[Asia Economy Reporter Buaeri] Kakao, which dominated the messenger market with KakaoTalk, has now launched an attack on the business messenger market.
Kakao Enterprise held a press conference on the 16th and announced the launch of the enterprise work platform 'Kakao Work.' Kakao Enterprise is a subsidiary responsible for Kakao's business-to-business (B2B) operations. Kakao Work first released a free version on the same day and plans to launch a paid enterprise version with a billing model on November 25.
Baek Sang-yeop, CEO of Kakao Enterprise, described Kakao Work as "a solution that solves the difficulty of personal and work conversations being mixed on one platform, making it hard to separate private life and work."
Work on 'Kakao Work', daily life on 'KakaoTalk'
Kakao Work is equipped with various functions necessary for companies, including messenger features, video conferencing, electronic approval, and attendance management. Its strength lies in the KakaoTalk interface (UI) with 52 million users, allowing anyone to use it easily without prior learning. Even emoticons purchased on KakaoTalk can be used as they are.
Kakao Work provides various work-related functions in group chat rooms, including electronic approval and attendance management features.
The first tab of Kakao Work allows users to search for employees through the company organization chart and check their working hours or leave status. The second tab is for chat rooms, and the third tab offers functions such as connections to other services.
In group chat rooms, when members are invited, new members can see previous conversations in the chat room, enabling smooth communication. Member management functions that allow inviting or removing chat room members are also provided. In particular, Kakao Work added an 'emoji' feature to respond to awkward work situations. In situations where simply saying "yes" is embarrassing or not responding is burdensome, emoji reactions can solve the problem.
Specific messages during conversations can be selected and registered to the 'To-Do' list. Registered 'To-Do' items are pinned as a fixed menu at the top of the second tab on mobile, making it convenient to manage tasks.
Equipped with 'Video Conferencing' to 'Work AI Assistant'
Kakao Work also has essential video conferencing features for untact (non-face-to-face) work environments. Video meetings can be started from the chat input window on the PC version or the 'Shortcut Tab,' and will be provided on the mobile version later. Up to 30 people can join, with plans to increase to a maximum of 200 in stages.
The third tab of Kakao Work offers connection functions with various solutions widely used in IT companies, such as Jira and GitHub, as well as internal corporate systems.
Kakao Work is also equipped with an artificial intelligence (AI) search function. When questions arise during messaging, the AI 'Casper' helps obtain the desired information. Users can enter commands like "Casper, what's the current exchange rate?" in the chat window.
CEO Baek stated, "The AI assistant will develop into a personal work secretary." Currently, AI focused on information delivery will be further advanced. For example, while progressing on a project, it will find out who the 'person in charge' is or schedule work as a 'work assistant.' This is Kakao Enterprise's goal.
High-level security technology desired by companies has also been applied. The comprehensive security system 'Kakao Work E3 (Enterprise Endpoint Encryption),' including enterprise-grade end-to-end encrypted messaging, has been implemented to build a high-security environment. All data is encrypted and safely stored in the cloud. Additionally, Kakao Work plans to provide services that allow users to freely set remote logout, simultaneous connection limits, and message/file retention periods.
Playing the role of a 'Marketplace' like an app store in the B2B market
Kakao Work also revealed plans to provide a 'marketplace' like the App Store or Google Play Store in the long term within the B2B market.
CEO Baek explained, "Many venture companies in the B2B market have good software but face difficulties because they lack channels to reach customers," adding, "If Kakao Work truly evolves, it will allow companies and individual users to directly experience and decide to purchase B2B IT solutions, just like general users browse and buy software on the App Store."
© The Asia Business Daily(www.asiae.co.kr). All rights reserved.
