The company's Internal Communication & Business Calls Policy (POLICY-00090 in EDMS) sets where work conversations happen. This page explains it in plain words. The policy itself, and the acknowledgement you sign, are in EDMS.
In short
- With colleagues, use myChat only. Work conversations with colleagues happen in myChat: on the myWork web page, in the Windows app or in the phone app. Once the one-month switch-over ends, WhatsApp, Signal and SMS are no longer used for internal work.
- About a record? Use its channel. If a conversation is about one work order, move order, shipment, repair or task, it goes in that record's own channel, not in a direct message or a group.
- Outside calls go through the company phone system. Call customers, suppliers and couriers from your extension. They see the company number, not your personal one.
- Customer-facing positions have an exception, for outside parties only. The positions listed in Annex A of the policy may message customers and suppliers on WhatsApp. They still talk to colleagues in myChat, and they record what was agreed in myWork the same day.
- Personal chats are your own business. The policy covers work conversations only.
See also: Where does this conversation go? Everyday situations, and where each conversation belongs.
Talking to colleagues: myChat
myChat is the same system and the same conversations wherever you open it. Messages, photos and calls follow you between devices:
- The myWork web page: the chat panel on any myWork page. There is nothing to install, but calls ring only while a myWork tab is open.
- myChat24 for Windows: download it from My Profile → Apps. It starts with Windows and keeps running in the system tray when you close its window.
- myChat24 on your phone: download it from My Profile → Apps. It works on the office Wi-Fi and on mobile data.
Keep at least one of them running during working hours, so messages and calls reach you. If you move around the site, use the phone app.
Everything work-related between colleagues goes in myChat: questions, instructions, photos and screenshots, files and calls. Internal email is not a chat channel. Keep it for formal correspondence where a process asks for it.
How to use the chat itself: Chat, Record Channels and Notifications.
Talking about a record: use its channel
What is a record?
A record is one specific piece of work, document or item that myWork keeps track of. It has its own number and its own page, and it keeps its own history. The simple test: if you can look it up in myWork by its number, it is a record. Examples you see every day:
- a work order (
WO-001234) or a move order (MO-000512) - goods coming in or going out: a local receipt (
LR-…), a local shipment (LS-…) or a sales shipment (SS-…) - a purchase order (
MPO-…) or an external service order (ESO-…) - a repair (
RO-…), a task (TASK-…), or a project and its milestones (PRJ-…) - a courier waybill (
WB-…), a vehicle service visit (VSV-…) or a vehicle accident report (FAR-…) - a document in EDMS, such as the policy itself (
POLICY-00090)
A conversation is about a record when it concerns that one job, delivery, order, repair or document: its progress, a problem, a question, an instruction or a photo. "The parts for WO-001234 are short" is about a record. "Can you cover my shift on Friday?" is not.
Its channel
Most records in myWork have their own channel: a chat thread attached to that one record. It also receives the system's own updates about the record (created, collected, dispatched, completed, and so on).
How to spot one: look for the chat icon next to the record's number at the top of its page, for example beside WO-001234. Click the icon to open the channel. Fleet vehicles, service visits and accident reports have one too.
When a conversation is about one record, it belongs in that record's channel. That covers questions, instructions, agreements, photos of the goods and delays. Using the channel means:
- the whole story stays with the work, and anyone who opens the record later can read it;
- the right people are told automatically, because they follow the channel with the star beside the number;
- nothing is lost when someone is on leave or leaves the company.
To bring someone in, use the share icon beside the number to send them a link, or ask them to follow the channel with the star.
A direct message is still right for anything that is not about one record, or that is personal between two people. If a direct conversation ends in a decision about a record, post that decision in the record's channel.
HR, disciplinary and personal matters have their own records (for example the Incident Log), which limit who can read them. Never discuss them in a general group.
Calls
- Colleagues: dial their four-digit extension, or press the call button in a chat. Calls between colleagues are free and use no personal airtime.
- Customers, suppliers and couriers: call from your extension, using the myChat keypad, the Calls tab or a company desk phone. Dial the number as you would on a landline, starting with 0 (for example
021 300 0443). Do not dial+27. The person you call sees the company number. - Calls coming in: outside callers use the company numbers 021 300 0443 and 021 555 2181, which ring Reception.
- Your personal number: do not give it to customers or suppliers as a business contact, unless your position is in Annex A.
How your extension works on each device: Calling from myWork: web page, Windows app and phone app.
If your job involves customers and suppliers (Annex A)
Some positions have to reach outside parties where those parties are, and many outside parties use only WhatsApp or a mobile number. Examples are sales, procurement, the support desk, field technicians, and drivers working with couriers. If your position is listed in Annex A of the policy:
- you may use WhatsApp, mobile calls and email with customers, suppliers and partners;
- you may not use them with colleagues. That includes a WhatsApp group "about a client";
- whatever you agree with an outside party (a date, a price, an instruction, a complaint, a photo) is posted in the record's channel the same working day, so your colleagues can see it;
- when you are at a desk or have myChat to hand, you still call from your extension where you can.
Not sure whether your position is listed? Ask your manager, or open the policy in EDMS.
The one-month switch-over
The switch-over runs for one month from the day the policy takes effect, and ends on 31 October 2026.
- Week 1: install myChat24 on your computer, your phone or both (My Profile → Apps), and make sure you can send, receive and take calls.
- Week 2: your work groups move to myChat. Conversations about a record move into that record's channel.
- Week 3: the old WhatsApp and Signal work groups go quiet. No new work conversation starts there.
- Week 4: the old groups close.
Managers: you own your team's move. Recreate each work group in myChat in week 2, pin a pointer to it in the old group in week 3, and close the old group in week 4 after copying anything still needed into myWork.
During the month, reply in myChat even when someone contacts you on WhatsApp. That is the easiest way to make the switch.
When myChat or the phones are down
If myChat or the company phone system is not working, use whatever keeps the work going (a mobile call, an SMS, WhatsApp) and tell IT. Once myChat is back, post anything that was decided in the record's channel.
In a safety emergency, always use the fastest way. This policy never delays an emergency call.
Privacy and safety
- Work messages in myChat are company records, kept on Solar MD's own systems.
- Do not put company, customer, supplier or employee information in personal WhatsApp or Signal chats. If you are in Annex A and receive such information from an outside party, move it into myWork, then delete it from your phone once it is no longer needed.
- The Personal Device & Productive Use of Working Time Policy still applies. For example, there is no active phone use on the production floor, apart from supervisors and floor leads as that policy allows. Having myChat on your phone does not change that.
Common questions
A colleague messaged me on WhatsApp about work. What do I do? Reply in myChat, in the record's channel if it is about a record, and let them know that is where the conversation lives now.
Can I still chat with colleagues on WhatsApp about non-work things? Yes. The policy covers work conversations only.
A customer will only use WhatsApp, and my position is not in Annex A. Call them from your extension, or hand the conversation to the colleague who looks after that customer.
My extension does not ring on my phone. Make sure myChat24 is allowed to run in the background. See Calling from myWork for the full checklist.
Read and sign the policy
The full policy is POLICY-00090, "Internal Communication & Business Calls Policy (myChat)", in EDMS. Every employee reads and acknowledges it there.