Facebook at Work to launch in coming months, allowing businesses to sign people up to social network

The site will work like the normal Facebook — with a news feed and likes — but have its own logins for work

No obstacles: Facebook's headquarters in Menlo Park, California (Washington Post)

A special version of Facebook to be used at work is set to launch in the coming months.

Facebook at Work is almost identical to the much-used service — except it allows people to use it with a completely different account, and is intended to helping workplaces collaborate.

The site features the news feed, likes and chat apps that can be found on the normal Facebook. But the new tool is bought by companies, and will also feature exclusive products like security tools, according to reports.

"I would say 95 percent of what we developed for Facebook is also adopted for Facebook at Work," Julien Codorniou, director of global platform partnerships at Facebook, told Reuters.

As well as adding new features for working, the tool also has some restrictions added. Candy Crush won’t be available on Facebook at Work, for instance, and companies will be in control of what happens on the site.

The product has been in closed testing since it was launched in January. But it is now ready to launch to the public, when any company will be able to sign up to it.

Companies will be able to pay for the extra tools, which will include ways of running customer support.

More than 300 companies have already signed up for the testing, according to reports. That includes major firms like Heineken and Royal Bank of Scotland.