Conducting your business’s weekly meetings just got a whole lot easier. That’s assuming, of course, you’re a die-hard WhatsApp user who won’t bend the knee to Slack, Microsoft Teams, or Zoom. Announced today, the messenger confirmed it was rolling out new group call features to up its workplace productivity.
All hands up on deck
“Whether you’re coordinating a catch-up with the entire family or scheduling a meeting with colleagues, sometimes you need to plan ahead,” WhatsApp said, finally following through on a feature that was supposedly ‘in development’ as many as two years ago. It’s not clear what delayed these powers, which would have worked wonders during the WFH hype that was prevalent then.
Regardless, the ability to schedule group calls via the messenger is a go, starting today. Whether that’s tomorrow, the following Monday, or in three weeks from now, everyone invited to participate will receive a notification when a call is about to begin. Until then, users can manage all upcoming calls in the ‘Calls’ tab, alongside a list of who else is attending a particular call, as well as links to add to your calendar.
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To schedule a call, hit the ‘+‘ button in the ‘Calls’ tab and press ‘Schedule call‘.
Once the call is finally upon you, users will have the ability to raise their hands (three guesses where it got that idea) or send a reaction without disturbing the flow of the meeting. Finally, call link creators will receive a notification every time someone joins a call they organised. It isn’t much help for smaller calls, but those taking advantage of the 32-user limit might appreciate the change.
