Group chat platform Slack on Tuesday started rolling out a one-on-one and group video calling feature on the Mac, Windows, and Chrome versions of its app.

After adding voice calling to Slack earlier this year, Slack has taken a step further with the new video calling feature. The same handy button can now be used to make a video call - except that the new camera button, added just beside the phone icon, is to be clicked as well to turn the normal call into a video call.

Like Us on Facebook

Like voice calling, it is fairly simple to get one's Slack team on a video call. There is no need to open a separate app, dial into a meeting, or share invite links. Anyone on a user's Slack team can call another person directly, and if the user is on one of the Slack's paid plans, his/her team can make group video calls with up to 15 more people.

As an additional feature, users can also use emojis while video calling on Slack. So without having to unmute, one can use a "raised hand" emoticon to ask a question, add a "thumbs up" emoticon to show approval, or "a bowing person" emoticon to thank people. These reactions, among a host of others, will be accompanied by a subtle sound and display briefly over the video.

Slack has also integrated its app with third party services like Google Hangouts and Zoom. If a user already uses another app for video calling, he/she can use Slack to make voice and video calls from within the preferred app. In fact, one can even customize the call settings to automatically pick the preferred call service and save it as the default one.

Slack is rolling out the video calling feature over the next few days, and it will be available on the latest versions of Slack for Mac and Slack for Windows desktop apps, as well as Google Chrome. Mobile users can also join any ongoing video call but will be limited to sharing and receiving audio.