It’s no secret that Facebook has been building a version of itself to be used as a social network by companies. Facebook for Work is due to launch next month.
The platform is billed as a competitor to communications platforms Slack and Yammer, while incorporating the rest of the social network’s features.
According to Tech Radar and The Information, a commercial launch will happen in October.
Companies will be charged based on the number of employees it wants to use the service, the reports have claimed.
The move from Facebook is an attempt to replace internal company systems with a platform that many of its users will be familiar with. "Companies find that they can eliminate or drastically reduce their need for internal collaboration tools such as their intranet, telephony systems, video conferencing and distribution lists," Facebook says.
The platform looks similar to Facebook and has many of the same features. As well as being available on the web, there are separate Work and chat applications for iOS and Android.
Facebook for Work does not connect to a user’s personal Facebook account – a separate one has to be created for the enterprise system. "Use News Feed to stay updated, join groups to collaborate, send messages and get notifications about what's most relevant to you," the service’s web page explains.
Facebook at Work was first revealed in October 2014, but it was not clear whether the company was building a product for itself or for enterprise customers.
However, Facebook soft-launched the work platform in January 2015.
Since then it has been working with a number of "early adopters". One of the biggest being RBS. More than 100,000 of its employees have been using Facebook at Work, after a successful pilot.
This article was originally published by WIRED UK
