the payoff is huge. Here’s what you can expect:

Better patient care

Digitizing processes keeps services consistent, cuts clinical errors, and improves documentation. It also supports healthcare providers to deliver personalized care plans, predict potential health risks, and tailor treatments to each patient. The result? Improved patient safety and better clinical outcomes.

Easy access to key services

Digital transformation for healthcare means patients often get to see a healthcare provider sooner. People who would struggle to make it to an in-person appointment can speak to a physician over a phone or video call. Patients can also view medical records and test results straight from their smartphones. This helps them take a more active role in their healthcare, which means better adherence to treatment plans.

More connected teams

Getting information to busy frontline workers isn’t easy. But with tech tools, you can establish communication channels for essential updates, knowledge sharing, and even co-worker camaraderie. Healthcare communication becomes more effective, and employees feel more supported — by the organization and each other.  

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Data-driven decision making

When you use digital systems, you collect and store a huge amount of data. You can use this data to fine-tune your own systems and processes. You can also use it to make data-driven decisions about patient care.

Streamlined admin

Coordinating work schedules, scheduling appointments, transcribing patient notes. When you use AI and automation for admin tasks, you reduce the workload of your frontline staff and give them more time to spend with patients.

Productivity and collaboration

Electronic health records (EHRs) enable teams and departments across your organization — and others — to securely access patient information. This means less duplication of work and a joined-up approach to patient care.

Better employee engagement

Closing the digital gap in healthcare makes frontline work less frustrating and more efficient. With frontline-friendly tools, employees can access critical information and contribute to decision-making processes. This spells higher rates of healthcare employee engagement, which — in turn — leads to better productivity, less time off sick, and better healthcare staff retention.

Reduced costs

By making healthcare more efficient, improving patient outcomes, and reducing employee churn, healthcare organizations can reduce their costs. According to the World Economic Forum (WEF), eliminating inefficiencies in healthcare systems would save $1 trillion in the United States alone every year.

Challenges of digital transformation for healthcare (and how to overcome them)

Healthcare hasn’t been first in line when it comes to digital transformation. Legacy systems and paper processes are still a frustrating feature of life on the healthcare frontlines. So what’s standing in the way? The following key obstacles are often to blame:

• Too many tools. Nearly 79% of NHS doctors say that the number of different systems in use is a significant barrier to the digitization of healthcare.
• Data security worries. Patient privacy is non-negotiable. If staff and patients don’t trust the tech, they won’t use it.
• Skill gaps. Not everyone has the tech knowledge they need to pick up new systems.
• Resistance to change. When there’s barely a spare second in the day, the last thing healthcare providers need is another new process to master.  

The good news? Healthcare organizations across the globe are successfully overcoming these challenges. Here are some ideas for how to follow suit.

Provide staff training

The best technology is easy and intuitive to use. But you can’t just throw a manual at people and hope for the best. Instead, deliver bite-sized training sessions and hands-on demos. Assign digital ambassadors within your organization — people who can lead the way and offer advice on new tech tools. When staff feel confident about digital processes, they’re much more likely to embrace them.

Choose interoperable systems

If systems don’t talk to each other, your teams spend a heap of time hopping between them. That means duplicated work, multiple sets of login details, and confusion about what lives where. Centralized hubs and single sign-on solutions keep everything in one place, with integrations ensuring that information passes seamlessly across all the digital tools you use.

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Be transparent about system security

HIPAA-compliant security measures, multi-factor authentication, and clear data policies keep sensitive information secure. You can share details of these security measures with staff and patients to reassure them that you have solid safeguards in place.

Communicate the “why”

Both staff and patients are resistant to change when they don’t see the point of it. Craft change communications that explain why new tools matter, what benefits they’ll bring, and how they make life easier for everyone. When there’s a clear and consistent narrative, you’re more likely to get the buy-in of end users.

How to build a digital transformation strategy for your healthcare organization

No two healthcare organizations look the same. Different teams, different patients, different pressures. So every digital transformation strategy looks a little different, too.

That being said, there are some core pillars you can put in place to give yourself the best chance of success. Here’s where to start:

1. Get everyone on the same page

Before you dive into new shiny tools, take stock. Where are you, digitally, right now? Where do you want to be in one, three, or five years? Set clear objectives and agree on organization-wide priorities by talking to all stakeholders — from your senior leadership team to your doctors, your nurses, your admin staff, and your patients.

2. Dive into the specifics

Time to ask the hard questions. Where are your processes failing patients or slowing down staff? Is it paper-based scheduling? Clunky EHR systems? A disconnected workforce? The more precise you are about your barriers — whether they’re technical, process-driven, or cultural — the better your digital solutions will be.

3. Build a budget

While the digitization of healthcare is cost-effective in the long run, it doesn’t come cheap. And it doesn’t tend to happen all at once. So build your budget in stages. Allocate or secure funds for each phase, build in a buffer, and plan for training and support — not just tech spend. Too many strategies fail because organizations invest in tools, but not in the people who use them.

4. Craft a roadmap

Put your challenges, objectives, and budget into a roadmap. Outline what is being implemented and who will take responsibility for each part of the process. Break your transformation down into key actions, metrics, and milestones to keep your initiative on track.

5. Find the right tools

Using your roadmap as guidance, you can start looking for digital technologies. Test tools before you invest. Look for partners who are with you for the long haul. Seek out tools that integrate with the other workplace software you currently use. And think long term — will this solution still fit your needs years from now?

6. Plan your implementation

You’ve chosen your digital solution. Now it’s time for the launch. Without a plan, even the best tools can flop. So start with a pilot group to iron out any issues before you roll out to the rest of the organization. Map out training sessions and your communications campaign. And don’t forget to set up support — whether that’s a help desk, digital ambassadors, or user-friendly how-to guides.  

7. Collect feedback

Every phase of your digital transformation strategy is a chance to learn something new. So ask all stakeholders what they thought of the process and what they think of the end product. Using this feedback — and data on tech tool usage — you can tweak your solutions to better meet end-user needs. You can also develop better strategies for your next digital initiative.

Read more: How to build a digital transformation roadmap.

An example of digital transformation in healthcare: the NHS 10 Year Health Plan

The NHS is a huge healthcare organization with big plans for digital transformation. In the organization’s own words:

“We’re using technology to help health and care professionals communicate better and enable people to access the care they need quickly and easily, when it suits them.”

A roadmap for digital transformation in healthcare is laid out in the NHS’s 10 Year Health Plan for England. This is a great resource if you’re looking for inspiration for your own digital initiatives. Why not take a look?

Happier teams and healthier patients? It all starts with digital solutions

Digital solutions are transforming the way healthcare is delivered. They’re helping organizations to reduce admin, connect employees, and deliver better patient care.

As we’ve seen, digital transformation for healthcare isn’t without its challenges. You need rock-solid security, interoperable systems, and the buy-in of patients and healthcare staff to achieve digital success.

But in 2025, finding ways to overcome these obstacles is vital. Digital transformation is here to stay. AI is taking us in new directions. And healthcare systems need to make use of these tools if they’re to thrive under increasing pressure.

Blink. And explore digital solutions for your healthcare organization.

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Satnavs. Facial recognition. The Cloud. FinTech.

We slip words like these into conversations with ease. New technology has become part of our bread-and-butter vocabulary, without quotation (or question) marks.

Healthtech, on the other hand – that feels a bit more niche. Or it did, until Covid-19 made us sit up and pay attention. 

24 months into the pandemic, nobody needs a lecture on the importance of healthtech; it’s staring us in the face. But health tech didn’t emerge on-the-fly in response to the Covid crisis. It’s been around for a long time.

And it’s big business. In 2017, Forbes valued the digital healthcare industry at an astounding $25 billion globally. They believe that number will skyrocket above $379 billion by 2024. 

We all know that healthtech helps predict the spread of diseases, track pandemic outbreaks, and contain them. But there are other new developments in the future of healthcare that will change the way we live.

What is healthtech?

Right now, healthtech (also known as digital health) is the fastest-growing verticle in healthcare. It refers to any product or service that's enabled, or revolutionized by, technology. So far, so Sci-Fi. But healthtech is all around us already...

Wearables

Yep, you’ve already got this one. Fitness trackers (like FitBits) are health wearables. We like knowing we've put in my 10.000 steps. But other types of knowledge about what’s happening in our bodies can be more vital. For some people, it’s their heart rate; for others, their blood pressure, or their oxygen supply. 

Continuously measuring these things makes a huge difference for people with chronic conditions. And these wearables don’t just make the invisible visible; they also act as a kind of coach. They empower wearers to become active participants in managing their health condition. Immediate feedback from a wearable can change habits; habits can change health; and health saves lives. 

Wearables are particularly relevant in the time of Covid-19. But they will continue to be so well beyond it, as part of a bigger drive towards preventative or pro-active health care. 

3D-printed prototypes

3D-printing technology still sounds far-fetched. But it’s here, and it’s a quiet revolution in healthcare. Technology like this can create everything from personalized prosthetics to bio-tissues and blood vessels, at a fraction of the past cost. It transforms organ transplants and tissue repair. It can even produce realistic skin grafts for burn victims. 

In 2020, researchers at the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, New York, managed to develop a method for printing 3D-print living skin, along with blood vessels.

Blockchain for electronic healthcare records

Blockchain and the future of healthcare? Not obvious at first. But think of electronic health records, and how important it is to keep those accurate and safe. 

Blockchain technology can play a key role in ensuring that medical records are 100% accurate. It also makes them significantly harder to hack. Conflicting information is automatically detected, thanks to a decentralised network of computers. And blockchain not only helps prevent data breaches; it also cuts costs. 

So it’s no wonder that many health and pharmaceutical companies are investing in blockchain technology.  A recent report put the blockchain health market at $890.5 million by 2023.

Artificial Intelligence

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is a key driver in health tech. We already see it in chatbots and virtual health assistants that act as diagnostic tools, and even as therapists. 

But the real power of AI becomes clear in areas like precision medicine. In the past, many cancer patients received cookie-cutter treatments with high failure rates. Because of AI, we now have more personalised treatments, based on individual genetics and lifestyle factors, amongst other things.

AI also plays a big role in the discovery of new drugs and the development of vaccines. That’s a Bigger Deal Than Ever Before in the Covid pandemic. 

And finally, two of the things AI is exceptionally good at is Pattern Recognition and optical character recognition. That means it can analyse large amounts of cancer images that help recognise and diagnose cancer. One famous example of this is Google’s DeepMind, which created an AI for breast cancer analysis. The algorithm outperformed human radiologists on pre-selected data sets to identify breast cancer, on average by 11.5%.

The market value of AI for future of healthcare worldwide? $34 billion by 2025.

VR/AR

Most of us are already familiar with this technology. Immersing yourself in a simulated environment is fun. But it can also be a therapeutic tool. For instance, VR environments help train people to deal with mental health triggers safely. Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), Bipolar Disorder. Covid-related Stress and Anxiety are now being treated this way.

The training potential of VR is – well, awesome. Take surgeons, for instance. A recent Harvard Business Review study showed that VR-trained surgeons had a 230% boost in their overall performance.

Compared to their traditionally-trained counterparts, they were both faster and more accurate. At Case Western Reserve University, students learn via a VR-based HoloAnatomy app. This offers detailed and precise experience without the need for real bodies.

Top 4 emerging healthtech trends for 2022

In light of the Covid pandemic and rapid growth in remote work, safeguarding your workers has become a mandatory part of doing business. This means you’re now also looked upon to bring in measures like: 

By making these types of smart technologies accessible to your workforce, you can give way to improved safety standards and early alerts that reduce the risk of contagious threats. Keep track of these trends to keep your employees safe in 2022 and beyond.

identify opportunities to leverage them for your organization going forward. 

Virtual care and remote medicine are on the rise

You drive to the doctor. You sit in a waiting area for ages until your name's called. When your appointment finally happens, it's a few questions, a prescription, and you're sent on your way. You wonder why you spent so long commuting for a matter of minutes.

Sound familiar?

That's why virtual care is replacing minor in-person appointments. The past two years have further accelerated this trend, leading to an increase in virtual visits or telephone consultations. 

According to a recent McKinsey study, the number of people using telehealth rose from 11 to 46% during the pandemic. It further predicts that telehealth would account for $250 billion — 20% of the US healthcare spending in near future.

Virtual care not only reduces the risk of spreading contagious diseases but allows healthcare professionals to fit more consultations into their daily schedules. This is a vital factor for highly populated nations facing a shortage of medical professionals, such as India and China.   

Genomics and gene editing lead to further breakthroughs 

Before you get all excited — no, we haven’t figured out how a spider’s bite can turn a normal kid into spiderman.

But the good news is that there've been significant breakthroughs in gene editing, accelerating the development of different types of "precision medicine."

This means drugs can be tailored to the genetic profile of each patient, enhancing their effectiveness and minimizing side effects.

Precision medicine is already used in many ways, one of which is 'lab on a chip' — a technology that allows fast detection of Covid. It’s a hand-held device that can detect if someone is infected with better accuracy than conventional signals such as fever and coughing. So, it can go a long way in getting our lives back to normal. 

Data and AI drives shift to fairer healthcare insurance and coverage 

With all the strain that the coronavirus pandemic has put on our healthcare resources, you’d think it must have grown the bottom line too. Surprisingly, that’s not the case. In the US, healthcare revenues fell by 50%  as patients avoided surgeries and hospitals. 

But the silver lining in midst of all this is the revelation that people are willing to share their personal data when it’s a matter of their health. This is evident from how much people have engaged with track-and-trace systems. 

The more data people share with health services, mobile apps, and online systems powered by AI, the more accurate picture healthcare providers will have of their well-being, along with a sense of when they should intervene. Not just that, it helps healthcare providers forecast the most efficient way to deliver their services.  

This also matters from a financial perspective because other entities such as insurance companies can use advanced predictive technologies to measure risk and set premiums more accurately. 

AI, IoT, and Smart Cities improve our ability to detect and respond to future outbreaks 

If the pandemic has taught us anything, it’s that we were embarrassingly unprepared to deal with an outbreak. And we should have a collective, predetermined strategy if something similar happens in the future.

A key part of this strategy is the concept of “Smart Cities," powered by artificial intelligence (AI) and the internet of things (IoT). According to Statista, global revenue from smart city projects is estimated to reach $129 billion in 2021. 

The idea of a smart city is based on incorporating digital connectivity and data-driven decision-making at our respective locations. And its applications extend to many areas such as: 

• Energy distribution
• Public transportation networks
• Refuse collection
• Environmental health initiatives

It’s not just the organizations that are becoming health-care oriented, but also city planners and municipal authorities. These government bodies are now allocating resources to develop technologies that can help us predict, detect and prevent pandemics. 

Another major focus is environmental health. Tech-driven initiatives are being put in place to reduce air pollution and build resilience to the effects of climate change, including the rise in sea level and temperature..

Conclusion

Even if most of your workers are remote, don’t think for a second that your health concerns are over. They now require even more attention because you don’t have the luxury of regular, face-to-face contact. It’ll be hard for you to tell when your employees are burning the candle at both ends. So you still need to support the mental health of employees as they perform their duties in the field, or from home. 

That’s where the healthcare technology trends we outlined can help. There are several health apps available for professionals to monitor physical activity, practice meditation, set reminders for breaks, water and exercise, and so on. 

The only way to avoid setbacks that can take you by surprise is to stay on top of the latest trends and innovations. The faster you can respond to relevant changes in your industry, the better for your organization.

Do you encourage employee voice in the workplace? 

By ‘encourage’, we don’t mean ‘tolerate’. We mean: do you actively encourage it? Do you run regular feedback initiatives and act on them? Do you train managers to ask for, accept and pass on feedback? 

A major survey we conducted recently suggests that ‘not being listened to’ is employees’ number one gripe with management – and one that has a significant impact on talent retention. In other words, there could be a huge amount of untapped innovation going to waste, right under your nose.  

With over a fifth (22%) of those who raise issues at work feeling that they receive no advice or support, there’s definitely more organizations could be doing. Here’s how an employee voice strategy could help. 

Voice of the employee – what is it? 

Whenever we’re grappling with important workplace concepts, we can always rely on the CIPD for a useful, easily digestible summary. They define employee voice as: 

“The means by which people communicate their views to their employer and influence matters that affect them at work”

If we were to distill this a little more, our answer to “what is employee voice?” would be

“your employees’ involvement in decision making processes and how you encourage it”. 

What is an employee voice strategy? 

An employee voice strategy is how you encourage your workforce to have their say. 

It’s worth distinguishing between ‘action’ and ‘strategy’ here. Running employee surveys as and when might be a useful action to take, but doesn’t constitute a strategy in itself. An employee voice strategy is a planned and sustained program of activities that encourage your employees to make their voices heard. 

Check out the employee voice examples below for specific strategy building blocks, but make sure everything you create is built on these two key principles: 

• Commitment to a ‘speak up’ culture: if employees consider the risks of speaking up (whether delivering a positive input or a criticism) then they simply won’t bother. Make it rewarding to contribute (even if the feedback is negative) and more employees will do so.

• Commitment to employee-centered leadership: senior management must take the lead in listening to employees and acting on feedback. High-visibility commitment to this at senior levels will increase the success of your employee voice strategy.

What are the benefits of employee voice? 

Employee voice is good for your workforce. Colleagues feel you take their input seriously, and feel happier and safer in their roles as a result. 

Secondly, it’s great for your business! In a nutshell, a great employee voice strategy encourages innovation, boosts performance and rubs off on that all important bottom line.

Employee voice and workplace engagement

Employees like to be involved in the decisions that affect them. CIPD data suggests that employees’ satisfaction with involvement in decision-making is significantly and positively related to their overall job satisfaction.

But employee voice doesn’t just affect how happy employees are at work. It also affects how invested they are in your organization and its long-term success. 

Being able to participate in decision-making automatically draws your employees into the mission of your business. Rather than being there to follow orders, they become stakeholders that actively contribute to key business achievements.

This sense of ownership is called employee engagement, and it contributes significantly to long-term business success.

A pre-COVID Gallup poll found that companies with high employee engagement achieved:

• 10% higher customer ratings
• 17% higher productivity
• 20% higher sales
• 21% higher profitability

Importantly, as the Great Resignation continues to cause staffing issues for many businesses, employee engagement also breeds employee retention, making it that bit easier to hold onto your top performers in a tough market. Regularly surveying your employees to keep your finger on the pulse, and actually actioning the results is a simple employee engagement best practice to follow and help your team invested.

Employee voice and organizational performance 

Why ignore your single biggest pool of ideas for improving your organization’s performance? 

The link between employee voice and organisational performance is hard to ignore. Your employees know the ins and outs of your organization better than anyone. They can tell you better than anyone about which processes work, which don’t, where major silos exist and where slowdowns occur.  

Yet all too often, segments of the workforce – frontline employees in particular – feel as if their input won’t be taken seriously. If you allow this type of sentiment to grow, employees won’t share valuable insights further up the chain. 

You might not find any million dollar ideas here (but hey, don’t rule it out), but you can expect a million smaller bits of feedback that could help your business run that bit more effectively. The sum of all these parts: cost savings for you, increased satisfaction for your employees. Everyone’s a winner. 

Employee voice and compliance

In a recent online poll, a stunning 93% of respondents thought that becoming a whistleblower would negatively impact their career. There are still huge barriers to overcome for employees who witness wrongdoing or poor practice and want to report it. 

Encouraging a genuinely open culture via employee voice initiatives makes it so much more likely that your employees will speak up if they see something wrong. In some cases, this opportunity to fix issues internally can save a huge amount of financial and reputational damage. 

The importance of employee voice and communication

We recently conducted a case study of frontline healthcare workers in the UK. When asked about the one thing they would say to senior management anonymously, their answers were pretty telling: 

“Please answer my emails and questions. I am trying to do my best at work and would appreciate feeling listened to.” 

“Communication please!”

“Listen to us! We have been here long enough to know what works.”

Creating an employee voice strategy formalizes two-way communication so that it’s not left to individuals to follow up. An organizational commitment to communication ensures that people feel heard on a personal level, whilst providing senior decision-makers with the tools to keep the conversation going. 

Employee voice examples

Employee voice can be direct or indirect, formal or informal. 

Direct employee voice involves speaking directly to senior management, line managers and other decision makers with feedback and suggestions. Indirect employee voice does this through an intermediary, such as an employee committee, representative, or union rep.

Formal employee voice is expressed through official, codified channels, such as employee surveys. Informal employee voice can be expressed wherever and whenever – a quick email to a line manager or dropping in for a conversation during a senior exec’s office hours are both good examples. 

As you build your employee voice strategy, you’ll likely use a combination of all of these to make sure your workforce truly feels heard. Here are a few examples of employee voice initiatives that you could start in your business. 

• Regular ‘pulse’ surveys with a process for gathering and acting on feedback
• Training on workplace practices and how to flag up when they aren’t being followed
• Regular one-to-ones with line managers for two-way feedback and suggestions
• Open office hours for senior managers and key decision makers
• Open forums or meetings for discussing new initiatives and proposals
• Transparent communication about company news and developments

You can extend the scope of your employee voice strategy using the right software tools. Arguably this is hugely beneficial for all businesses now, and for remote, hybrid and mobile teams this is essential. 

An employee app with an instantly updated newsfeed, two-way content creation and the ability to support employee-generated content is a must-have, as is employee survey software,

Final thoughts on employee voice

Your employees are brimming with great ideas! Why lock that away? 

It’s on you, as a workplace, to actively encourage employees to share these ideas. Don’t sit back and hope people come to you – shout about how receptive you are (and mean it) and how much you value ideas and contributions from across the business. 

You’ll need: 

• The drive to create a culture where everyone feels able to speak up
• A commitment at senior leadership level to open communication and two-way dialogue
• The willingness to take the negative feedback along with the positive

Use the ideas above to get started. Focus on meaningful sustainable change and commit for the long term and you’ll get results. 

Blink’s newsfeed, social sharing and two-way publishing features help you encourage employee voice. Book a free demo to find out how.

If you’re considering switching from Flip, you’re not alone. Flip is a well-known employee app for frontline teams — but it’s not the only solution out there. Whether you’re seeking more robust features, better support, or more flexible pricing, the right Flip alternative can help you connect, engage, and empower your entire workforce.

Below, we break down 10 of the best alternatives to Flip, starting with Blink — an award-winning employee experience platform — and covering other leading options to match a range of budgets and needs.

What to look for in a Flip alternative

Before you choose a Flip alternative, it’s important to think about what your teams really need — and how the right solution can support your daily operations. While Flip is known for its frontline focus and simple messaging, many companies need more than just a basic employee app.

Here are a few key things to look for when comparing Flip alternatives:

• Entire workforce coverage: Does the platform connect your entire workforce, including desk-based, frontline, and remote employees, in one place? Some tools focus only on frontline messaging, while others unify everyone under the same app.
• ‍All-in-one functionality: Beyond chat, look for built-in features like news feeds, surveys, forms, scheduling, file sharing, and integrations with your HR, payroll, or intranet systems. This cuts down on multiple logins and boosts adoption.‍
• Ease of use & adoption: A communication app is only useful if people actually use it. Make sure your chosen alternative is simple to roll out, easy to learn, and accessible on mobile for maximum engagement.‍
• Compliance & security: Especially for industries with strict data rules, your solution should keep sensitive info safe and ensure that work communication stays separate from personal apps.‍
• Analytics & insights: Advanced tools show who’s engaging with content, which helps internal comms teams measure what works — and fix what doesn’t.‍
• Flexible pricing & support: Look for transparent pricing that fits your team size and includes customer support that scales as your needs grow.

By keeping these essentials in mind, you’ll find a Flip alternative that does more than just replace messages — it empowers your people, saves time for managers, and makes your workforce feel truly connected.

Top alternatives to Flip in 2025

#1. Blink

Blink is an all-in-one employee experience platform trusted by brands like Shake Shack and easyJet to connect frontline, desk-based, and hybrid teams in one place. Unlike Flip, which focuses primarily on frontline communications, Blink is built for your entire workforce — so everyone stays connected and engaged through the same mobile-first app. Beyond secure messaging, Blink combines a social newsfeed, surveys, forms, scheduling, file sharing, and deep integrations — everything your employees need in their daily flow of work.

This all-in-one approach drives higher adoption rates, faster compliance, and measurable productivity gains for both employees and managers. If you’re looking for a modern alternative to Flip that unites every team member — not just the frontline — Blink is a top choice.

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G2 Rating: 4.7 / 5‍

Pricing: available upon request

#2. Beekeeper

Beekeeper focuses on mobile-first communication for frontline employees in industries like hospitality, retail, and manufacturing. It combines secure messaging, automated workflows, and real-time announcements to help employers bridge communication gaps across shifts and locations. Many companies like Beekeeper’s built-in automation and integration options, which make it easier to onboard new staff and sync schedules with payroll tools.

Unlike Flip, Beekeeper also offers checklists and form templates to help digitize daily tasks. Some users note that advanced customizations can require technical support during setup, but once running, it’s praised for simplicity and reliability.

G2 Rating: 4.7/5

‍Pricing: $3–$5/user/month

#3. Staffbase

Staffbase is a leading internal communications platform used by large global enterprises to deliver news, campaigns, and resources through branded mobile apps and portals. It’s especially powerful for organizations with thousands of employees spread across multiple regions and languages. Compared to Flip, Staffbase’s strong CMS and analytics tools help internal comms teams plan, publish, and measure content more strategically.

Staffbase integrates well with Microsoft 365 and other corporate systems to keep information accessible wherever employees work. While setup can take time for more complex structures, its custom branding and security controls make it a favorite for highly regulated industries.

G2 Rating: 4.7/5

‍Pricing: $4–$8/user/month

#4. Speakap

Speakap is designed for companies that need a private, secure social network for their frontline teams. Its familiar feed and chat features make it easy for employees to share updates, files, or shout-outs without relying on consumer messaging apps. Speakap also supports custom branding and role-based permissions, which is ideal for multi-site or franchise operations.

While it doesn’t include built-in task or scheduling tools like some Flip alternatives, Speakap integrates with popular workforce management systems to fill those gaps. Companies in retail and hospitality appreciate its GDPR compliance and clear separation from personal channels like WhatsApp.

G2 Rating: 4.4/5

‍Pricing: $3–$5/user/month

#5. Connecteam

Connecteam is a mobile-first workforce management app that goes beyond chat and announcements to handle daily operations in one place. For companies that want to centralize communication, scheduling, time tracking, and task management, Connecteam can reduce the need for multiple point solutions. Its drag-and-drop scheduling and GPS time clock are especially popular with small and mid-sized businesses.

One standout feature is Connecteam’s flexible pricing — small teams can start for free, and paid plans remain affordable as you grow. Some larger companies do note that advanced reporting and integrations require higher-tier plans, but overall it’s a strong, user-friendly Flip alternative.

G2 Rating: 4.6/5

‍Pricing: From $29/month (for 30 users)

#6. Workjam

Workjam is a digital frontline workplace designed for industries like retail, hospitality, and healthcare. It combines communications with task management, shift swapping, training, and surveys in one mobile app. For companies that struggle with disconnected scheduling tools and separate comms channels, Workjam can be a real upgrade from Flip’s basic messaging.

Its micro-learning features and compliance tracking help companies keep frontline teams up to date on new processes or safety protocols. Workjam is best suited for larger organizations with complex workforce management needs and can require more implementation support upfront.

G2 Rating: 4.2/5

‍Pricing: $4–$6/user/month

#7. MangoApps

MangoApps combines an employee intranet, collaboration hub, and comms tool in one customizable platform. Unlike Flip, which is primarily a mobile messaging app, MangoApps offers knowledge libraries, team workspaces, and project management — making it a fit for hybrid organizations that need to connect deskless and desk-based workers alike.

It’s highly configurable, which appeals to companies with unique workflows, but smaller teams may find the setup more complex than plug-and-play solutions. Many users highlight its deep search functionality and document management as standout features for centralizing company knowledge.

G2 Rating: 4.2/5

‍Pricing: $5–$8/user/month

#8. LumApps

LumApps is a modern intranet and employee experience platform that helps companies share internal news, knowledge, and resources in a personalized way. While it’s broader than Flip’s chat-first approach, LumApps is a good fit for enterprises that need to unify internal comms across multiple departments and locations.

Its integrations with Google Workspace and Microsoft 365 make it easy to keep information consistent and accessible. Many companies like LumApps for its personalization capabilities, which let employees see only the content relevant to their role or location.

G2 Rating: 4.4/5

‍Pricing: $8–$12/user/month

#9. Firstup

Firstup specializes in delivering targeted, personalized communications to large, distributed workforces. Its smart automation and AI tools help internal comms teams reach the right people with the right message at the best time — something Flip doesn’t offer at the same depth.

Enterprises like its measurement tools, which show exactly how content performs across channels. Firstup is a good fit for companies with mature comms strategies and bigger budgets, and its robust governance controls appeal to regulated industries.

G2 Rating: 4.2/5

‍Pricing: $10+/user/month

#10. Haiilo

Haiilo blends social intranet features with mobile-first employee communications and advocacy tools. It’s built to help companies share news, encourage interaction, and measure engagement all in one sleek interface. Many employers appreciate Haiilo’s flexibility to tailor features to different departments or use cases.

Its modern look and customizable modules make it a strong Flip alternative for companies that want a social, community-focused feel. Larger organizations may need more IT resources to implement Haiilo’s full stack, but it rewards teams with deeper engagement insights and branding options.

G2 Rating: 4.6/5

‍Pricing: $5–$7/user/month

Final Thoughts on Choosing a Flip Alternative

The best Flip alternative depends on your specific goals — whether that’s simplifying daily communications, adding workforce management, or scaling global comms. Blink remains a top choice for companies that want an intuitive, mobile-first super-app to unify news, chat, surveys, forms, and scheduling — all with industry-leading ease of use.

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Why teams choose Blink over Flip

Flip and Blink compete in the same space — frontline-first employee communication — which makes it worth comparing directly on adoption, features, and pricing rather than taking either vendor's word for it. Blink is used daily by teams at McDonald's, Domino's, and Chick-fil-A, all without requiring a single corporate email address. See how Blink compares.

What makes him awesome?

Grant has been with Brighton & Hove for 37 years and now he organizes the buses run out for us.

He is in at 04:00 every day and is never sick. He liaises with Engineering for available buses, plans the run out order, and keeps our bus board updated. He will make sure that the buses run out smoothly and on time and helps all of the drivers as well as the coach drivers, with any queries or if they need assistance with maneuvering, etc. He assists us Supervisors where required with ticket machine problems etc and willingly takes ownership of the state of the garages.

Grant is a true frontline hero and we don’t always show our appreciation enough  Thank you Grant!

How has Blink helped in his role?

Grant uses Blink to communicate with the other departments, drivers, and supervisors to ensure that all relevant information is passed on.

What does he want to do next?

Grant has found his niche and is happily counting the days until he can retire.

Nominated by: Wayne Henty, Supervisor

Inbox zero has always been the dream. But maybe it’s time to dream bigger.

It once defined workplace comms. But today, email is slow, unengaging, and clunky — as anyone lost in a “reply all” chain will tell you. It’s fallen so far out of favor that, for an increasing number of employees, an inbox isn’t even part of the job anymore.

A new generation of employee experience platforms is rewriting internal communication rules. They’re making inbox zero the default — not because people are managing email better, but because they don’t need email at all.

These platforms are introducing faster, more interactive, and more human channels of communication. And they’re transforming how organizations reach their people. Here’s why email can’t carry your internal comms strategy anymore — and the benefits of building a workplace that thrives without an inbox.

The pitfalls of email for internal communication

So why has email fallen behind the times? Because email communication comes with some serious drawbacks.

It’s overwhelming

The reason people dream of inbox zero? Because their email account is overflowing with messages. Employees receive hundreds of emails every day.

What’s more, there’s no clear message hierarchy. Meeting invites, newsletters, urgent safety updates. They all compete for space in the same inbox. It’s hard for employees to see what’s most important at a glance, so critical messages get lost in the noise.

It’s unengaging

Scroll through a social media feed and you’ll see videos, polls, and interactive content designed to grab and hold your attention. Now think about the last email you read. Did it land with the same impact? Probably not.

In a world of TikTok, WhatsApp, and Instagram, static text feels flat. Emails are competing with these highly visual, highly engaging formats — and they just can’t keep up with audience expectations.

It’s hard to measure

Unless you send all emails via an email platform, it’s impossible to know if employees are actually opening, reading, and acting upon your updates. Are employees skimming? Ignoring? Misunderstanding?

Without robust analytics, it’s impossible to know. It’s then hard to make meaningful improvements to the internal comms experience.

It excludes the frontline

83% of frontline employees don’t have a company email address. Even if they do, logging into a shared portal in the break room is hardly practical.

Email isn’t an effective way to reach frontline teams. So you end up excluding an important segment of your audience — and have to resort to inefficient and unreliable methods of communication, like paper notices and manager phone calls.

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The rise of alternative employee communication channels

Email communication has its limits and alternative internal communication tools are on the rise. These platforms are built to make comms faster, more engaging, and more accessible. And some companies are now ditching email entirely, shifting all workplace communication over to these modern tools.

Today, 70% of comms professionals say they use chat tools and 73% say they use an employee app to communicate as an organization. Here’s what employees at those organizations are experiencing:

A mobile-first platform

The best mobile-first communication and intranet platforms provide the same seamless user experience across all devices, including small smartphone screens. Employees can access updates, resources, and workplace tools wherever they are, without needing a corporate email address.

Notifications + social feed

Instead of digging through their inbox, employees get instant notifications when a critical message lands. They can then head to the platform dashboard to view mandatory reads — or scroll the dynamic social feed, where news is organized and personalized by role, team, or tenure.

Channels for every type of communication

Modern platforms give structure to internal communications. Teams, communities, leadership updates, and company resources all have their own clearly defined channels. So employees know exactly where to go for official memos, knowledge sharing, and details of the latest team social. 

Two-way communication

Employees have lots of ways to interact with internal content on a modern comms platform. They can comment on a news feed post, respond to a poll or survey, react with emojis. They can even — depending on the permissions you set — create their own community-building content for your internal channels.

Engaging communications

The best employee intranets borrow from the apps your workers already love. Photos, videos, reels, memes, and visually-rich content make updates short, memorable, and enjoyable to consume. Your messages land — and stick — without adding to inbox overload.

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The productivity + engagement upside of a zero-email comms approach

With modern internal communications software, it’s possible to adopt a zero-email strategy. And the benefits go far beyond clearing inboxes. Here’s what this approach can do for your organization:

• Faster information flow. No more waiting for employees to log into a shared workstation to view the latest company email. Critical updates reach everyone through push notifications, ensuring your messages are seen and read quickly.
   
• Clear messaging. The comms experience is personalized to each employee. So people only see what matters to their role, team, or location. This reduces unnecessary noise and helps your messages cut through more effectively.
  
  
• A stronger sense of belonging. Email wasn’t built for culture-building. But internal communications platforms create shared spaces, where employees can celebrate wins, recognize peers, and feel part of the bigger picture. The result is greater engagement and loyalty across your workforce.
  
  
• Comms people actually want to read. When comms are visual, bite-sized, and interactive, employees are more likely to read them. They engage with your content and return regularly to your comms platform, so it’s easier to land messages.
  
  
• Self-service and streamlined workflows. The best internal comms platforms integrate with the other workplace software you already use. Employees can action a message in clicks because all tools and resources are linked.
  
  
• Equal access across the workforce. Historically, there’s been a divide between frontline and desk-based employees. With a zero-email approach, you bring everyone together. You welcome frontline employees into company culture, strengthening engagement and retention as a result.

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So what does the future of internal communications look like?

In a not-too-distant future, we predict that “inbox zero” will no longer be the dream of employees tackling a never-ending influx of emails. Instead, it will be an organizational norm. And moving beyond email to modern communication platforms will open up a new realm of possibilities for workplace connection.

Comms rethink their playbook

With improved internal communication tools on the table, the comms team can quit their reliance on email. They can meet employees where they are — on their smartphones, scrolling through engaging multi-media content — to create communications that work for every employee.

And, with new communication channels at their disposal, they’ll get creative. Employee-generated content, short-form video, and highly visual posts will become the standard. Comms teams will create Insta-worthy internal comms and find new ways to land messages.

HR and IT invest in an integrated solution

Employee experience isn’t just HR’s job — it’s everyone’s. And, because a single, integrated platform can solve for HR, IT, and comms, this is a setup that more organizations will embrace.

Thanks to deep integrations and single sign-on technology, employees can access everything they need from a single, user-friendly dashboard. Checking up on company news? Requesting a shift swap? Completing the next module of their current training course? It’s all right there, at their fingertips — without juggling multiple tabs and logins.

For IT, that means less firefighting and better ROI from existing tools. For HR, it means higher employee engagement and retention. And for comms, it means a direct line to every member of staff — hard-to-reach frontline workers included.

Teams use platform analytics to take comms even further

The future of comms is data-driven. Teams won’t just hit send and hope for the best. They’ll use platform analytics to see what’s working, what’s not, and where to improve.

That means sharper targeting, smarter campaigns, and data-driven comms strategies that reach the right employees at the right time. Teams can also measure how comms impact big business outcomes, like employee engagement, retention, and customer satisfaction.

Ultimately, analytics give comms a seat at the table. Teams move from being messengers to strategic partners, involved from the start in shaping initiatives and able to demonstrate solid comms ROI.

Stop dreaming of inbox zero. Go beyond email in 2026.

Our vision for the future of internal communications may feel a long way from the comms reality you’re living today. But the truth is, many organizations are already a ways down this path.

They’ve recognized that email is a drain on productivity and engagement. And they’re moving beyond it. No more inbox battles. No more missed messages. Instead, they’re embracing modern, mobile-first internal comms that reach every employee, wherever they are.

They’re making use of multi-media content, notifications, and analytics to ensure all employees get the information and connection they need to succeed in the workplace.

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