AT&T’s Toggle service, which lets Android users set up work-only areas on their phones, is now available on Apple iOS. This means that workers can use their work-related data on a separate account.
Last year, the carrier released Toggle 1.0. It can be used on phones from any mobile operator by organisations that buy it. Toggle divides a phone’s software into two environments: one for business use and one for an employee’s personal apps and content. It’s made to keep business resources encrypted and safe from being messed with by consumer apps. It also makes it easy for users to switch between work and personal modes.
AT&T spokesman Fletcher Cook said that with Toggle 2.0, users will be able to bring their own phones and tablets to work and use them through a corporate account while they are in work mode. When they go back to personal mode, their own account will start working again. This feature is only available with AT&T accounts right now, but Cook said that other carriers can add it if they want to.
IT administrators can also set up a place called a “ToggleHub” where users can choose and download applications that have been approved for them. Cook said that in the old version, administrators had to send apps to users’ devices. Once an app is on the device, IT can turn it off if they need to. If an employee leaves the company or a device is lost or stolen, all of the information on it can be erased.
To add the new features, AT&T broke up with its former partner, Enterproid, and worked with another mobile device management company, OpenPeak, to make Toggle 2.0. Cook said that the new features could not be used with the Enterproid platform.
“It’s not the same thing twice. One gives us a little bit more freedom, “Cook said. He said that AT&T will keep offering Toggle 1.0 and will help customers who are already using it.
BYOD (bring your own device) policies in the workplace raise concerns about security and complexity. With Toggle, AT&T is trying to do both. It’s not the only company that has a way to give a phone two different personalities. VMware and Red Bend are two companies that make virtualization software for phones, and Enterproid still has its own service that is similar to Toggle.
In the next few weeks, iOS users should be able to get Toggle 2.0. Cook said that there will be versions for the BlackBerry OS and the Windows Phone OS by the end of this year. Toggle costs $6.50 per device per month, plus setup fees and managed services that you can choose to use or not.
