There is a group in my enterprise who is considering the use of Whatsapp rather than Skype for Business (we're already a S4B Online shop). I would like to think that most, if not all, of the Whatsapp functionality can be covered by Skype for Business Online. Do any of you have experience with this comparison? Any ideas on how to influence this group?
Also, policy for us is that if we have a tool already in our toolbox for users then they have to have a really compelling business case why the organization would invest time and money in something else.
Once you allow your staff to start using WhatsApp for work, soon they will be connecting with their friends and socialising as well using WhatsApp. With Skype for Business, you can simply enable the policies to stop them adding any external Skype accounts.
Whatsapp is definitely outclassed and outshined by Skype for Business in regards to feature set and central managability so my instinct would be to get in a room with them and try and get to the bottom of what it is they really like about whatsapp and if it is a feature that S4B cannot do (unlikely) they look at other items in the O365 offering that could emulate their requirements.
The only thing I can think of is the chat room style functionality that whatsapp seems to more naturally do. And that can be easily emulated with other tools like Yammer and in a more feature rich controlled manner.
The only real advantage I can think of that WhatsApp has over Skype for Business is that I can have a conversation going, on the web through WhatsApp and then pickup my phone and carry on that conversation. Whereas with Skype for Business I would need to remake the conversation, ask the other person to resend anything that I missed or need to reference.
This is a constant frustration for me personally, though that's not a suggestion to use WhatsApp over Skype for Business, it's very much not suitable for a business environment in pretty much every other aspect.
Other than the lack of control that some of the other responses cited I would say that Whatsapp is essentially a consumer tool and not an enterprise/business grade solution (a bit like 'Consumer' Skype v's Skype for Business).
1. With whatsapp people may chat with anyone who has whatsapp application. And whatsapp is free. For people it's easier to communicate via whatsapp. S4b is paid. You may communicate only with companies that uses skype for business, and only if your administrators configure federated trust with that company. S4b is used only within one organization, but people need to communicate other people who don't have S4b. There is no solution to add people who uses free IM messengers, but skype. However, with S4b you are able to communicate only with "microsoft account"-ed skype users.
3. whatsapp disadvantage is only in conferences. whatsapp don't have them at all. S4b has a desktop, powerpoint sharing, and usefull conferencing tools. You may even invite a person outside of your organization, who even don't have S4b application. He may use guest account via browser plugin.
One significant advantage of using WhatsApp Web is that if you have a WhatsApp Business account, you can use it on multiple devices - 1 mobile phone & up to 4 additional devices. Using WhatsApp Business on more than 1 device through WhatsApp Web or WhatsApp Desktop can improve customer service, sales workflows & overall operational efficiency.
WhatsApp Web allows sharing documents, images & other files directly from your computer. This is very useful if you need to send invoices, product catalogs, or instructional documents to customers. It also simplifies the process of saving received files directly to your computer for record-keeping.
By using WhatsApp Web, multiple team members can access the business account from their computers, making it easier to distribute the workload of responding to customer inquiries. This can reduce response times and improve customer satisfaction.
WhatsApp Web offers web-specific features such as whatsapp keyboard shortcuts, which can speed up navigation & handling chats. For instance, you can quickly search chats, start new chats, or switch between chats using keyboard shortcuts.
WhatsApp Business Web & WhatsApp Desktop App offer handy tools for managing customer communications. By mirroring your mobile app onto whatsapp web browser or desktop application, you gain the convenience of managing messages, sharing files & collaborating with team members on a larger screen and with a full keyboard.
However, as your business grows and the volume of messages increases, the limitations of WhatsApp Web may prompt the need for a more robust solution. The WhatsApp Business Platform is designed for high-volume and professional use, the API allows advanced features like collaboration among multiple agents, chatbots, personalized communication through message templates, campaigns at scale & powerful integrations.
WhatsApp Web is a browser-based extension of the WhatsApp application that allows you to access your WhatsApp account on a computer. It mirrors the conversations and messages from your mobile device to the web interface, allowing you to send and receive messages, share files, and manage your chats on a larger screen.
Yes, you can use both WhatsApp and WhatsApp Business on the same computer. You can log into WhatsApp Web or WhatsApp Desktop with your personal WhatsApp account and also access WhatsApp Business through a separate tab or window in your web browser, or use the WhatsApp Desktop app for Business, ensuring you manage both personal and business communications effectively.
No, WhatsApp Web requires your phone to be connected to the internet and able to receive messages since it mirrors the content from your mobile device. If your phone is turned off or disconnected, WhatsApp Web will not function.
WhatsApp Web does not support making video or voice calls directly from the browser. You can send text messages, voice messages, and share files, but for video or voice calls, you will need to use the WhatsApp application on your mobile device or look forward to future updates in case this functionality is added.
We also offer a free consultation session where we review your use case, answer any questions about WhatsApp, and help you build a strategy to make the best out of the platform. Book a call with us here. We'd love to speak with you:
WhatsApp (officially WhatsApp Messenger) is an instant messaging (IM) and voice-over-IP (VoIP) service owned by technology conglomerate Meta.[14] It allows users to send text, voice messages and video messages,[15] make voice and video calls, and share images, documents, user locations, and other content.[16][17] WhatsApp's client application runs on mobile devices, and can be accessed from computers.[18] The service requires a cellular mobile telephone number to sign up.[19] In January 2018, WhatsApp released a standalone business app called WhatsApp Business which can communicate with the standard WhatsApp client.[20][21]
The service was created by WhatsApp Inc. of Mountain View, California, which was acquired by Facebook in February 2014 for approximately US$19.3 billion.[22][23] It became the world's most popular messaging application by 2015,[24][25] and had more than 2 billion users worldwide by February 2020,[26] confirmed four years later by new 200M registrations per month.[27] By 2016, it had become the primary means of Internet communication in regions including Latin America, the Indian subcontinent, and large parts of Europe and Africa.[24]
WhatsApp was founded in February 2009 by Brian Acton and Jan Koum, former employees of Yahoo! A month earlier, after Koum purchased an iPhone, he and Acton decided to create an app for the App Store. The idea started off as an app that would display statuses in a phone's Contacts menu, showing if a person was at work or on a call.[63]
Their discussions often took place at the home of Koum's Russian friend Alex Fishman in West San Jose. They realized that to take the idea further, they would need an iPhone developer. Fishman visited RentACoder.com, found Russian developer Igor Solomennikov, and introduced him to Koum.[63]
Koum named the app WhatsApp to sound like "what's up". On February 24, 2009, he incorporated[64] WhatsApp Inc. in California. However, when early versions of WhatsApp kept crashing, Koum considered giving up and looking for a new job. Acton encouraged him to wait for a "few more months".[63]
Koum updated WhatsApp so that everyone in the user's network would be notified when a user's status changed. This new facility, to Koum's surprise, was used by users to ping "each other with jokey custom statuses like, 'I woke up late' or 'I'm on my way.'"[63]
Although Acton was working on another startup idea, he decided to join the company.[28] In October 2009, Acton persuaded five former friends at Yahoo! to invest $250,000 in seed funding, and Acton became a co-founder and was given a stake. He officially joined WhatsApp on November 1.[28] Koum then hired a friend in Los Angeles, Chris Peiffer, to develop a BlackBerry version, which arrived two months later.[28] Subsequently, WhatsApp for Symbian OS was added in May 2010, and for Android OS in August 2010.[65] In 2010 Google made multiple acquisition offers for WhatsApp, which were all declined.[66]
To cover the cost of sending verification texts to users, WhatsApp was changed from a free service to a paid one. In December 2009, the ability to send photos was added to the iOS version. By early 2011, WhatsApp was one of the top 20 apps in the U.S. Apple App Store.[28]
By February 2013, WhatsApp had about 200 million active users and 50 staff members. Sequoia invested another $50 million, and WhatsApp was valued at $1.5 billion.[28] Some time in 2013[70] WhatsApp acquired Santa Clara-based startup SkyMobius, the developers of Vtok,[71] a video and voice calling app.[72]
On February 19, 2014, one year after a venture capital financing round at a $1.5 billion valuation,[75] Facebook, Inc. (now Meta Platforms) announced it was acquiring WhatsApp for US$19 billion, its largest acquisition to date.[23] At the time, it was the largest acquisition of a venture-capital-backed company in history.[22] Sequoia Capital received an approximate 5,000% return on its initial investment.[76] Facebook, which was advised by Allen & Co, paid $4 billion in cash, $12 billion in Facebook shares, and, advised by Morgan Stanley, an additional $3 billion in restricted stock units granted to WhatsApp's founders Koum and Acton.[77] Employee stock was scheduled to vest over four years subsequent to closing.[23] Days after the announcement, WhatsApp users experienced a loss of service, leading to anger across social media.[78]
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