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Microsoft Bringing Kaizala Pro Capabilities to Microsoft Teams
Microsoft plans to add Kaizala Pro capabilities into Microsoft Teams over the next 12 to 18 months, according to a Thursday announcement.
Kaizala is a Microsoft mobile chat application for Android and iOS devices that has "enterprise-grade security" and uses a simple phone number user identity verification scheme. It provides messaging and video communications, as well as built-in apps, such as training and polling apps, for use by mobile workers. The Pro version of Kaizala adds things like group management, the ability to wipe group data from devices, advanced reporting and API access.
In April, Microsoft had announced plans to bring Kaizala to "all eligible Microsoft 365 and Office 365 commercial customers worldwide." It also explained back then that Kaizala's capabilities were getting integrated into Microsoft Teams, its "collaboration workspace" app, over the "next 12-18 months."
In this week's announcement, Microsoft further explained that it will be Kaizala Pro's capabilities that will get added to Microsoft Teams "over the next 12-18 months." This integration will be "ultimately replacing the Microsoft Kaizala service and making Microsoft Teams the primary client in Office 365 and Microsoft 365 for communication with both internal employees and people in your extended networks."
That said, that free Kaizala app "will continue as a standalone service, which we will continue to support and update," Microsoft clarified.
Certain Office 365 subscribers will get the coming Kaizala Pro capabilities in Microsoft Teams. Organizations subscribing to Office 365 F1, E1, E3 and E5 plans, or their Academic equivalents, will be getting the Kaizala Pro integration in Microsoft Teams. Other beneficiaries include subscribers to Office 365 Business E3 and E5 plans, plus Office 365 Business Essentials and Business Premium subscribers.
Microsoft has two planned delivery dates for the Kaizala Pro integrations. By the end of this year, subscribers will get access to "Kaizala Actions as built-in apps in Teams, such as checklist, training and quiz." By the end of next year, they'll see "custom apps, flexible group types, and open directory capabilities for identity and authentication, which enables communications with anyone on Teams, whether or not they are managed in your Azure Active Directory," the announcement explained.
The Kaizala Pro integration will make Microsoft Teams "the primary client" for both internal communications and external communications, the announcement indicated. It won't matter if the users are managed by Azure Active Directory or not, it added.
About the Author
Kurt Mackie is senior news producer for 1105 Media's Converge360 group.