Microsoft launches Kaizala, a mobile app for large group communication and work management

Designed for India, Microsoft has announced the launch of Kaizala, aimed at enabling Indian organisations to be more productive. Kaizala is a mobile only product designed for large group communications and work management. Available for download on iOS and Android platform, the app makes it simple for organisations to seamlessly communicate, collaborate and compare tasks, bringing together desktop and mobile-only users who may be within or outside the organisation.

Government of Andhra Pradesh was one of the first government organisations to use Microsoft Kaizala for real time governance. According to Microsoft, more than 30 government departments and over 70,000 users in the state governments use Microsoft Kaizala for day-to-day work. It has also been adopted by some organisations including  Yes Bank, Apollo Telemedicines, United Phosphorous Limited and Kendriya Vidyalaya Sanga?han, who are using it for their internal teams.

"The Digital India initiative is focused on harnessing technology to help India transform. Microsoft Kaizala, a made for India product, brings together the two disparate worlds of mobile only messaging apps and a digitally integrated modern workplace. The product will make it possible for organisations to interact with everyone both within and outside, seamlessly and with rich content," says Anant Maheshwari, President, Microsoft India.

The Kaizala app is free to download and offer one to one and hierarchical group chat, media and document sharing, built-in actions for polls, surveys and announcements, work management and offline and 2G support. There is also a Kaizala Pro version that induces user and group management, system integration and automation using Microsoft Kaizala APIs, advanced report and analytics, ability to publish custom actions, ability to create public groups and organisational profile and directory, priced at Rs 130 per user per month.

It has been designed for the mobile first world where one would like to interact and at the same time is connected to backend applications. It is already integrated with Office 365 and will be compatible with any third-party office application. During three years of development, Microsoft had over 1000+users, 80+ focus group discussions, 210+ in-depth interviews and 70+ usability tests. The key insights from Kaizala development highlighted during the event were that people want to get work done on chat as it is more convenient. They even seek structure in unstructured communication. Another insight was that device capabilities actually enhance productivity and real-world group dynamics determine network type and workflow in chat. Microsoft claims that Kaizala is a unique solutions which is secure and is optimised for slow networks as well.