IA Fintech Member Insights: QWIL Messenger
Why is WhatsApp (still) being used for business despite the risks?
WhatsApp has revolutionised the way we communicate with friends and family. Although not designed for business usage, WhatsApp’s popularity has also meant it has become a principal communication channel for staff and clients, particularly in the absence of a suitable alternative.
Much to the horror of IT and compliance departments, WhatsApp is now a firmly entrenched “shadow IT” system operating beyond the expected corporate controls, leaving most firms no choice but to ban not only the app’s usage for work but also its installation on devices to prevent GDRP breaches.
Highlighting the dangers, risks or even penalties associated with the use of a product is usually not enough to change a person’s behaviour. A proper alternative which delivers an equivalent or superior experience must be offered. Employees don’t use personal email to conduct professional conversations and when asked, are also keen to separate business from personal communication channels. So why are they still using WhatsApp at work? What makes WhatsApp such a powerful tool in business? What is it used for in practice? And how can Qwil Messenger become the alternative?
What are the key reasons for WhatsApp use?
- Availability: application downloadable to all mobile devices globally.
- Common platform: Every staff member, client or external partner (vendor) can be connected via the same platform for 1-on-1s or group chats. No limitations to internal staff. Messages are centralised, increasing the chance of being read.
- BYOD (Bring Your Own Device): application is on all personal mobile devices and present at work and home. Personal phone is never more than a few metres away, again, more likely being read.
- Standalone app: One app does one thing well to be used and adopted. One goes to Mail to send an email, or Phone to call someone. If Chat is a part of another app, or a secondary feature, the use and frequency will be limited. This forced Facebook to move 1 billion users in 2014 to a standalone Messenger app.
- Intuitive interface: No training required, easy to use, to search, to create chats, add documents, forward information and monitor activity.
- Prepopulated contact list: Key to know who can chat to whom. WhatsApp gains access to the phones’ address book upon installation to populate the app’s contact list so you know who is a user of WhatsApp, thereby making it easy to start a chat. Note that although this may be acceptable for personal use, it is a GDPR breach in professional context as by accepting this transfer of private data and to US-based servers, users also expose all of their contacts’ details (both personal and professional) without obtaining each contact’s explicit permission for their data to be used or processed.
- Tracking: the double tick (read/receipt), or presence indicators, allows participants to follow conversations and escalate if time sensitive (by phone).
- Attachments / pictures: camera function is often used to share notes, or diagram on white board following meetings
- Speed and synchronisation across devices: Message is shared globally to all participants instantaneously. One can start a conversation on desktop and continue conversation on mobile.
- Always free for 3rd External parties do not need paid licenses, infrastructure, to benefit from functionality.
Qwil Messenger has been specifically designed to provide the chat alternative which meets both user and professional requirements
Businesses, clients and close partners do not work in silos. Like the phone, email or face-to-face meetings, everyone needs to be seamlessly connected via a global, secure and trusted communication channel. This is the premise of Qwil Messenger. One single chat app making chat safe and compliant when it matters most.
Unlike other internal enterprise chat solutions, Qwil Messenger’s single app (both web and mobile) allows us to provide a superior, branded chat experience that is both convenient and familiar for staff, clients and partners. At the same time, we can also safely maximise the benefits associated with what is the most popular and fastest growing form of electronic communication globally.
To achieve the high standards we require, the app has been engineered from the ground up to ensure each user’s identity is verified & trusted, their privacy maintained, bespoke and confidential engagement rules, with business data kept secure and protected in line with regulatory requirements.
Our platform approach, with one unique instant messaging app and entry point for both clients and staff of multiple firms and their brands globally, is supported by complex and proprietary technology design. This allows us to deploy our servers rapidly across multi-jurisdictions and host to almost any data centre, in any location (or locations), at low cost and with instant scalability. Qwil Messenger also has 200 end points to fully integrate within firms’ IT and client management systems.
Further information about Qwil Messenger can be found at Qwil Messenger
Laurent Guyot, Chief Revenue & Finance Officer, Qwil Messenger
