Back in February 2017, BlackBerry entered the Communications Platform as a Service (CPaaS) market with the introduction of its BBM Enterprise SDK, enabling developers to integrate secure messaging, voice and video capabilities into applications and services. However, the name didn’t really do the development platform justice, and was re-branded to the BlackBerry Spark Communications Platform, correctly distancing it from “BBM” in all aspects.
The BlackBerry Spark Communications Platform has been in beta for some time now and today it is now available to any developer that wants to securely build enterprise-grade messaging, voice, and video functionality and more into their applications.
BlackBerry Spark Communications Platform allows developers to easily snap rich chat, voice, video and data transfer and secure file sharing, contact cards, media, location, whiteboards and other business data with both low- and high-bandwidth streaming.
BlackBerry Spark Communications Platform leverages the global BlackBerry communications infrastructure, designed to meet the most demanding enterprise requirements. ISVs can build rich interactive apps for their enterprise customers with an IP-based platform with proven scale and security.
As instant messaging becomes a primary means of communication in the enterprise, current market offerings do not provide the same level of security and encryption for which BlackBerry is known, putting businesses at risk. With more than 80 security certifications and approvals to date – more than any other mobile vendor – BlackBerry Spark Communications Platform leverages this expertise to provide the highest-level of security for messages, voice, and video for iOS and Android.
Securely embed data streams into your Internet of Things devices. From drones that communicate with each other during surveillance, to smart cameras that recognize authorized viewers, Spark can send data between large fleets of sensors and authenticated device endpoints.
Build intuitive, rich and interactive chats into your applications. Spark has advanced chat features that keep your employees engaged and on-task, and make your apps feel as instinctive as consumer apps – regardless of platform or device.
Give your AI a voice by integrating Spark into your intelligent machines. AI algorithms deliver relevant information to users, suggest actions based on behavior and give location-based alerts.
Spend your time building your chatbot while Spark takes care of securely transmitting messages in real time. User data, activity and messages are used to route the user to the correct contact point, making user support quick and responsive.
BlackBerry Spark Communications Platform offers seamless integration into applications, high performance at scale, high availability and enterprise-grade reliability—all without having to deploy complex and costly infrastructure. IP-based infrastructure provides enhanced scalability safeguards against system outages and unanticipated usage spikes that can compromise service, user experience and app adoption.
BlackBerry entering CPaaS market is much more than just an sdk
With a fully cloud-based model, BlackBerry Spark Communications Platform eliminates substantial upfront investments in hardware infrastructure and excess capacity. In addition to avoiding major capital expenditure, ISVs can control operational costs with a subscription-based model aligned to actual usage.
With an IP-based architecture, there is no need to engage directly with circuit-switched network operator technologies and incur the related costs.
BlackBerry Spark Communications Platform offers seamless integration of multi-level communications into developer apps, high performance at scale, high availability and enterprise-grade reliability – all without having to deploy complex and costly infrastructure.
Developers who deploy the BlackBerry Spark Communications Platform generate their own encryption keys, meaning BlackBerry will not have the ability to turn over to law enforcement any messages sent through this system, even if compelled by a court order. Under this model any company that employed messaging in an app would be responsible for the security of its own encryption keys.
The BlackBerry Spark Communications Platform is available now for Android, iOS and Web here.
