"SOS" and "No Sim" Message on Wifi-Only iPhones

[sdnieves]

Our organization mostly uses iPhones as wifi-only devices. There's a message at the top left near the wifi symbol where the cellular company name used to be. The message alternates between "SOS only" and "No Sim".

Often, during troubleshooting with the service desk the users simply see this message and assume this is why the phone is "broken", even though that is the standard message for all our devices. Is there a way to change that message at the top left to anything else? We've searched all over and can't find a way to change that message.

Any help appreciated as user education doesn't seem to be helping.

[AJPinto]

Nope, there is no such thing as a "wifi-only iphone" so Apple does not make any MDM keys that can turn off the cellular radio or enable airplain mode (never mind this would also turn off wifi). Unfortunatly socalizing to your helpdesk is really all you can do.

It may be a good idea to look in to getting base model iPads to replace these iPhones as they age out. the iPads are cheaper, and won’t have cellular radios to confuse people. The iPad Minis are also an option but a bit more expensive.

Thinking back you could not even really manage the iPod Touch, it could be managed using Apple Configurator but it was not really a fully manageable device.