Starting April 30, 2021, Stanford is participating in the pilot of a new Slack feature called “Huddles.”
Huddles are an audio-only way for you to connect with members of the Stanford Slack community in real-time — without the need to schedule a Zoom meeting or pick up your phone.
How to share your feedback
After you try Huddles, you're invited to offer feedback. Join the conversation in the #slack-ama channel or complete this very brief survey and we'll share your suggestions, ideas, and input with the Slack team.
How to start a Huddle
Once Huddles are turned on, you’ll see a headphone icon in your Channel Header. If you don't see the icon, you may need to do a hard refresh: cmd/ctrl + r. To start a huddle, click on the icon in any channel or conversation or use the keyboard shortcut: cmd/ctrl + shift + h.
- In DMs and Group DMs, this will actively invite the others.
- In channels, the huddle icon will appear in the sidebar for everyone in the channel. Anyone in the channel can click on the huddle icon to join the discussion.
To invite people from the huddle itself, click on the huddle name or number of participants.
FAQs for Huddles
- How will I know this is turned on? Will this affect anything once turned on?
- You may need to do a hard refresh (cmd/ctrl + r) to see this once it’s enabled for your organization—nothing should affect your experience. Once enabled (and/or refreshed), you will see a headphone icon in your Channel Header, which you can click on to start a huddle.
- How long will the pilot last?
- We expect the full pilot process to wrap up about 2 to 3 months after the kick off on April 30, 2021.
- What’s expected of me during this pilot?
- Nothing but usage and feedback! Join the conversation in the #slack-ama channel.
- What happens after the pilot? And when will this be generally available?
- Slack has indicated they’re looking to release this feature sometime this year. Of course, that’s subject to change. But more than likely, this will be coming soon
- Are Huddles secure?
- Huddles leverage the same infrastructure as Calls and the same security policies apply.
- Will Huddles be recorded? Any retention capabilities?
- Currently, Huddles are for spontaneous, ad-hoc conversations and can’t be recorded.
- What kind of accessibility is there?
- Currently, accessibility features are not available. However, Slack has indicated they understand accessibility is important and they’ve added it to their roadmap.
