BlackBerry extends partnership with Vodafone to provide crisis communications

BlackBerry have announced on Wednesday an expanded partnership with Vodafone to offer BlackBerry AtHoc as its emergency alert and crisis communications solution.

Greater Manchester Police and Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service are the first two customers who have selected BlackBerry AtHoc to deliver secure communications and real-time alerts through this partnership.

“BlackBerry and Vodafone, one of the largest telecommunication companies in the world, have had an ongoing relationship since 1999. We are excited to expand this relationship and now offer the comprehensive BlackBerry AtHoc critical event management solution to Vodafone’s business and government customers in the UK,” said Christoph Erdmann, Senior Vice President of Secure Communications at BlackBerry.

“The solution can be deployed quickly to enable the most secure real-time information exchange across organizations, their people and devices, so that leaders can make informed and safety-critical decisions in times of crisis.”

BlackBerry AtHoc transforms how organisations work together to ensure business operations recover quickly and people stay safe during critical events. It enables organisations, like Greater Manchester Police and Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service, to share critical safety and operational information within the organization and with other organisations in Greater Manchester to better protect the community and respond more efficiently.

“We chose the secure and reliable BlackBerry AtHoc messaging platform to allow us to share and receive real time information across our business and police operations,” said Darren Spurgeon, Police Inspector at Greater Manchester Police.

“BlackBerry AtHoc will help us rapidly respond to internal operational issues and ensure accurate information is shared across multiple police departments and personnel using both analog and digital channels.”

“We are delighted to add BlackBerry AtHoc to our portfolio of security solutions. It will help customers such as Greater Manchester Police and Fire connect with their frontline staff quickly and securely,” said Anne Sheehan, Business Director at Vodafone UK.

Vodafone is a BlackBerry Platinum Partner. Vodafone’s in-house engineers, consultants, architects and desk-based support staff are trained and certified on BlackBerry AtHoc and BlackBerry Spark Suites solutions.