Manage organization subscriptions

Organization subscription overview

Organization subscriptions let users in an enterprise organization receive alerts and accountability events from other suborganizations within their enterprise. In a super enterprise organization, users can subscribe to suborganizations in any enterprise within that super enterprise.

Users can subscribe temporarily to up to 50 suborganizations. Once subscribed, a user automatically receives alerts and accountability events targeted to them in both their home organization and their subscribed organizations, with no action required on their part. A user's home organization is where their profile is stored; a subscribed organization is one where they can be targeted, but their profile is not moved there.

Subscribed users can be targeted from their subscribed organization using email, SMS, phone, and mobile app devices, as well as any targeting criteria such as location, groups, or attributes. Targeted devices must be enabled in both the home and subscribed organizations, and any attributes used for targeting must be enterprise-level.

Prerequisites and enablement

Before organization subscriptions can be enabled, user uniqueness must be enabled on the enterprise or super enterprise organization. Organization subscriptions are disabled by default and must be enabled by a System Administrator. Enterprise Administrators then select which suborganizations within their enterprise or super enterprise are available for subscription. In a super enterprise organization, Enterprise Administrators can select suborganizations from any of their sub-enterprises.

Administrators and users can set a start date, set an end date, or cancel a subscription at any time. Each user can be subscribed to a maximum of 50 organizations. If the feature is disabled, all existing subscriptions are cancelled.

Subscribing users

Once organization subscriptions are enabled, operators can subscribe users through the BlackBerry AtHoc management system or the CSV user import process. CSV import adds new subscriptions without removing existing ones that haven't expired or that have no end date, making it a convenient way to add temporary or travel-related subscriptions without disrupting active ones.

Users in suborganizations can also subscribe themselves to enabled suborganizations through Self Service or the mobile app. This is controlled by the Organization Subscription for End Users option under Customization > Self Service in General Settings, which is enabled by default on sub-enterprises and suborganizations.

A user can hold multiple subscriptions to the same organization as long as the date ranges don't overlap. If a user already has an active subscription to an organization (including one with no end date), importing a new, non-overlapping subscription to that same organization adds a second subscription rather than replacing the first. However, if an import row uses the same organization and start date as an existing subscription and only extends the end date, BlackBerry AtHoc updates the existing subscription's end date instead of creating a new subscription.

CSV import rules

When a CSV import or user update includes organization subscriptions, BlackBerry AtHoc applies the following rules:

  • Subscriptions with no end date cannot be changed by importing new dates for the same organization; the existing subscription is preserved, and the import reports an error.
  • You cannot add a subscription whose start and end dates fall entirely within the date range of an existing subscription to the same organization.
  • Subscriptions are removed only when they expire, when an operator or user cancels them, or when the organization subscription feature is disabled.
  • Organization subscriptions can be added but cannot be deleted via CSV import or API.
Note: Review the import log on the Import Details screen for subscription validation errors. If a subscription row fails validation, the rest of that user's import data may still be applied.

What subscribed users can do

In a subscribed organization, subscribed users can:
  • Be targeted in alerts and accountability events, and receive those alerts and events on their enabled devices.
  • Be added to distribution lists so they can be targeted in alerts and accountability events.
  • Participate in collaboration sessions, if Collaboration is enabled and they are added to a distribution list used for a session.
  • Receive alerts or accountability events that include the publisher map, when the Map option is enabled for the alert or event.

What subscribed users cannot do

Advanced features and certain management actions apply only in a user's home organization. In a subscribed organization, subscribed users cannot:

  • Access advanced features such as Emergency, Reports, Check-in/Check-out, or Tracking. If a distribution list used to assign these features includes subscribed users, those users are not added to the features and cannot access them from the mobile app for that organization.
  • Publish alerts from the mobile app. Mobile alert publishing is available only to users with a publishing role in their home organization. Granting External Operator permissions does not enable mobile alert publishing for a subscribed user in the subscribed organization.
  • Be disabled or deleted. Operators can disable or delete a user only from the user's home organization, or from an enterprise or super enterprise organization that includes the user's suborganization.

Viewing subscribed users

A subscribed user's profile remains in their home organization but can be viewed from their subscribed organizations. In the user manager and distribution list user manager views, subscribed users are marked with The Subscribed User icon, making them easy to identify, for example when adding users to distribution lists.

Within a subscribed organization, subscribed users appear in search results, can be added to distribution lists, and can be targeted in alerts or accountability events. Their profiles can be viewed, but not edited or deleted, from the subscribed organization. Operators cannot grant or change a user's attribute values for them from a subscribed organization. Profile and attribute changes can be made only from the user's home organization, or from an enterprise or super enterprise organization where the user is available for management.

When an operator opens a subscribed user's profile from the subscribed organization, a banner identifies the user as an external organization subscriber. Device information appears on the profile only for devices with a common name shared between the home and subscribed organizations. Devices unique to one organization are not shown on the profile, though their values may still appear in optional columns on the Users screen.

Attributes and user types

Two standard user attributes Temporary work location and Subscribed Organizations can be used to search for and target subscribed users. If a subscribed user has a value for an enterprise attribute assigned in their home organization, they can also be targeted or included in queries that use that attribute.

Standalone users and sponsor users can subscribe to organizations. Dependents cannot be subscribed to other organizations.

Accountability Officer subscriptions

When an operator is granted Accountability Officer permissions on the External Operator Permissions settings screen of a suborganization within an enterprise or super enterprise, they are automatically subscribed to that suborganization. This ensures the Accountability Officer can be targeted in accountability events and can respond on behalf of others.