Distribution channels overview

A survey only works if it reaches people. Where your employees actually are - inbox, phone, Slack, Teams - decides whether they see the invitation at all, and that single choice often matters more than anything inside the questionnaire. CultureMonkey can deliver the same survey through several distribution channels, so you can meet each part of your workforce where they already spend their day.

This guide compares the channels CultureMonkey supports: email, SMS, WhatsApp, Slack, and Microsoft Teams (plus a QR / link option for people you can't message directly). For each one you'll learn what it's best for, what has to be switched on before you can use it, how anonymity is preserved, and how the platform decides which channel a given survey goes out on. When you're ready to set up a specific channel, follow the per-channel articles linked throughout.

The channels at a glance

Every survey in CultureMonkey is sent on exactly one primary channel, chosen when you build or schedule it. Reminders can go out on the same channel or a different one, so you can nudge non-responders through a second route (more on that below).

Here's the full set, side by side.

The rest of this article unpacks each row: why you'd choose it, what to check before you rely on it, and where it fits.

Email: the default that always works

Email is the baseline channel, and every account has it. If you build a survey and don't actively pick another channel, CultureMonkey sends it by email. Email is the fallback: when no other channel is selected, the survey is set to send by email so that nobody is left with no way to receive it.

Email is best for:

• Desk-based and hybrid teams who check their inbox through the day.
• Longer or more detailed surveys - annual engagement, lifecycle surveys, anything with several pages, reads better in an email-to-web-form flow than in a chat bubble.
• Rich, branded invitations where you want your logo, an intro paragraph, and a clear call-to-action button.

What's required: nothing to switch on. What you do need is a valid email address on each employee record. Employees without one simply won't be reachable by email, which is exactly the gap SMS, WhatsApp, and chat channels are there to fill.

To make email work well, review your email templates and, if you send from your own domain, your SMTP settings so invitations land reliably and look like they come from you. Full setup lives in Send surveys by email.

app.culturemonkey.io/integrations

SMS: reaching people without an inbox

SMS delivers the survey as a text message with a short link to the response form. It's the classic answer to the deskless-worker problem: a large share of frontline, retail, manufacturing, logistics, and field staff have no company email but always have a phone.

SMS is best for:

• Frontline and deskless employees who don't use email at work.
• High-visibility nudges - a text is hard to miss and tends to get opened fast.
• Short surveys and pulses, where a couple of questions on a phone screen feels natural.

What's required: SMS has to be enabled on your account, and your account is configured with an SMS provider that actually sends the messages. CultureMonkey supports multiple providers under the hood. Because SMS incurs a per-message cost and depends on that provider setup, it's typically arranged with your CultureMonkey contact rather than self-served.

Employee data needed: a valid mobile number (with the correct country code) on each employee record. If numbers are missing or badly formatted, those employees can't be reached by SMS, so clean phone data is the main prerequisite. See Send surveys by SMS.

WhatsApp: chat-first, especially internationally

WhatsApp delivers the invitation as a WhatsApp message. In many regions - large parts of Asia, Latin America, Africa, and southern Europe - WhatsApp is the primary way people communicate, so it often outperforms both email and SMS for reach and response.

WhatsApp is best for:

• International and distributed teams in markets where WhatsApp is the default messaging app.
• Frontline staff who already use WhatsApp for shift and team coordination.
• A friendlier, conversational feel than a plain SMS, with support for richer message formatting.

What's required: WhatsApp must be enabled on your account. Like SMS, it relies on a messaging integration and carries per-message costs, so it's usually set up with your CultureMonkey team.

Employee data needed: a valid mobile number, same as SMS. Setup details are in Send surveys through WhatsApp.

Slack: surveys in the flow of work

If your company runs on Slack, sending surveys there removes a step: employees answer inside the tool they already have open, without switching to email or a browser. The CultureMonkey Slack app messages people directly and lets them respond in-line.

Slack is best for:

• Slack-first organizations where the app is open all day.
• Fast, frequent pulses - short check-ins that benefit from being one click away.
• Higher response rates among teams that habitually ignore internal email.

What's required: the Slack integration must be connected. That means Slack is enabled for your account and the CultureMonkey Slack app is installed and authorized, giving the account a valid app ID and bot token. An admin connects this once from the Integrations hub; until it's connected, Slack won't appear as a channel option. Employees also need to be matched to their Slack accounts so the bot knows where to deliver each invitation.

Once connected, Slack shows up automatically in the channel picker when you build or schedule a survey. Full walkthrough: Send surveys through Slack.

Microsoft Teams: the Microsoft 365 route

For organizations standardized on Microsoft 365, Teams is the equivalent of Slack. The CultureMonkey Teams app delivers surveys and reminders inside Teams, so employees respond without leaving the Microsoft environment.

Microsoft Teams is best for:

• Microsoft 365 shops where Teams is the daily hub for chat and meetings.
• Reaching employees who live in Teams but rarely open internal email.
• A consistent experience alongside the other Microsoft tools your people use.

What's required: the Teams integration must be connected (with the CultureMonkey Teams app installed for your tenant). CultureMonkey supports more than one version of the Teams app - a per-tenant classic app and a public app model tied to your Microsoft tenant - and which one applies depends on how your account is set up. Because of that, Teams setup is the most involved of the channels and is often coordinated with your CultureMonkey contact and your IT/Microsoft admin. Employees need to be matched to their Teams accounts for delivery.

See Send surveys through Microsoft Teams for the connection steps.

QR codes and shared links

Not everyone can be messaged individually. For shop floors, shared kiosks, break rooms, events, or contractors who aren't in your employee list, a survey can be made accessible by QR code or a shareable link instead of a per-person push. People scan or click and land straight on the response form.

QR/link is best for:

• Shared-device environments where individual accounts don't exist.
• Events and one-off collection - post a code on a poster or slide.
• Reaching people you have no contact detail for, since it needs no email or phone number.

A survey can be set to be reachable this way in addition to (or instead of) a push channel. Because there's no per-person message, a link-based survey behaves as a fully open, anonymous entry point. Note that link/QR access is aimed at one-time and pulse-style collection; it isn't offered for automated lifecycle surveys, which are tied to individual employee events.

Anonymity is separate from the channel

A common worry is that using SMS, WhatsApp, Slack, or Teams somehow exposes who said what, because those channels feel more personal than email. It doesn't. Anonymity in CultureMonkey is a property of the survey, not the delivery channel.

When a survey is marked anonymous, responses are decoupled from the individual regardless of how the invitation was delivered. The channel is only the envelope: it gets the invitation to the right person, but the response that comes back is handled under the same anonymity rules on every channel. Results are still protected by the platform's anonymity thresholds, so small groups are hidden until enough people respond and no individual's answer can be inferred.

How a survey picks its channel

You choose the channel when you build or schedule the survey. Behind the scenes, the logic is straightforward:

• The survey is sent on one primary channel. When you set it up, you select email, SMS, WhatsApp, Slack, or Teams. If you make no choice, CultureMonkey defaults to email so the survey always has a way out.
• Only enabled channels appear. The channel picker lists just the channels your account can actually use right now. SMS shows only if SMS is enabled; Slack and Teams show only once their integrations are connected; WhatsApp shows only if it's enabled. This is why a colleague's account might offer more channels than yours - it comes down to what's been switched on.
• Reminders can use a different channel. When you add reminders, each reminder has its own channel selector drawn from the same list of enabled channels. That lets you invite by email and then nudge non-responders by SMS or Slack, which often lifts completion. See Recurring vs one-time reminders.

1. 1Confirm the channel is enabled - check the Integrations hub (Slack, Teams) or with your CultureMonkey contact (SMS, WhatsApp). Email needs nothing.
2. 2Check the underlying employee data - emails for email, mobile numbers for SMS/WhatsApp, matched Slack/Teams accounts for chat.
3. 3Select the channel on the survey - it appears in the channel dropdown while you build or schedule.
4. 4Set reminder channels - reuse the primary channel or switch to a second one to reach stragglers.
5. 5Launch - see Launch a survey.

How to choose the right channel

There's no single best channel; the right one depends on where your people are. A few practical rules:

• Follow the audience, not convenience. The best channel is the one your employees actually check. A beautifully set-up email channel is worthless to a factory floor that never opens email.
• Segment by workforce type. Many organizations mix channels: email for HQ and knowledge workers, SMS or WhatsApp for frontline and deskless staff, Slack or Teams for whichever the company runs on. You don't have to pick one for everyone.
• Match channel to survey length. Long, detailed surveys read best over email or a web form; short pulses thrive in chat and SMS.
• Use reminders across channels. Invite on the primary channel, then nudge non-responders on a second one. A Slack reminder after an email invite is a reliable way to recover responses.
• Mind the cost and setup. Email is free and instant to use. SMS and WhatsApp carry per-message costs. Slack and Teams need a one-time integration. Factor that in, but don't let it override reach.

Frequently asked questions

Can one survey go out on more than one channel at once?

Each survey has a single primary channel for the initial invitation. To cover a mixed workforce, the common patterns are to run parallel surveys aimed at different groups, or to invite on one channel and add reminders on other channels to reach people who didn't respond the first time.

Why don't I see SMS, WhatsApp, Slack, or Teams as an option?

Because that channel isn't enabled or connected on your account yet. Email is always available; the others only appear once the relevant setting is turned on (SMS, WhatsApp) or the integration is connected (Slack, Teams). Check the Integrations hub or ask your CultureMonkey contact.

Does sending by Slack or Teams reveal who answered?

No. Anonymity is controlled by the survey's settings and the anonymity threshold, not by the channel. An anonymous survey stays anonymous whether it's delivered by email, chat, or SMS.

What happens to employees who don't have the data for a channel?

They simply aren't reached on that channel. Someone with no mobile number can't get an SMS; someone not matched to Slack won't get a Slack message. This is why keeping employee emails, phone numbers, and chat matches current matters, and why many teams combine channels to cover everyone.

Is SMS or WhatsApp an extra cost?

These channels rely on external messaging providers and generally carry per-message charges, so they're usually arranged with your CultureMonkey contact rather than self-enabled.

Can I use a QR code for an annual engagement survey?

QR and link access is best suited to one-time and pulse-style collection on shared devices or at events. It isn't used for automated lifecycle surveys, which are tied to individual employee milestones and need to be delivered to a specific person.

Where to go next

• Set up email delivery: Send surveys by email
• Send in Slack: Send surveys through Slack
• Send in Microsoft Teams: Send surveys through Microsoft Teams
• Reach frontline staff: Send surveys by SMS and Send surveys through WhatsApp
• Nudge non-responders: Recurring vs one-time reminders
• Understand anonymity: Survey anonymity and Anonymity overview