The continued increase in smartphone and BYOD adoption in organizations brings with it an exponential increase in usage of consumer messaging apps. In fact, recent studies show that as email becomes less and less utilized in the workplace, more and more employees are turning to popular mobile messaging tools (Facebook Messenger, WeChat, LINE, Kakao Talk, Viber, Telegram, etc.) to collaborate and communicate with their colleagues and customers.
On the forefront of these consumer messaging apps is WhatsApp, known as the most popular messaging app in the world. Used by over 1.2 billion people worldwide, WhatsApp is quickly becoming the tool of choice for many organizations.
Why Businesses Use WhatsApp
First, since Millennials and Generation Y members are starting to enter the modern workforce, they are expected to bring not only their smartphones but also their consumer mobile apps into the workplace. Second, most customers prefer to engage in businesses with the form of communication with which they are most comfortable.
Despite the compliance and security risks unarchived WhatsApp use poses to organizations, many businesses choose to use it to elevate their employee productivity and keep their customers engaged. To meet the growing demand from the business sector, WhatsApp has developed “WhatsApp for Business” which caters to the unique needs of businesses; it features several capabilities, including business profiles, chat migration, and analytics.
However, even this business-grade version of WhatsApp has not yet addressed one of the most critical WhatsApp compliance issues facing businesses: Archiving. Various WhatsApp regulations such as FINRA, MiFID II, Public Records, GDPR, and FCA require organizations to archive electronic communications for extended periods of time. If a business is found using a non-compliant messaging app, or lack a system that can archive WhatsApp messages, they can be charged with hefty fines and even legal action.
The Importance of Archiving WhatsApp Messages
Consumer messaging apps like WhatsApp, Telegram, WeChat, and Facebook Messenger – regardless of the value they add to the productivity of the employees – must adhere to text message archiving regulations to remain compliant.
This is especially important for financial organizations, where the flood of unarchived text messages, chat apps, and social media has made headlines over recent years. In fact, FINRA’s Regulatory Notice 17-18 states that “every firm that intends to communicate, or permits its associated persons to communicate, with regard to its business through a text messaging app or chat service must first ensure that it can retain records of those communications…”
Even companies that choose to ban WhatsApp, text messaging, and social media apps altogether from being used for work still face the risk of non-compliance for WhatsApp regulation. FINRA auditors will check the mobile phones of your Millennial and Y-generation employees to make sure that the no-texting policy is not being breached if there is one in place.
Ensuring WhatsApp Compliance
Fortunately, there is still a way for companies to continue leveraging WhatsApp without breaching recordkeeping regulations surrounding their industry. With a purpose-built mobile archiving platform, companies can capture every conversation, attachment, and multimedia file sent and received via WhatsApp – thus meeting their customers’ and employees’ needs, while also remaining compliant.
TeleMessage’s WhatsApp Archiver is a unique platform tailor-made to solve WhatsApp compliance and regulation issues by capturing and archiving WhatsApp chats. This platform works exactly like the standard WhatsApp application, ensuring that your employees will still be able to send work-related communications easily and quickly.
The benefits of using WhatsApp Archiver in your business include:
- Archive all WhatsApp communications
- Use WhatsApp to communicate with customers, employees, and stakeholders
- Search, track and retrieve WhatsApp messages in the corporate archive
- Deposit WhatsApp messages with any email archiving vendor
- Full administration and reporting
The TeleMessage WhatsApp Archiver is the latest addition to our mobile archiving products that securely capture content from mobile carriers and mobile devices for a variety of ownership models (BYOD, CYOD, and employer-issued). With our multiple archiving methods, you can always find the right tools or blend for your requirements:
We are your one-stop shop for international, cross-carrier mobile text archiving. Visit www.telemessage.com today to learn more about our enterprise mobile archiver’s capabilities or Contact Us for more information.
