The replacement of company email

On Monday October 10 2016, Facebook Inc. launched Workplace, which offers the same look, feel, and features as the popular platform but aims to expand its services to the office. In terms of looks, the app is similar to Facebook, with features such as live video streaming and messaging, but is kept completely separate from users' personal profiles. It is designed to replace other business tools such as email.

Assuredly, Facebook Inc. has made it clear; "we want to connect workers the same way we have connected people for the past 12years. At Facebook, we've had an internal version of our applications to help run our company for many years. We've seen that just as Facebook keeps you connected to friends and family, it can do the same with coworkers. We started testing a version of Facebook for the workplace with a few other organizations over a year ago.

Now, more than 1,000 organizations around the world use Workplace (formerly known as Facebook at Work). People have created nearly 100,000 groups and the top five countries using Workplace are India, the US, Norway, UK and France. We're excited by the progress we've made and the level of adoption and engagement we’re seeing.

So today we’re announcing that Workplace will now be available to any company or organization that wants to use it"

It is absolutely true that most people have come to observed that they do not use the email to communicate with friends as much as they do with them via social media applications such as Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp, Instagram, and Snapchat.

With this in mind, the social media giant now wants us to use Facebook not only before and after work but also at the office during working hours.

In fact, Facebook has tapped at least a dozen systems integrators and technology consulting companies, including Deloitte, to spread the gospel about Workplace and help companies get the software up and running.

What is Facebook workplace?

Facebook workplace is a mobile application that keeps team members connected. The service, offers features like Facebook Group, Facebook Messenger, built- in audio and video calling, and access to social network’s profile, events and live video tools. Employees of Facebook have been internally using the service for years now. Also, other big companies like Starbucks, the 100,000- employee Royal Bank of Scotland and Booking.com have been let to test the service since 2015.

In addition, Facebook workplace will be priced competitively. Payment by companies will be for only those who are actively using the product.

Also, it should be noted that the new global and mobile workplace isn't about closed-door meetings or keeping people separated by title, department or geography. it has been observed that organisation are stronger and more productive when everyone comes together.

ALSO READ: Social media giant launches work collaboration platform to take on Slack

What are the features of Facebook workplace?

Facebook inc. has made it known that Workplace includes the best of Facebook, such as news feed, which displays articles, updates or comments relevant to certain teams or, perhaps, to the entire company; the ability to create and share in Groups, features like live reactions, search, and trending posts, and chat so you can communicate with colleagues in real time. There's even something called multi-company g+roups, which allows employees from different organizations to work together.

Also, the now-familiar live service can be used to broadcast corporate communications, such as a presentation by the CEO. Workers can communicate in real time using a version of messenger.

How possible it is for Facebook workplace to eliminate email?

Obviously, Facebook Inc. is used by a quarter of the world’s population to keep tabs on friends every month. With this strong hold on the telecommunication world, the 13-year-old social network now see it fit to seek similar dominance in the corporate world.

A telecommunication expert Howard Yu boldly claims that internal company email will be a thing of the past. "Most of us have noticed that we no longer email friends as much as we communicate with them via social media apps such as Facebook messenger and other social media platforms.”

Furthermore, Yu went on to points out that email is a very inefficient way to communicate. He said that the average office worker spends over six hours a day exchanging emails. Many people are overwhelmed with unnecessary email messages, which takes up too much of their time.

However, not everybody has come to find concurrence with the expertise of Yu’s Proclamation. For example, Steve Ranger of ZDNet affirms that yes, Facebook workplace will change everything except email. He also said that companies can only use Facebook workplace to communicate with internal team members. They can't use it to communicate with customers, third-party contractors or regulators. The service will probably only be applicable for projects where timely responses are needed.

In the final analysis, I would rather not take side with the expertise of Howard Yu; nor will I also accept the polished facts of Steve Ranger. I will wait for the truthfulness of time to speak for itself; because at the end of it all, only time shall reveal to us whether Facebook workplace can actually bring an end to the use of company email.