Danielle de Angelis works from home during a lockdown imposed by the state government because of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak in Santo Andre, Brazil, March 26, 2020.
A new virtual office app is now available, and it promises to save work-from-home employees from constant distraction and loneliness.
With the continuous lockdown in many areas, employers allow their employees to work from their homes while using video-calls on meetings. However, Pragli levels up the virtual experience using avatars.
Pragli vows to make employees feel like they are in the same building. It uses avatars to indicate the workers' activities like whether they are at their desks, away from it, or in a meeting.
Avatars may also show them in the zone while listening to Spotify, taking a break at a digital virtual watercooler, or even done for the day. This helps the team to communicate faster and build closeness.
This also allows users to decide whether to do a quick audio call, cooperate via screenshare, schedule a video meeting, or send a chat message. Essentially, it translates the actual cues we use in the office to the online workspace.
"What Slack did for email, we want to do for video conferencing," says Pragli co-founder Doug Safreno who compares the app to a walkie-talkie . "Pragli is inclusive. Just like in an office, you can see who is talking to who."
This means less time is wasted on planning meetings, colleagues who interrupt or wait for critical answers. Pragli offers the focus that makes remote work productive with the togetherness that keeps everyone safe and in sync.
Pragli was officially launched yesterday, and it is free to use until Jun. 1. There are plans to offer a premium package for companies at a certain monthly cost per user. The paid version will provide a full experience to users.
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How to use Pragli?
To start using Pragli, users need to download the desktop app version. They may sign in using their Google, Microsoft, or Github accounts. Then, users may customize their avatar with a wide range of options for face, hair, skin, and clothing.
Pragli can use the mouse and keyboard interaction to show if the user is at her desk or not. It may also use the webcam to take occasional snapshots of your facial expressions to your avatar.
Users can also connect their Spotify and calendar to show what music they are listening to. They can also opt to reveal or hide the details of their meeting or advise other people whether they are too busy or not.
With these cues, Pragli allows users to communicate through audio, video, or text. They just need to tap on someone to instantly talk to a colleague, although their microphone stays muted until the other party responds.
Meanwhile, they can jump into Slack-esque channels for discussing specific topics or holding recurring meetings. And if you need some downtime, you can hang out in the watercooler or trivia game channel, or set a manual away message.
"The ability to switch between 'rooms' with screen sharing, video, and voice in one app is great... Plus, the avatars are quite charming as well," says Storj Labs VP of engineering JT Olio.
The Pragli founders are also debating how to encompass mobile without making people feel like the office stalks them after hours. However, Safreno explains that unlike other virtual office apps, Pragli allows users to limit their working time.
"In Pragli, you log into the office in the morning, and there's a clear sense of when I'm working and when I'm not working," says Safreno. Thus, users do not need to stay online and respond all day.
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