Skip to main content

Blocksi Portal

Lost Devices

Should your school lose a device, you can use Blocksi to find it.

Using Blocksi’s tracking system, you can track lost devices.

There are several conditions that must be met before you can track devices:

  • The device needs to be enrolled to your domain.

  • An OU specifically for lost devices must exist and must include the Blocksi Navigator App deployed in kiosks on the Google Admin Console. See Creating an OU for Device Tracking for details on creating a separate OU and Installing Blocksi Navigator for details on installing the app.

  • The device must be moved to the lost devices OU for tracking (DO NOT suspend or deactivate the device).

  • The device must be rebooted, either physically or forced from the Google Admin Console.

To track a lost device

  1. Click Device Management from the Main Menu and then click Lost Devices from its sub-menu. The following screen appears.

    Lost Devices Screen
  2. Click Toggle Lost Device Webcam to indicate whether to activate the webcam of the lost device.

  3. Click TRACK A NEW DEVICE to track a new device. The following window opens.

    Track a Missing Device Window
  4. Select the missing device from the SEARCH DEVICES drop-down list.

  5. Select the organizational unit (OU) you are using to track lost devices from the SELECT YOUR STOLEN DEVICE OU drop-down list.

  6. Click START TRACKING to start tracking. The results appear, as shown below. Once moved into the lost devices OU and identified as lost or stolen, Blocksi pinpoints the last known online location of the device on a Google map, takes screenshots every 3-5 seconds of activity on that device, and allows you to engage the webcam to take actual live photos to identify the surroundings of the current location of that device. Also, the device tile color depends on its status: red when undetected, green when detected, and gray when recovered.

You can track the location of all devices used by your organizational unit.

To turn on device tracking

  1. Click Device Management from the Main Menu and then click Inventory from its sub-menu. The Devices screen appears.

    Devices Screen
  2. Click the ON button in the Settings section at the top of the screen. The location of all devices is reported every ten minutes and appears in the Device Table.

  3. Click the Details link to the right of a device and the device details window opens. This window contains information about the selected device, including the device ID, the last enrollment time, the last sync time, the MAC address, and the location of the device.

    Device Details Window
  4. Click Show on map to the right of the student whose device you want to locate. The map indicates the location of the device.

Because the Blocksi application uses Google Maps, you have access to similar map functionality, such as zooming in and out, changing to street view, showing terrain in map view, and switching to satellite view using labels.

When you locate a lost device, you can view the location of the device, screenshots of the websites the user has visited, and photos of the user of the device.

To view collected data for a lost device

  1. Click Device Management from the Main Menu and then click Lost Devices from its sub-menu. The following screen appears.

    Lost and Recovered Devices Screen

    Tip

    Click the Sort By drop-down list in the top right-hand corner of the screen to sort the devices by device serial number, the date the device was added, or the last time the device was seen.

  2. Click the name of the device for which you want to view the data. The following options appear at the top of the screen: DETAILS, MAP, SCREENSHOTS, and PHOTOS. These options are described below.

Details

Click DETAILS and the following window opens.

Change Device Status Window

From this window you can change the status of a device and remove a device.

Map

Click MAP and the following window opens.

Lost Device Map

On this screen, you can see the locations at which the device was last seen to the left, and a map of the currently selected location to the right. You can use all of the Google Maps functionality to further view the area.

Screenshots

Click SCREENSHOTS and the following window opens.

Lost Device Screenshots

Here you can see the screens that the user has viewed.

Note

Screenshots are taken at five-minute intervals. Pages are also scanned for the input of email addresses, phone numbers, and social media accounts. These results appear on the Admin Dashboard.

Photos

Click PHOTOS and the following window opens.

Lost Device Photos

These are photos of who was using the device.

After you have located the lost device, you can change the status of the device.

To change the status of a device

  1. Click Device Management from the Main Menu and then click Lost Devices from its sub-menu. The following screen appears.

    Lost and Recovered Devices Screen

    Tip

    Click the Sort By drop-down list in the top right-hand corner of the screen to sort the devices by device serial number, the date the device was added, or the last time the device was seen.

  2. Do one of the following:

    • Click the three vertical dots in the top right-hand corner of the device block and select whether to change the status to Recovered or Unrecoverable. The device window opens.

    • Click the name of a device. The device window opens.

    Change Device Status Windwo
  3. Select the desired status from the drop-down list. Options include Recovered and Unrecoverable. The change device status window opens.

    Change Device Status Window
  4. Type a note, if necessary. You can also move the device to another organizational unit.

  5. When you have finished, click CHANGE STATUS to change the status of the device. Note the status change is reflected on the Tracked Devices screen.

You can remove collected data for a device when it is no longer needed.

To remove collected data for a lost device

  1. Click Device Management from the Main Menu and then click Lost Devices from its sub-menu. The following screen appears.

    Lost and Recovered Devices Screen

    Tip

    Click the Sort By drop-down list in the top right-hand corner of the screen to sort the devices by device serial number, the date the device was added, or the last time the device was seen.

  2. Click the name of the device for which you want to remove the data. The following window opens.

    Change Device Status Window
  3. Click the Remove Collected Data button to remove the collected data. A confirmation prompt appears.

  4. Click OK to remove the data.

    Note

    You can also click the three horizontal dots in the upper right-hand corner of the device tile and select Remove Collected Data.

    Note

    This removes only the screenshots and photos for this device.

You can remove a lost or recovered device at any time.

To remove a device

  1. Click Device Management from the Main Menu and then click Lost Devices from its sub-menu. The following screen appears.

    Lost and Recovered Devices Screen

    Tip

    Click the Sort By drop-down list in the top right-hand corner of the screen to sort the devices by device serial number, the date the device was added, or the last time the device was seen.

  2. Click the name of the device that you want to remove. The following window opens.

    Change Device Status Window
  3. Click the Remove Device From List button. A confirmation prompt appears.

  4. Click OK to remove the device.

    Note

    You can also click the three horizontal dots in the upper right-hand corner of the device tile and select Remove Device From List.