Introduction

In this article, you will learn how to auto block and wipe inactive mobile devices and email notify the device user in Google Workspace with xFanatial Foresight automation platform. 

In today’s highly mobile world, it’s increasingly common for individuals to own multiple phones and tablets. However, this trend creates significant challenges for IT administrators tasked with managing mobile devices. Many users do not regularly use their secondary phones or tablets, leaving these devices inactive for extended periods. These idle devices present a serious risk to mobile device management, as they are more vulnerable to loss, theft, or unauthorized access - potentially leading to corporate data falling into the wrong hands.

Google Admin Console has no capability to take effective actions when these mobile devices are not synced for a long period. As an administrator, you need to manually block and wipe these devices constantly, and notify the users of the devices about the changes. The tasks are time consuming and repetitive. 

Illustration of auto blocking and wiping inactive mobile devices with xFanatical Foresight Automation
Illustration of auto blocking and wiping inactive mobile devices with xFanatical Foresight Automation

xFanatical Foresight automation platform comes into the scenario, where you can set up a workflow to automate blocking and wiping inactive mobile devices of mobile devices, and notifying the owners of the inactive devices about their blocked devices.

Introducing xFanatical Foresight Automation

xFanatical Foresight is an enterprise-level platform which helps automates and streamlines the Google Workspace workflows. In today’s fast paced business environment, efficiency is the key. xFanatical Foresight automation permits administrators and users to create intricate business workflows, which consumes a lot more time doing it natively. It simplifies the process of auto blocking and wiping of inactive mobile devices in Google Workspace, so you can take care of more important tasks.

Here is how xFanatical Foresight will work in this scenario, 

  • It detects the mobile device inactivity by a configured number of days.
  • It then blocks and wipes the data of the inactive device.
  • Furthermore, it sends an email including the mobile device details to the user of the device and IT manager.

Automation Setup Instructions

In this section, we guide you through the automation setup in xFanatical Foresight. After completing the automation rule, verify whether the automation meets your requirements.

Set Up Automation From Scratch

Set Up Automation From Scratch

Supported plans: xFanatical Foresight Elite and Professional (Legacy).

  1. Sign into xFanatical Foresight with your Google Admin account. 
  2. Go to the Rules page, and click the new rule button button.
  3. In the Select a trigger screen, select Mobile device turned inactive.
    Selecting mobile device turned inactive trigger on Select a trigger screen
  4. In the Edit trigger > Mobile device turned inactive screen,
    1. If you’re using this trigger for the first time, you will see Sign in with Google button. Click on it, and authorize xFanatical Foresight the necessary permissions to automate on behalf of your Google account.
      Sign in with google button on mobile device turned inactive edit trigger screen
    2. In the Inactivity timeout field, set the number of days for which the mobile device hasn’t synced.
      Configuring inactivity timeout days for mobile device to trigger the rule
    3. Click Next.
  5. In the Select an action screen, select Get mobile device info.
    Selecting Get mobile device info action from select an action screen
  6. In the Edit actions > Get mobile device info screen,
    1. In the Device id field, select Device id variable from Mobile device turned inactive.
    2. In the User primary email field, select the Device user email variable from Mobile device turned inactive.
    3. Click Add next action.
      Selecting Get mobile device info action from select an action screenSelecting Get mobile device info action from select an action screen
  7. In the Select an action screen, select Block mobile device.
    Selecting Block mobile device action from select an action screen
  8. In the Edit actions > Block mobile device screen,
    1. If you’re using this action for the first time, you will see Sign in with Google button. Click on it, and authorize xFanatical Foresight the necessary permissions to automate on behalf of your Google account.
      Sign in with google button on block mobile device edit action screen
    2. In the Device id field, select the Device id variable from Get mobile device info.
    3. In the User primary email field, select the Device user email variable from Get mobile device info.
    4. Click Add next action.
      Sign in with google button on block mobile device edit action screen
  9. In the Select an action screen, select Wipe mobile device.
    Selecting wipe mobile device action from select an action screen
  10. In the Edit actions > Wipe mobile device screen,
    1. In the Device id field, select the Device id variable from Get mobile device info.
    2. In the User primary email field, select the Device user email variable from Get mobile device info.
    3. In the Device wipe type field, select Wipe an account from the device.
    4. Click Add next action.
      Configuring device id ,user primary email field, and device wipe type, and click on add next action on wipe mobile device edit action screen
  11. In the Select an action screen, select Email.
    The email action to send an email from your gmail in xFanatical Foresight
  12. In the Edit actions > Email screen,
    1. If you’re using this action for the first time, you will see Sign in with Google button. Click on it, and authorize xFanatical Foresight the necessary permissions to automate on behalf of your Google account.
      Configuring device id ,user primary email field, and device wipe type, and click on add next action on wipe mobile device edit action screen
    2. In the To field, select Device user email variable from Get mobile device info action.
    3. In the cc field, select My email variable from Global. So now email is also received by the IT admin.
      Configuring device id ,user primary email field, and device wipe type, and click on add next action on wipe mobile device edit action screen Configuring device id ,user primary email field, and device wipe type, and click on add next action on wipe mobile device edit action screen
    4. In the Subject field, enter the subject line of the notification email to the device user.
    5. In the Email body field, enter the notification email template.
    6. Click Review.
      Composing Subject and email for blocking and wiping inactive mobile devices
  13. In the Review screen,
    1. Customize the Rule name.
      Block and wipe inactive mobile devices rule review screen
    2. Click Create.
  14. The automation rule is created.
    Block and wipe inactive mobile device rule on xFanatical Foresight rules page
    xFanatical Foresight workflow for auto blocking and wiping inactive mobile devices in Google Workspace and notifying the user of the device.
Verify Automation

Verify Automation

To ensure that your rule setup automates as expected, it’s essential to conduct a simple test. The following instructions demonstrate how the xFanatical Foresight automates the blocking and wiping inactive mobile devices, and emailing the user of mobile devices in Google Workspace.

Before moving to verification, let’s check the mobile devices in Google Admin Console mobiles page. Currently in our case, there is one device which is closer to 30 days, as setup in automation rule setup. 
Mobile list page on Google Admin Console, shows last sync days of mobile.

Mobile list page on Google Admin Console, shows last sync days of mobile.

  1. Wait for 24 hours, so 29 days become 30 days. After the last sync of a mobile device crosses 30 days, the automation rule will be automatically triggered on xFanatical Foresight.
  2. Go to the xFanatical Foresight.
  3. As the rule would be automatically triggered, you will get a notification at the top right. In the notification message, click View log.
    Notification of successful execution of block and wipe inactive mobile device rule
  4. In the log screen, confirm the mobile device has been blocked, wiped, and email sent to the user email address.
    Log of auto block and wipe inactive mobile device rule successful execution
  5. Go back to the mobile devices list page, and confirm that the mobile device has been blocked.
    Mobile device list on Google admin consoles shows one mobile blocked after 30 days of inactivity.
  6. Go to the email app, and confirm the notification email has been received by the IT admin and device user.
    Email confirmation of mobile device blocking and wiping

Notes

  • For existing inactive mobile devices that haven't synced for longer than the inactivity timeout, they do not trigger the automation. Consider customizing the Bulk block mobile devices template for a one-time blocking, wiping and notification workflow automation.
  • The workflow assumes mobile devices are user-owned, instead of company owned devices.
  • The notification is sent to the user of the device and copied to the admin.

Conclusion

Auto blocking and wiping inactive mobile devices in Google Workspace using xFanatical Foresight is a game changer for your chrome devices management. By leveraging its intuitive interface and powerful automation capabilities, you can streamline your automation process and ensure effective management of your devices. With xFanatical Foresight, you can effortlessly approve, block, wipe devices, and invest valuable time for more important tasks.

Try a 14-day free trial with xFanatical Foresight and manage your tasks.

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