At Apple’s iPhone 7 launch on Wednesday, while the company didn’t spend a lot of time on its latest operating system for iPhone and iPad it did announce the release date for iOS 10: Tuesday, September 13. Apple’s biggest release yet, iOS 10 will bring a host of new features for both consumers and businesses.  

According to research, released last month, from Enterprise Mobility Management (EMM) provider, MobileIron, iOS continues to dominate in the enterprise. The company’s report shows that the share of iOS devices rose from 78 percent in Q4 2015 to 81 percent in Q2 2016, while Android devices remained flat at 18 percent.

While there are great features in iOS 10 for consumers, we look at the best features coming for enterprise users, including features from Apple’s ever-expanding partner ecosystem.

Best iOS 10 features for enterprises

Siri does the work for you

With the introduction of SiriKit at WWDC 2016, developers can now integrate Apple’s digital assistant, Siri into their various apps. Using voice commands, you can get Siri to book you an Uber for your next meeting, send a Slack message to a colleague, and call clients or colleagues using Skype, Cisco Spark or Vonage Essentials. This is merely the start of the tasks that Siri will be able to complete for you.

Unlock your Mac with your Apple Watch

The ability to use the new Auto Unlock feature is part of macOS Sierra, but security upgrades in iOS 10 have ensured that the feature is more secure. To unlock your Mac with your Apple Watch, the device will need to be attached to your wrist and you will need to be within three meters of the Mac.  

Documents on all devices

iOS 10 brings various continuity features across your devices, like the ability to access any files saved on your Mac’s Desktop or in your Documents folder, on your iPhone or iPad. You will also be able to access them in the iCloud Drive app, on iCloud.com or on the Windows iCloud app. Log into a different Mac and all the files will be where you saved them.  

The Universal Clipboard feature ensures that any content in your clipboard is available on all devices. Copy text on your Mac and easily paste it, via iCloud, into a document on your iPhone.  

Unsecure Wi-Fi network alert

To avoid your organization being vulnerable when connecting to an unsecured network, this iOS 10 feature will alert you that the network is not secure.

Transcribed voicemail

You no longer have to struggle to write down the information in a voicemail, like contact details. iOS 10 has you covered with the feature that will automatically transcribe any voicemails and present it as a text. You can also listen to the full message as well as pause and rewind it.

Notifications on your Lock screen

The new Raise to Wake feature allows you to save some precious seconds and view the time and pending notifications on your iPhone’s screen without having to unlock your device.  

Virtual Private Network (VPN)

In order for mobile employees to access corporate data, it is imperative that they connect their iOS device via a VPN. Until recently, Apple did not support Extensive Authentication Protocol (EAP) therefore many organizations didn’t allow VPN access via iPhones and iPads. This changes with iOS 10 and Apple now supports VPN IKEv2 EAP-only mode and employees can now access secure corporate VPNs from their iOS devices.

iOS 10 supports AppConfig

The AppConfig community provides developers with best practices and standards to develop, configure, and secure mobile apps for the enterprise. Apple announced that iOS 10 will support AppConfig.

Apple and Cisco integration

In addition to the new iOS 10 features for enterprise users, Apple is also continuing to expand its partner ecosystem enabling businesses to change the way they work. It also allows enterprises to access a wider range of enterprise apps and deploy them easily on any iOS device.

One such example is the integration of Apple and Cisco Systems Inc., who are making mobile management smarter, faster and easier for both developers and IT administrators, as well as the end user.

Work apps get priority

To ensure that work apps take priority over non-work-related apps like Facebook, etc. iOS 10 introduces the ability for IT administrators to control which business critical apps take priority, regardless of the network being congested with traffic.  

Seamless calling experience

Built on the Cisco Collaboration cloud, Cisco Spark allows its customers to message, meet, or call anyone, at anytime from anywhere.

iOS 10 on iPhone and iPad introduces integration with Cisco Spark. Using the new iOS APIs, employees are able to use Cisco Spark to make voice and video calls directly from their iPhone. Making an enterprise voice or video call is as simple as tapping a contact in the address book, favorites or recent calls.  

Incoming Cisco Spark calls can now be answered from the Lock screen, no need to unlock the device and wait for the app to load. While users can also switch between calls whether they are on Cisco Spark or cellular.  

Mobile employees get the best wireless connection

As employees roam around their enterprise campus, Cisco will enable their iOS device to connect to the best-suited wireless connection.

Sources: MobileIron; Cisco; PCMag

Image credit: FirmBee; Pixabay