Google beefs up mobile device management Apps tools

Google has expanded the capabilities of its mobile device management tools for Google Apps for Business, Government and Education customers.

On Monday, software engineer Hong Zhang wrote a blog post explaining the new features, which include a better view of the handsets and tablets being managed, as well as more granular policy controls. The tools can be used to manage devices on the Android, iOS and Windows Mobile platforms.

Administrators using the tools could already secure and reset lost smartphones and tablets and remotely encrypt data on them. Now, Hong said, they are also able to see "a holistic overview of all mobile devices that are syncing with Google Apps, and revoke access to individual devices as needed".

"Organisations can also now define mobile policies such as password requirements and roaming sync preferences on a granular basis by user group," Hong wrote, adding that administrators can also pull up trends and analytics about mobile productivity within their organisation.

The Google Apps Device Policy app for Android has also been updated to support Android 4.0, or Ice Cream Sandwich and give users a clearer idea of what their organisation's administrators can see about their mobile usage.

"These new mobile management features will roll out for customers on the Rapid Release track starting today, and will be coming to Scheduled Release customers in a matter of weeks," Hong wrote.

Also on Monday, Google extended its 24x7 phone support for small, medium, and large Google Apps for Business customers to include support for all issues affecting the core Google Apps services, not just critical issues.