Google announces 'zero-touch' Android configuration for businesses

Setting up an Android phone may be a simple task but it does become tedious when a business with hundreds of employees has to configure devices across an entire organization. Now to fix that, Google is launching a new deployment method called the zero-touch enrollment that makes Android rollouts in the enterprise more seamless and secure.

“For administrators, zero-touch enrollment removes the need for users to configure their devices manually and ensures that devices always have corporate policies in place,” explained Google product manager James Nugent. “Support is also much easier, with no extra steps for end-users; they just sign in and get access to their work apps and data.”

Companies can configure the devices they purchase and have them shipped with management and settings pre-configured, so employees can get up and running out of the box. It eliminates the need for the user to set up everything manually, but it ensures everyone has the same corporate policies in place.

The feature will be available from devices purchased from Verizon, AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile, BT, Deutsche Telekom, Softbank, and Telstra. For now, the feature only works on Google Pixel, but Google is working with other OEMs (Sony, Samsung, LG, HMD Global, etc) to get this on more devices.

The Sony Xperia XZ1/XZ1 Compact and Huawei Mate 10 will be among the first to support the feature. Google said that any Samsung device that is updated to Android Oreo will support zero-touch enrollment.