The Canada based firm, Blackberry is in talks with regulatory authorities and telecom operators about the launch of their Virtual SIM solution. The company gave out this news on Thursday in New Delhi. This solution will let one single SIM have nine different numbers.
BlackBerry’s Managing Director (India), Sunil Lalvani, informed the reporters that they are seeking clearance from regulatory authorities. They were also conducting pilots for solutions with operators. He also mentioned of this SIM solution to be active by the end of 2015.
To beef up its offerings for enterprise customers in September 2014 this firm had acquired virtual identity solutions provider, Movirtu, but it slipped under the radar. It was particularly meant for enterprises and business users. It was in tune with company’s enhanced focus on apps and services.
Soon after this company launching BlackBerry Leap it is making it easier for enterprises to manage devices along with cooperating personal enabled environment and will also leverage Movirtu’s technology.
Lalvani gave more details informing that, the technology will allow one person to have both a personal and business number on a single device, with separate billing for voice, data and messaging usage on each number. It will let people switch between business and personal profiles easily. There won’t be any hassle about carrying different SIM cards or multiple devices. He declined to mention the partners names.
This solution is already deployed in certain parts of Africa. Discussions for roll-outs are going on in some Asia Pacific countries and Europe as well.
The benefits doesn’t end here, one can have different numbers for voice calls, data connections including roaming. It’s easier to corporate virtual connections for employees, making activating and deactivating more convenient. Separate charges can be billed to the company. Using the corporate usage policies a person can keep his personal and other numbers completely separate.
Even if a person doesn’t have an other SIM card, the app can create a virtual number, if the number isn’t in use yet. The options are open initially. BlackBerry made this service extremely relevant for enterprises. For instance, if a person joins a company they can just create a virtual SIM with separate bills. And when they leave the company the number can be easily deactivated completely sparing you the hardware hassle.
Since the usage can be separated, one can use one number, maybe, only for international roaming and another number for SMS usages. One can completely control which connection is used for browsing the web and which one is for making a call.
One of the limitations that is set by the Government of India is that if your primary SIM is from a particular operator, your virtual numbers will belong from the same operator. So if one has an Vodafone SIM your other numbers will also be billed by Vodafone.
The verification process isn’t entirely confirmed as for now. India doesn’t let any mobile connection without a complete, KYC i.e. Know Your Customer verification process. For now it’s assumed that the primary connection will be verified and that verification will activate the virtual numbers as well.
This is going to be extremely relevant for enterprises and will undoubtedly be an extremely poised development. Creating a cross platformed set up and being available on almost every possible smart phone makes its usage more applicable. The only need is that they should keep the verification and activation process easy for the customers.
