Message Templates, @Mentions, and Document Scanner for iOS

Getting into a ‘routine’ sometimes gets a bad reputation. We disagree! Routine says simplicity. Routine says efficiency. Routine says focus. It’s with that notion; we’re excited to announce a significant upgrade to Spike’s digital workspace today on Desktop and the web. We’ve added major time saving features that are yet another way to improve the ease at which you can collaborate and have a conversation with Spike. Let’s dive in!

PS: Read all the way to the end of this blog… we snuck in some typing shortcuts and an extra surprise ? to help with save you time everywhere we can.

Spike Message Templates

With Spike Message Templates, you can take anything you routinely email and create a template to have easy access to it each time you need it. Do you have a frequent response for how you reply to incoming sales pitches? What about requests for purchases? With our new Message Templates, you can customize a canned response and use it each time you need it. Customize it to your heart’s desire, save it to your library, and then reuse it over and over.

⭐️ Pro Tip: Add a Message Template using your keyboard only:

Don’t stop your flow. Easily insert a template with keyboard shortcuts.  While writing an email, type / (forward slash) to select and insert your template. Slash, enter, and done. 

? Learn more about about Message Templates here.

Share your favorite templates with us on Twitter by tagging @SpikenowHQ and using the hashtag #SpikeTips

Spike Collaborative @Mentions

@Mentions are now available in Spike, and we know that many of our users have been eagerly waiting for this! When teams are spread out across multiple time zones, your work is often asynchronous. If you wake up with multiple Spike Groups to look through, our new @ Mentions will help you focus on the messages that require your attention.

All you need to do is type @ and start typing the contact’s name. Use the arrows to select the contact and press enter (or click if you love using your mouse) and they’ll instantly be added into the conversation if they aren’t already there. 

If you’re in a Spike Group chat, you will get the group members’ list only, so your communications stay private to that group when adding a mention.

? Learn more about @Mentions here. 

High Quality Document Scanner on iOS

 Spike’s iOS app now also includes a built-in document scanner. You can now easily scan any document in a single tap: 

• Receipts
• Documents
• Book pages
• Sketches
• Barcodes & QR codes

Snap a picture and the document detector will instantly identify and align the document for you.

Scan directly in any message or Note ➡ auto-uploads ➡ share it with anyone.

Store your receipts in Spike Notes, keep all a project’s invoices together, or easily share reading material. Stop losing  paper receipts for your expense reports and get them on a cloud-based platform, so you can have them on all of your devices, whenever you need them. A world of possibilities awaits at your fingertips. 

Head over to the App Store and grab the update today.

? Learn more about the Document Scanner here. 

Emoji Shortcuts

You can set up a fast search and insert emoji in the text (compose line/ composer window) by writing space and : (colon sign). A floating window will open with the list of emoji (emoji image and name). You can continue searching for your desired emoji by typing the emoji name.

You can choose the emoji by clicking on it with keyboard enter or by mouse and the emoji will be inserted.

Shortcut summary:

Tap the spacebar and then the symbol or at the start of a new line.

@ = Mentions. Mentions the contact in the message body (and adds them as a recipient if they aren’t already in the conversation).

/ = Templates. Opens the list of existing templates. If no templates exist, it doesn’t do anything.

+ = Add recipient. In the compose line, if it’s a new recipient, it opens the composer window with the new recipient added to the conversation.

– = Remove recipient. In a new message or composer window: Opens list of recipients that are part of the current conversation.

: = Emoji. Search for emoji with free text.

What’s next for Spike?

The way we communicate and collaborate at work has got to change. Today, most workflows are fragmented and intrusive. We’re burned out. And the legacy tools we have contribute to the problem. New apps are budding like spring flowers after the rain. Yet, each new app solves only a part of the problem. We’re tired just thinking about it. 

Spike envisions a different – and better- way to work. To bring the workplace of the future to life, Spike brings together all the tools you need to be more productive into a unified workspace.

Adding Message Templates and Collaborative Mentions are another essential part of how Spike is helping to improve communication. Focus, simple conversations, seamless collaboration, and unified workflows. These are the basic tenets that will help your team collaborate better and be more productive, and for your business to operate smoothly and efficiently, both internally and with clients. All the while, helping to create a better work-life balance.

On that note, if you know there has to be a smarter way to work/ collaborate/ communicate, or you’re tired of fragmented workflows, or simply want to silence the never-ending pings of notifications from different work apps, then stay tuned…we’ve got a major announcement coming that’s going to change the way you work.  Get ready to have everything your business needs in a powerful and unified workspace.