Lark Technologies, headquartered in Singapore, is now offering its comprehensive, enterprise-level collaboration platform, Lark, free of charge across Southeast Asia. This includes Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam. Lark provides a range of features, including unlimited video calls and online collaboration tools, to facilitate seamless teamwork remotely. Users can view colleagues’ schedules, initiate video calls directly from calendar events, and collaborate on documents during video meetings.
Joey Lim, APAC Commercial Lead at Lark, highlighted that with an estimated 90% of Asia Pacific employees currently working remotely, the company aims to empower teams to maintain productivity regardless of physical location. She emphasized that starting remote work has never been simpler. Lim acknowledged the challenges organizations and educational institutions face in maintaining productivity and learning continuity with distributed teams. This offering aims to bridge the gap by providing access to digital collaboration tools for organizations of all sizes at no cost.
The Lark suite encompasses Lark Messenger, Lark Docs, Lark Calendar, Lark Video Conferencing, and Lark Workplace, which seamlessly integrates with external applications. All these functionalities are accessible through a single application available on various platforms including Mac, PC, iOS, and Android. The platform is hosted on AWS.
Here are some key features of Lark’s free version:
Lark Messenger supports chat groups with up to 5,000 members.
Users can collaborate online on documents, including spreadsheets, with simultaneous editing for up to 50 people and viewing access for 2,000.
Lark Docs allows the integration of diverse multimedia content, such as images, videos, charts, and even group chats and polls. The comment function enables discussions around specific document sections or spreadsheet cells. Document sharing permissions and cloud storage in Lark Drive are also included.
Source: Lark. Get translations in a preferred language automatically.
The platform supports automatic translation for chats and documents in over 100 languages. Lim emphasized the importance of comfortable communication, stating, “We get the best ideas from people when they are comfortable with the way they communicate,” recognizing that while English is common for business in Southeast Asia, individuals are most creative in their native languages.
Users receive 200 GB of cloud storage.
Lark offers a smart calendar that consolidates multiple calendars and allows users to view team members’ availability. Directly from a calendar event, users can launch a Lark Messenger chat group or a Lark Docs agenda.
The platform enables unlimited video calls with advanced screen sharing capabilities. Lark Docs can be shared and co-edited during a call, even with external participants.
Users benefit from unlimited integrations with third-party applications, such as Jira, Asana, and Salesforce.
An open platform empowers users to develop custom applications and bots. For instance, a health-tracking app was created in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, enabling users to log their location and health status. This app is freely accessible to Lark users.
Lark provides customizable workflows for various work processes, including approvals, reimbursements, leave requests, and attendance tracking.
Furthermore, Lark recently introduced a livestreaming feature with a capacity for millions of viewers. This feature has broad applications, from executive addresses to remote teaching sessions.
Businesses requiring advanced features like enhanced encryption or increased storage can opt for the paid enterprise version. Lark’s existing client base includes major companies like Accenture, Dentsu, and Robert Half.
Interested individuals are encouraged to experience Lark firsthand.