This company wants your calls to remain private (yes, even at work)

Do you ever call a friend and hear a weird crackling sound on the other end? Ever feel like someone is listening in? Is this person in the room right now?

Have no fear, the Signal product team is here. Introducing: private, encrypted, 1-o-1 calls.

Privacy-first calls aren’t new

Here’s a quick timeline:

• In 2014, Signal release an end-to-end encrypted call feature.

• In 2017, Signal add video calls.

• In 2020, amid the Covid and work-from-home bonanza, Signal add group calls.

Coincidentally, Signal experienced aggressive growth during this period, from about 10 million downloads in 2019 to 125 million downloads in 2021 🚀.

So, what’s new then?

Signal took a… ahem… creative approach to releasing its call features.

Up until now, to trigger an encrypted call, users had to create a group chat with the participants, then call the group. Odd. With their latest release — which they aptly call ‘Call links’ — you can now create a private link, share it with the intended participant(s), and voila!

Fighting yucky corporate behaviour

In their release notes, Signal specifically call out competitors for releasing features that encourage ‘employee surveillance’ during work calls.

Webex, for example, released a feature that tracks whether a call participant has minimised the call window or brought another window on top of the current call. Yuck.

Let’s not forget functionalities like barging in, whispering, and passive call monitoring which are common across the entire industry including Zoom, Teams, Salesforce Voice, and more.

Signal practice what they preach. They exclusively use their product for all internal calls and communication. That’s probably why this release also includes emoji reactions. How else am I supposed to tell my boss their idea is crap but with a timeless emoji?