Microsoft has announced that starting June 2019 Microsoft Kaizala is to be rolled out to all eligible customers worldwide. In addition, Microsoft is working towards bringing Kaizala capabilities into Microsoft Teams over the next 12 to 18 months.

What is Microsoft Kaizala?

Microsoft Kaizala is a “simple and secure mobile chat app for work”. Utilising traditional phone-numbers Kaizala allows secure communication across your internal and external networks, enabling you to connect to anyone, protected by Enterprise-grade security.

Kaizala allows users to share media, text and documents in addition to built-in apps such as poll, survey, job and training. Applications can also be built and customised to cater to more bespoke needs.

Built on open APIs, Kaizala can be integrated with line of business systems and help automate business workflow with Office 365 integration.

Microsoft has built an in-depth interactive demo, allowing users to demo the application and Kaizala’s key features. The demo extends to both the user application and the management portal.

Licensing Microsoft Kaizala

Kaizala is currently available in two editions:

Free:

  • 1:1 and customizable group chat
  • Media and document sharing
  • Built-in apps for polls, surveys, and announcements
  • Work management
  • Offline and 2G support

Pro:

All the benefits of Kaizala free app plus:

  • Group management
  • User management (remove users from groups and wipe group data from device)
  • Create public groups
  • Publish custom Actions
  • Advanced reporting and analytics
  • System integration and automation using Kaizala APIs

From 1 June Kaizala Pro has been available as a standalone offering. Kaizala Pro is also included in Office 365 F1, E1, E3, E5, Business Essentials and Business Premium, Office 365 Education A3 and A5 and Microsoft 365 F1, Business, E3, E5 and Microsoft 365 Education A3 and A5.

For users with one of the above plans Kaizala Pro will be visible within the Office 365 app launcher and will be on-by-default for all organizations.

New features

In addition to the global availability of Microsoft Kaizala, Microsoft has also announced the introduction of server new key features:

  • @mentions enable you to tag individual members in a chat so you can call their attention to things that matter.
  • Delete messages: You can now delete a message in a 1:1 or group chat within an hour of sending it. If you are a group admin, you can delete any message at any point in time.
  • The Kaizala web app allows managers and admins to easily access and search chat conversations, send documents, action cards and more from a desktop (PC/laptop). It is now available in public preview and will be generally available to all Kaizala users later this quarter.
  • Image annotation provides a rich inking experience, so you can mark-up images before sharing in chat
  • Video calling enables you to connect face to face using rich 1:1 video calling.
  • The new Kaizala ‘me’ feature is a private chat space just for you, where you can send yourself chat messages such as meeting notes or reminders or try new action cards

Upcoming features:

  • Support for right-to-left languages such as Hebrew and Arabic
  • The ability to invite users using their email
  • The ability to sync your organization’s Azure Active Directory (AAD) within Kaizala
  • A new Kaizala admin role so you can assign dedicated admins to manage Kaizala policies

Interested in Microsoft Kaizala?

Trustmarque can help you explore the suitability and possibilities with Microsoft Kaizala in your organisation. We provide a number of cloud and professional services to guide and support customers in their moves to Microsoft Cloud technology, including the assistance of our funded FastTrack team. For more information please contact your Trustmarque Account Manager or email [email protected]

Tom is one of our Microsoft Licensing Specialists who advises our customers on how to get the most from their Microsoft volume licensing and contracts.