Introduction

In this article, you will learn how to schedule to approve, block, unblock, wipe or delete mobile devices in Google Workspace efficiently with xFanatical Foresight. Managing mobile devices, such as approving, blocking, unblocking, wiping, or deleting them, is a routine yet critical responsibility for Google Workspace administrators. However, these actions often need to be timed around key events, such as a user’s start or departure date. In such cases, administrators must manually remember to perform these tasks at the right time, which can lead to delays or oversight if not properly tracked. 

Illustration of scheduling of approval, blocking or wiping mobile devices with xFanatical Foresight Automation
Illustration of scheduling of approval, blocking or wiping mobile devices with xFanatical Foresight Automation

xFanatical Foresight automation platform comes into the scenario, where you can schedule the approval, blocking, wiping, unblocking, or deletion of multiple mobile devices, that Google Admin Console doesn't offer. 

Scheduling mobile device actions offers several key benefits for Google Workspace administrators. It streamlines workflows by automating routine tasks, reduces the risk of human error, and ensures actions are performed exactly when needed, such as during user onboarding or offboarding. This improves security by minimizing delays in enforcing access controls and supports consistent policy enforcement across the organization. 

Introducing xFanatical Foresight Automation

xFanatical Foresight is an enterprise-grade 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 scheduling the approval, blocking, unblocking, wiping and deleting mobile devices in Google Workspace, so you can take care of more important tasks.

Automation Setup Instructions

In this section, we guide you through the automation setup in xFanatical Foresight. We have 2 ways to set up automation rules, Set up automation from a template and Set up automation from scratch. After completing the automation rule, verify whether the automation meets your requirements.

Set Up Automation From a Template

Set Up Automation From a Template

Supported plans: xFanatical Foresight Elite plan.

Before moving to instructions, let’s understand your organization needs. As every action is aimed to do Mobile Device Management (MDM) and in the Google Workspace mobile device automation category we have 5 different automation rule templates.

  • Schedule to approve mobile devices
  • Schedule to block mobile devices
  • Schedule to wipe mobile devices
  • Schedule to delete mobile devices
  • Schedule to unblock mobile devices

For demonstration purposes, let’s take the schedule to approve mobile devices automation. You can choose the template from the xFanatical Foresight templates page as per your requirement. 

  1. Sign into xFanatical Foresight with your Google Admin account. 
  2. Go to the Templates page.
  3. Search Schedule to approve mobile devices template, and click on it.
    The schedule to approve mobile devices template card in xFanatical Foresight
  4. In the Templates > Schedule to approve mobile devices, click Copy rule.
    Click copy rule button from schedule to approve mobile devices template details page in xFanatical Foresight
  5. For the first time use of the template rule, an dialog Action needed will display requesting necessary permissions required to copy the rule. Click Connect with Google and authorize the permissions.
  6. Upon authorization, a dialog titled Copy of Export chrome devices will display.
  7. In the Edit trigger > Time screen,
    The time edit trigger screen to configure future date and time to schedule mobile device approval in xFanatical Foresight
    1. In Trigger time, set the time when the mobile devices would be approved.
    2. Click Next.
  8. On the Select an action screen, click the Approve mobile device action.
  9. In the Edit actions > Approve mobile device screen,
    1. In the Device id field, select the mobile device to approve.
    2. (Optional) In the User primary email field, enter the primary user email of the device.
      The approve mobile devices edit actions screen to select device Id for approving mobile device in xFanatical Foresight
  10. Select the other actions of Approve mobile devices from the automation rule diagram.
    Schedule to approve mobile devices rule graph to click another approve mobile device action and select different device id for approval in xFanatical Foresight
    1. Either repeat Step 9 to add more mobile details or delete the extra actions from the Delete current action button.
    2. Click Review.
  11. In the Review screen,
    1. Customize the Rule name.
      The rule review screen to update default rule name when creating schedule to approve mobile devices automation from template in xFanatical Foresight
    2. Click Create.
  12. The rule is created in the Rules page.
    The workflow diagram of schedule to approve mobile devices rule n xFanatical Foresight
    xFanatical Foresight workflow for approving mobile devices in Google Workspace.
Set Up Automation From Scratch

Set Up Automation From Scratch

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

Before moving to instructions, let’s understand your organization needs. As every action is aimed to do mobile device management and in the Google Workspace mobile device automation category we have 5 different actions.

  • Approve mobile device.
  • Block mobile device.
  • Wipe mobile device.
  • Delete mobile device.
  • Unblock mobile device.

For demonstration purposes, let’s take the Approve mobile device action. You can choose the action as per your requirement. 

  1. Sign into xFanatical Foresight with your Google Admin account. 
  2. Go to the Rules page, and click the new rule button button at the bottom right to create a new rule.
  3. In the Select a trigger screen, select Time trigger.
    The time trigger to run actions once at a specific time in xFanatical Foresight
  4. In the Edit trigger screen, select the future time when mobile devices will be approved.
    The time edit trigger screen to configure future date and time to schedule mobile device approval in xFanatical Foresight
  5. Click Next.
  6. In the Select an action screen, select Approve mobile device, or if you want different action select as per your organization need.
    The time edit trigger screen to configure future date and time to schedule mobile device approval in xFanatical Foresight
  7. In the Edit actions > Approve 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.
      Click sign in with google button from approve mobile device edit actions screen to give necessary permissions to xFanatical Foresight
    2. In the Device id field, select the appropriate mobile device.
    3. (Optional) In the User primary email field, enter the primary user email of the device.
      The approve mobile devices edit actions screen to select device Id for approving mobile device in xFanatical Foresight
  8. (Optional) Click the icon, and repeat Step 6 and Step 7 to add more mobile devices details.
    Click (+) icon from top to add more approve mobile device action parallelly for approving multiple mobile devices at the same time in xFanatical Foresight
  9. Click Review.
  10. In the Review screen,
    1. Enter the Rule name.
      The rule review screen to enter rule name for scheduling mobile device approval automation from scratch in xFanatical Foresight
    2. Click Create.
  11. The automation rule is created.
    The rule review screen to enter rule name for scheduling mobile device approval automation from scratch in xFanatical Foresight
    xFanatical Foresight workflow for approving mobile devices in Google Workspace.
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 schedule to approve mobile devices in Google Workspace.

Before moving to verification, let’s check the current status of mobile devices from Google Admin Console which is going to approve.
The google admin console screen with list of all mobile devices whose status is pending approval

Note: For demonstration purposes, please set the Trigger time field in the Time trigger to 15 minutes from now.

  1. Sign into xFanatical Foresight with the same Google Admin account.
  2. Wait until the configured trigger time, you will receive a notification in the top right of xFanatical Foresight. In the notification message, click View log.
    Receiving in-app notification for successful execution of copy of schedule to approve mobile devices automation in xFanatical Foresight
  3. In the Logs > Log details screen, confirm the mobile device has been approved.
    The copy of schedule to approve mobile devices automation history in xFanatical Foresight, including the automation data, trigger event and action history.
  4. Go back to Google Admin Console, and you can verify that mobile devices have been approved by xFanatical Foresight.
    The google admin console screen with list of all mobile devices whose status is approved

Notes

  1. For the demonstration purpose we used the approach to approve mobile devices. But you can go with mentioned templates and action as per your organization requirement. 
  2. Be attentive while setting up time on trigger, because the rule will automatically trigger on configured time.
  3. Once the rule is triggered, it will be disabled automatically.
  4. The User primary email field of Approve mobile device action is used for distinguishing multiple users in one shared mobile device. It's rare because most Bring Your Own Devices (BYOD) are owned individually and not shared with co-workers.
  5. Mobile device manual approval requires Advanced Mobile Device Management in Google Workspace. 

Conclusion

Scheduling of approval, blocking, unblocking, wiping, or deleting 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.

Related Articles

For more article please visit our website: Articles