WhatsApp, the Facebook messaging application provider, today introduced multiparty video calling, available on iOS and Android mobile phones, for up to four participants.
This is another example of how communications is moving into applications in general, but raises interesting questions for business communications. As more and more customer interactions are moving into the social media domain, should companies integrate WhatsApp calling into the contact center? Will such integration be part of an overall Facebook strategy?
Some large enterprises have begun to use Workplace by Facebook, providing employees a familiar tool set for communications and collaboration. Starbucks is one example.
If Facebook were to integrate WhatsApp with Workplace, does video become a way of delivering corporate communications in certain scenarios? Could video provide a means of communicating in industries such as retail, banking, transportation, and health care in which most employees don't have an individual DID?
Integrating business communications into a familiar solution (the smartphone and WhatsApp), could change the paradigm.
