Slack Frontline gives retail, health, manufacturing and field teams across ANZ a simple, secure way to connect with HQ, colleagues and Salesforce data.

Salesforce has announced Slack Frontline, a lightweight, mobile-first version of Slack built for people who don’t work behind a desk, including retail associates, healthcare providers, factory workers and shift leads.

Frontline workers make up about 80% of the global workforce, yet most workplace technology of the past decade was built for office staff. Slack Frontline is designed to close that gap, giving them the same connection to HQ and each other that office-based teams already have.

How it works

Frontline team members get a mobile home screen with up to ten channels relevant for their role, instant huddles with HQ, agents for on-demand answers, and automated workflows. From one place they can see information passed down from the previous shift, today’s priorities and task list, policy and safety updates, and searchable training and how-tos.

Staff can sign in with an employee ID, QR code or corporate email, with multifactor authentication. IT manages security for the whole workforce in one place and controls every app and agent, while Enterprise+ customers can also use relevant local compliance configurations including data residency.

Connected to Salesforce data and agents

Because Slack Frontline connects to Salesforce data and agents, frontline staff can get answers while they’re with the customer:

• Retail: promotions can be pinned to store channels before opening, stockout alerts reach the right team, and associates can see customer preferences and purchase history.
• Healthcare: care teams can use an Agentforce agent to summarise patient history, with permission-based access and secure channels for logging visits.
• Manufacturing: error alerts go straight to line channels, safety protocols are easy to find, and shift handovers happen in the channel.
• Field services: technicians can share photos, loop in an HQ expert by huddle, and give the office real-time visibility of the site.

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Stephen Hunt, RVP, Sales, Salesforce, said: “The frontline is where customer experience actually happens, and it’s where AI and Salesforce data should be doing the most work. Slack Frontline puts agents, workflows and CRM data in the hands of the person serving the customer, so they can resolve things on the spot instead of chasing answers over group texts.

“When a store manager can see a stock issue, a shift change or a new promotion in real time, the customer gets a better experience straight away. That’s what we’re hearing from retail, health and manufacturing leaders here: the value shows up in the first shift, not the first quarter.

“Leaders run on Slack. Now their frontline can too. It’s simple by design, mobile-first, and built to help ANZ businesses move from informed to connected.”

The Messina experience

Sydney-founded gelato maker Messina, which started in Darlinghurst more than 20 years ago and now has more than 30 stores across Australia, rolled Slack out to its entire organisation in 2024. Today it connects the company’s HQ, Sydney factory and every store across the country. 

For Sian Bishop, Head of Marketing & Brand, Messina, Slack’s versatility, even before this weeks product launch, has been essential for supporting the businesses growth.  

“Our people are on their feet, in the factory and in the stores, not at a desk. Having everyone on Slack means the factory can warn stores about stock issues before there’s a gap in the cabinet, and updates pass cleanly between shifts. Bringing that same connection to every frontline team member is what lets us grow with confidence.

“When our staff have the information they need, they can provide excellent service to customers. Slack gives our store teams that, right from their phones, and it will continue to play an important part of our expansion story.”

Slack Frontline is available as an add-on for businesses on Slack Enterprise+.