Facebook at Work. Believe it, it’s for real

SAN FRANCISCO — This version of Facebook is safe for work. In fact, it was made for work.

Next month the giant social network will release Facebook at Work, a long awaited suite of communications tools for businesses and their employees.

The new product, which has been in development for two years, will compete with Microsoft’s Yammer and Slack, charging a monthly fee per user.

The service could provide an untapped revenue stream for the giant social network, which makes the bulk of its revenue from ads.

It has been privately tested by hundreds of big companies.

“There’s a big chunk of people’s time that Facebook really doesn’t address at all today, and that’s the time they spend working. Facebook at Work is a way to open up a whole new addressable market for Facebook with fairly significant potential revenues,” said Jan Dawson, chief analyst with Jackdaw Research. “It’s also a nice hedge against what’s an almost entirely advertising-driven business today, with a new business model based on subscriptions instead.”

Facebook at Work belongs to the trend of making corporate software friendly to consumers. Facebook users will recognize the tools they use daily with their friends and family — News Feed, Groups, Events, chat and search — but in this case the networking and communications will all take place inside their company. More than 450 companies have been testing Facebook at Work for free.

Facebook at Work’s slogan is: “A connected workplace is a more productive workplace.”

Facebook wouldn’t say how much it would charge for the service.

According to technology website The Information, Facebook has been pitching companies on artificial intelligence technology that will be able to read the mood of employees, including how they feel on certain topics. A Facebook spokesperson told the news outlet that employee sentiment analysis could be offered “down the line.”