While preparing my Windows IT Pro Microsoft’s Mobility Options in Exchange, Configuration Manager & Windows Intune sessions I noticed in Windows Intune something that I haven’t seen before. Besides locking your mobile devices down with settings, installing apps and wiping in the device you are now also able to reset the passcode of a mobile device or lock it remotely with Windows Intune.

The two options in Windows Intune

Let’s quickly look at how this works. When selecting the Remote Lock feature the mobile phone is automatically locked and the user need to reenter their passcode. This may be handy if you or a user has lost their (unlocked) mobile device. After remotely locking it you will see a notice of when the mobile device is remotely locked.

Last Remote Lock issues on..

Another feature is to reset the passcode of the mobile device, this can be handy when a user has lost their passcode. Selecting this option will result in the fact that the password will be reseted to a very strong passcode like shown in the figure below. (&Xa;%.dA;i) After unlocking the users device, the user is able to reset their passcode to something less complex 😉

Last Passcode reset and the temporary passcode generated by Windows Intune

For iOS devices, the passcode will be removed from the device and no new temporary passcode will be applied.  Some device types cannot issue a passcode reset.

I have tested the features with Android and both are applied instantly. Two cool features if you ask me which are currently only available in Windows Intune, would be nice to see those also become available in Configuration Manager 2012 R2. 😉

Comments