BlackBerry has announced a number of initiatives to expand the functionality of its BlackBerry Messenger (BBM) app, including…

The deal will beef up Technicolor’s position in home video and communications products, doubling annual revenue at its Connected Home division and giving it 290 million set-top boxes installed in over 100 countries, the company said.

Every day a million pieces of news fly at you.

BlackBerry has shed thousands of jobs since it began restructuring its operations under chief executive John Chen, who joined the company in 2013 and has focused on tightening spending and innovation.

AtHoc provides networked crisis communications, which enable emergency services and major corporations to reach large groups of people through a software platform which can send alerts via iOS and Android smartphones, digital displays, IP phones, radios and sirens.

In addition to acquiring AtHoc, BlackBerry also gains AtHoc’s Department of Defense, US Homeland Security, healthcare and industrial accounts.

BlackBerry has been moving from predominantly a handset maker to offering companies enterprise graded security and managing bring-your-own devices in workplaces across device platforms.

BlackBerry Limited (NASDAQ:BBRY) revealed that it has entered into a definitive contract to attain AtHoc.

Terms of the acquisition, which is subject to the usual closing conditions and is expected to close in BlackBerry’s fiscal 2016 third quarter, were not released.

AtHoc’s software works across mobile operating systems and allows users to communicate in real time during a crisis situation.

BlackBerry has acquired a major crisis security communications provider used by the US Department of Defence in another move designed to bolster its security credentials.

The new acquisition is just one of many others which BlackBerry hopes will help them get out better and improved value added-services.

“Becoming part of BlackBerry will give us the ability to scale more quickly to expand our global reach and introduce new applications for the AtHoc platform”, said AtHoc CEO Guy Miasnik in a statement.