Microsoft’s latest mobile offering, Kaizala Pro, a mobile app for large secure group communications and field staff management is now commercially available in Nigeria.
business a.m learnt that the Microsoft Kaizala is a mobile app that improves the way businesses communicate and collaborate. It is designed for large group communication, workflow management, reporting and analytics, and is integrated with Office 365.
Akin Banuso, country general manager, Microsoft Nigeria, said the app addresses several challenges faced by many businesses across the country who manage field staff remotely.
“Mobile technology is enabling businesses to embrace the fourth industrial revolution and digitally transform their operations. Microsoft Kaizala is ideal for organisations that need to communicate with large numbers of task workers to enhance business agility, collaboration, and organisational productivity,” Banuso said.
According to the company, unlike other chat-based apps in the market, Kaizala extends beyond a mere communication function, adding that because many workers in the region often don’t have an email address, Kaizala only requires a mobile number to sign a user up. The app is also optimised to work on any network – including slow 2G networks.
“This means only you and the people with whom you are communicating can see what you have sent them,” says Akin. “Microsoft Kaizala is currently Tier-A compliant and our engineers do not have access to any customer data,” he added.
“As we roll out Microsoft Kaizala in Nigeria, we hope to connect the complete value chain, including the unconnected parts of organisations. Microsoft’s vision for Kaizala is to empower every organisation and community to achieve more through purposeful chat,” Banuso also said.
Some of Kaizala’s other unique features include the ability to communicate with and manage an unlimited number of users. This includes employees, front-line workers, customers, suppliers and citizens. Organisations can create flat, hierarchical or discoverable public groups in minutes from contact lists, directories or ad hoc sharing. For users in remote areas, the app is optimised to work on slow 2G networks and users don’t need an email address to sign up, only a mobile number.
The app is also able to broadcast and collect information in a structured way through action cards. This includes sharing announcements – photos, videos or documents; hosting polls or surveys; assigning tasks; providing training content; marking attendance; and tracking workforces using location tracking.
In addition, organisations are able to gather rich insights from data with built-in analytics. Organisations can view results in real-time, organise large amounts of information with an aggregated view of user responses and get reports at each level of the organisation.
