BlackBerry is reportedly in talks with Amazon to launch an enterprise-grade Alexa device for commercial usage.

As per ITWorldCanadaBlackBerry Chief Technology Officer, Charles Eagan, confirms the companies are building a “BlackBerry Alexa” enterprise device, for release in Q1 next year.

BlackBerry CEO, John Chen, asserts voice control will become a focal point in both the consumer and enterprise world:

“We believe the world is going to come together with enterprise and consumer. These devices that sit in your home could become the front point of a workflow engine.”

The forthcoming ‘BlackBerry Alexa’ device will reportedly integrate some of BlackBerry’s security expertise – e.g. alerting administrators when connections change, or an unknown connection is detected.

“Some of this grown-up behaviour is needed as you bring consumer devices into the enterprise,” asserts Mr Eagan.

Some sources state the rumoured device will also include “multi-factor authentication”, though it’s unclear what exactly this entails.

As previously reported, in November last year Amazon announced its ‘Alexa for Business’ managed service arsenal, enabling businesses to streamline certain processes via voice controls.

Amazon is reportedly also amidst discussions with Cisco Systems and Polycom for a range of conference-room solutions – furthering its ‘Alexa’ hardware push into commercial environments.