Freedom from group chat hell after work?…Trying out work-only KakaoTalk firsthand

[Asia Economy Reporter Buaeri] A few years ago, a law to ban KakaoTalk (KakaoTalk) after work was even proposed in the National Assembly, showing that company group chat rooms have long become a daily routine for office workers. Kakao's subsidiary Kakao Enterprise emphasized the separation of 'work and private life' and launched the work platform 'Kakao Work' on the 16th. The reporter, who lives in the hell of group chat rooms, personally used it for three days.

Simple and Easy to Use

To use Kakao Work, the company must register as a group after downloading. For small groups, it is also possible for an individual to join first and then invite coworkers. Registration is completed by entering an email and receiving a verification code. You can sign up using your personal or company email regardless of your KakaoTalk account.

The login window looked very similar to the KakaoTalk window. Like KakaoTalk, Kakao Work shows the account owner's profile at the top, and below it, the list of favorite friends appears in order. The PC version's 'tab' layout was also similar, but unlike KakaoTalk's three tabs, Kakao Work added a third 'To-Do' tab, a fourth 'Bot' tab, and a fifth 'Shortcut' tab.

The 'To-Do' tab was convenient for organizing schedules. It was impressive that you could register a conversation from the chat room to 'To-Do' by right-clicking on the message. When you add a person in charge to the 'To-Do', it also appears in the responsible person's window, allowing content sharing. AI could also be easily used in the chat window. By typing "/Casper" and requesting necessary information, simple information was replied to immediately.

Kakao Work also includes essential video conferencing features for untact (non-face-to-face) work. The video conferencing function was especially simple. By clicking the video conference button located in the Kakao Work shortcut tab, you could connect immediately. Similar to Zoom, you could invite others by sending the meeting link. Additionally, after system registration for each company, attendance management and electronic approval can be handled all at once within the Kakao Work app.

Partial Separation of Private Life and Work

Having a separate work KakaoTalk made it easier to separate private life and work during unwanted times. Since the app is completely separate, it prevented situations where work group chat messages would bother you while using your personal KakaoTalk after work.

Kakao Work allows you to set 'working hours' in your profile, and by displaying working hours or vacation status there, it can prevent coworkers from contacting you unknowingly. The mobile version also has a 'Do not receive notifications outside working hours' feature.

However, a downside is that Kakao Work only separates the chat space and does not seem to have any special way to prevent bosses from giving instructions outside working hours. KakaoTalk also has a feature to mute group chat notifications individually. On the contrary, Kakao Work chat rooms have a 'Check unread members' feature, which increased psychological pressure.

Regret Over Lack of 'Message Deletion' Feature

The most used feature in work was the chat function. After using it for three days, it was similar to KakaoTalk but had some drawbacks. In KakaoTalk, if you send a message by mistake, pressing 'Delete' removes the content and shows 'This message has been deleted' in the recipient's chat window. However, Kakao Work lacks this feature. If you accidentally send a message to your boss, there is no chance to undo it.

However, there was a fresh feature not found in KakaoTalk. You could add emoji reactions like 'Like' or 'OK' to each conversation. This could be a useful feature to prevent situations where many people just reply 'Yes' in a group chat when a boss gives instructions.

How Much Does It Cost?

Kakao Work offers four pricing plans. There is a free version and three paid plans: Standard, Premium, and Enterprise.

The Standard plan is suitable for small and medium-sized businesses, providing 10GB of storage per user, video conferencing screen sharing, and multiple administrator assignments. The monthly contract is 7,900 KRW per user, and the annual contract is 6,500 KRW per user.

The Premium plan is for mid-sized companies. It offers 20GB of shared storage per user and unlimited custom app development. Security is also enhanced. The monthly contract is 11,900 KRW per user, and the annual contract is 9,900 KRW per user.

The Enterprise plan is suitable for large corporations. It provides the highest level of security and 1TB (terabyte) of shared storage per user. The monthly contract is 18,900 KRW per user, and the annual contract is 15,900 KRW per user.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.