While BlackBerry smartphones are no longer in demand, its messenger service BBM remains to be one of the most popular messaging apps. Research in Motion, the company that owns BlackBerry, has bared plans to make BlackBerry Messenger a subscription-based service.
In a news report by Top Examiner, BlackBerry is developing a new revenue stream using its BBM service. Just recently, it offered its BBM Enterprise Software Development Kit to developers. With this, developers will be able to integrate secure messaging, voice, and video into applications and services. Currently, the company's instant messaging services does not offer the level of security and encryption for which BlackBerry is known for.
Last year, the company stopped manufacturing smartphones and instead set its sights on partnering with companies who wish to manufacture Blackberry-branded hardware. Chinese company TCL bought the license for Blackberry brand. According to the website of CNBC News, this is part of CEO John Chen's plan to transform BlackBerry to a software-only company.
Part of the plan is to offer its enterprise-grade BBM technology to developers who would want to integrate the technology into their own software. With this plan, BlackBerry will be competing against the likes of Twilio and Plivo. The success of this initiative will give BlackBerry an additional source of income as it tries to keep its ship afloat.
According to the website of Globe and Mail, BlackBerry's encrypted e-mail and messaging system was once the gold standard for security in the enterprise and government sector, securing access for as many as 90 million users. It also gave BlackBerry a competitive edge against other smartphones. The new SDK works well with other smartphones running on Apple and Google Android.
Enterprise BBM will be available this month. Partner companies in the health care, telecommunications, and financial sector are already testing messaging integration.
