Viable Enterprise Comms Platform
While there are still fallibilities in WhatsApp’s product proposition that some organisations, particularly larger corporates, might be wary of, particularly around its security and compliance infrastructure, WhatsApp has undoubtedly transformed into a far more enterprise-friendly platform in recent years.
In fact, a Vodafone study last year found that WhatsApp is quietly the most popular enterprise comms platform in operation, especially among SMEs.
While WhatsApp may lack the robust security systems or the sophisticated feature sets of a Microsoft Teams or Zoom Workplace, it compensates for those deficiencies with its own distinct and market-dominating USP. WhatsApp supplants the UC&C titans for many (predominantly small and medium-sized) businesses thanks to its elegantly simple UE, its ubiquity among billions of people for consumer use, and, perhaps most critical, its free price point.
However, that hasn’t stopped WhatsApp and parent company Meta from adding new enterprise-friendly features like those detailed above to try to bridge the gulf with Microsoft Teams and Zoom.
Over the past two years, WhatsApp has added a new file-sharing feature, “Nearby Share,” that works similarly to Apple’s AirDrop, WhatsApp Communities as a new way to organise events and the capability to reply to administrator announcements, an enterprise-friendly voice chat upgrade that empowers users to host large groups of up to 128 participants in audio calls, and a call scheduling feature within group chats.
Moreover, last year, Meta outlined that WhatsApp is almost ready to send messages to third-party apps for EU-based users, revealing details about the upcoming update’s new features and enhanced user experience. This will allow users to either integrate WhatsApp messages into a unified inbox alongside third-party chats or manage them separately, depending on organisational preferences.
Additional functionality includes proactive notifications to alert users when they receive messages from external platforms and prompts when new third-party apps become accessible within WhatsApp’s ecosystem. Looking further ahead, Meta has also previewed plans to support cross-platform voice and video calling natively within WhatsApp—an ambitious feature set slated for release in 2027.
WhatsApp is only continuing to build its enterprise-friendly market position.
