DingTalk: Enterprise Communication and Collaboration Platform by Alibaba Group

Communication and collaboration is the most basic requirement for a company to work. Hence, there has been plenty of enterprise solutions being developed to accommodate the unique requirements of the business nature. DingTalk, created in January  2015, is Alibaba Group’s proprietary solution to address this requirement. Three years after the initial launch, the platform is finally making its way out of China and the first overseas expansion is no other than Malaysia with the launch of English version DingTalk.

DingTalk

The platform enables text, photo, voice and video communication as well as workflow management and collaboration tool for enterprises of various sizes. In fact, DingTalk has shared with us that they have more than 5 million companies and organisations in China are using the app, making it the No.1 business-focused communication application over there.

It empowers small and medium enterprises (SME) with mobile and cloud technologies in order to improve the overall business communication efficiency. With a built-in enterprise directory, users can easily initiate text chats, efficiently use voice and video conference calls across geography as well as secured group chats with members of their organisation. What makes the DingTalk app special is the ability to support add-on tools that help with the business automation. For example, HR, travel and expense approval integration where employees no longer have to access to different applications or portals. All the information are synced in DingTalk application and especially if you’re on a business trip or holiday leave, this crucial information will be displayed alongside your username, hence, reducing the potential guessing game.

On top of that, the platform also supports integration with third-party apps as they have the API ready for developers who are looking to build their add-ons to enhance the enterprise solution.

Security-wise, DingTalk is the first Chinese app to have obtained the ISO/IEC 27001:2013 standard, a global-recognised data security benchmark which means all data is encrypted at SSL/TLS security standards.

Office Automation

Apart from the app integration, what actually caught our attention is their Smart Office Automation devices which are directly linked to the DingTalk platform. For example, the M1s fingerprint attendance machine that automatically generates attendance reports, and showing that you are currently in the office under your chat username’s status.

One of the most interesting devices showcased during the media briefing session is the M2 Facial Recognition Smart Receptionist.

DingTalk supports multiple operating systems across Android, iOS, Windows and MacOS. It is now available for all users at no cost, FREE. All the core functionalities are enabled with no restrictions except for certain add-on services would require additional payment such as extra cloud storage over the free 100GB.

Head over to DingTalk and find out if this is the platform for your company.