Facebook Workplace launches custom integrations adding support for apps & in-house software

Facebook Workplace, formerly known as Facebook at work, was supposed to be launched way back in 2015. But it didn't and was launched in 2016. Meanwhile, came up Slack, an instant messaging service for businesses, which by now has more than 3 million users. However, Facebook has learned from its mistake and is now trying to compensate on lost time with these fresh updates.

Launched on stage at the TechCrunch Disrupt conference in London, Facebook Workplace has added a set of new tools dubbed, “custom integrations” that allows companies to add support for apps and in-house software; anything from internal email to CRM and calendars. Basically, allowing businesses to integrate the Workplace into their existing workflows.

Limited to IT teams within companies, this platform will enable them to make their own apps and integrations with CRM software like Salesforce, Zendesk, and other apps that organisations use. Through these apps, users can post content to groups, create alerts or control notifications employees see on Facebook Workplace.

“The big surprise for us is to see that the more connected an organisation becomes, the more productive it becomes, and I think there was a gap in the market,” Facebook Workplace Director Julien Codorniou said. “No one was really addressing that market, people who have never been connected before in the workplace, and that’s what we want to do with Workplace, and I think you can only do that when you have something with the familiarity of Facebook, an application that 1.8 billion people use every month.”

Since launch, Workplace has added more than 100,000 new users from companies like AirAsia and government officials in Singapore. Facebook Workplace costs $3 per user each month up to 1,000 users, before dropping to $2 for up to 10,000 users and then $1 for everyone above that.