DevRel 50 includes significant updates and improvements to Esper’s security and customer experience. This release includes an update to the Esper device provisioner, new password security lockout procedures for Esper users, and new configurations available through Esper’s provisioning templates.
Here’s a quick look at what’s new:
- Esper Device Provisioner V4
- Automatic Password Security Lockout
- Bluetooth, Language, Time and Date options added to Esper Settings
- Improved IMEI/CSV upload experience
- Restricted incoming and outgoing calls
- Enhancements in Remove/Factory Reset for a device
- Transparency in installation of apps while provisioning
- Numeric Lock Screen password is allowed
1] Esper Device Provisioner v4.0
Version 4.0 of the Esper Device Provisioner is a significant upgrade from v3.0. Here are a few of the enhancements we made to the provisioning experience with v4.0 of the Esper Device Provisioner:
- Dark mode is now supported throughout the Esper application
- The Esper application size has been significantly reduced, leading to faster startup time
185 MB → 82 MB on MacOS
106 MB → 64MB on Windows
- Linux is now supported
- Improved aesthetics and error handling
2] Automatic Password Security Lockout
Users will get locked out of the Esper Console if the wrong password is entered more than 5 times for users with a known username and IP combination.
Users can re-attempt to login after a cool-off period of five minutes. Or, users can immediately reattempt to login with a different username and/or IP address.
You can also learn more about best practices for Esper customer passwords in our Getting Started docs.
3] Bluetooth, Language, Time and Date options added to Esper Settings
- Bluetooth can now be toggled On and Off through Esper Settings.
- In devices with Android version 9 or below, tapping Bluetooth will open the Android Settings page for Bluetooth configuration irrespective of Android settings enabled/disabled in policy.
- In devices with Android 9 and above, tapping Bluetooth will open the Android Settings page only if the Android Settings app is enabled.
If the Android Settings app is disabled, an error message is shown.
- Even if configured through Provisioning Template or Compliance Policy, “Mobile data” option will be shown in Esper Settings only if a Sim Card is present in that device.
- Addition of Language and Date & Time Settings.
- In devices with Android version below 9, tapping Language OR Date & Time will open the Android Settings app page for Language or Date & Time configuration.
- In devices with Android 9 and above, tapping Language or Date & Time will open the Android Settings app page only if the Android Settings app is enabled.
If the Android Settings app is disabled but a supervisor support is available, tapping will open the Esper Setting page for Language or Date & Time configuration.
If the Android Settings app is disabled and supervisor support is also not available, these two items won’t be shown in Esper Settings.
4] Improved IMEI/CSV Upload Experience for Android
- Manage devices section is added while editing a previously created Template in provisioning template. It’s not available as an option when creating a template.
- Users can Add, Upload, and Download device IMEI or Serial Numbers through a CSV file using the new Manage devices section.
- Users can delete IMEI/Serial numbers from the CSV table.
- If the IMEI/Serial number is on another template, Esper will now confirm if a user wants to move it to the new template.
- A How-To Tour is available to users, allowing for a walkthrough of how to upload an IMEI/Serial number CSV file.
- Duplicate entries are not allowed. In case of duplicate entries, the list of duplicate IMEI/serial values (same template, different template, different tenants) from the uploaded CSV file is returned.
5] Restricted incoming and outgoing calls
We’ve enhanced the feature of restricting incoming and outgoing calls in the Provisioning Template and Compliance Policy for Android. Users can now view the allowed-list numbers, add to already selected numbers in the list, enter individual phone numbers via text field alongside a bulk upload via CSV, and add tags on every phone number so they can be easily identified by Console users.
6] Enhancements in Remove/Factory Reset for a Device
We’ve refined the Remove/Factory Reset option for Android listed under a device’s settings. The Remove/Factory Reset command performs two different operations:
- Without Factory Reset option checked– Deletes the device from the console (Soft-Wipe). Works on both Online and Offline devices.
- With Factory Reset option checked– This device command factory resets the deviceandremoves it from the console.
- If the factory reset is successful on the device, after five minutes have elapsed, the device is deleted from the console.
- If the factory reset is unsuccessful on the device after five minutes have elapsed, the device is made active on the console.
- If Esper does not receive factory reset status from the device, then a Soft-Wipe is performed and the device is deleted from Console.
The five minute gap period is called a Wipe-In-Progress.
7] Transparent Android App Installation While Provisioning
Device users can now see which Google Play Apps/Enterprise Apps for Android are being installed at the moment on a device during provisioning when provisioned through a Template. Click on “See More” option (below the Installing Apps text) during Step 3 of 3 during device provisioning to check application installation details.
8] Numeric Lock Screen password is allowed
Now, ‘Numeric’ Lock Screen password can also be set through Provisioning Template and Compliance Policy.
Bugs and Improvements
- Improved validation (basis name, size, checksum) in the files being uploaded through “Content Management” in the devices section of Esper’s console.
- Avoided marking the device as High Risk if calls to the SafetyNet Google API fail. You can learn more about Esper’s tools for cloud devs in ourAPI docs.
- The “About Device” in the Esper Settings app on the device, is made detailed with more Device, Software, Hardware, and Network information.
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And, that’s it for DevRel 50. Esper’s team is working to deliver another batch of features and improvements in DevRel 51. Our next release is focused on security and it’s scheduled for the second week of January 2021.
Please reach out to share your thoughts on how Esper can improve your customer experience in DevRel 51, 52, and beyond.