Parents are now alerted instantly as soon as their child’s phone reconnects to a network after being powered off or out of signal
Mobile Phones are a lifeline for children as they start becoming more independent. The pre-mobile advice to carry change for a phone-box or knock on a stranger’s door and ask to use their phone in an emergency is, these days, dangerously out of date.
A major point of stress and worry for parents is an inability to contact their child, even if they are carrying a phone. They may call and try a location service but if the phone is turned off, or out of signal then both will fail. It’s impossible to know whether the battery is flat, whether the phone has been set in aircraft mode, or whether connections have deliberately been blocked by the user.
ParentShield – the only network dedicated to use by children and those with similar special needs – has released “Network Watch” an advanced continuous ping service that watches a child’s phone and alerts the parent the instant it is re-connected to a network. The Parent receives an SMS message with the Child’s phone status, and the child’s phone can be instantly messaged and instructed to make contact if desired.
Knowing they will be alerted as soon as the phone regains a network connection provides considerable peace of mind to parents who find themselves in this worrying situation. They no longer find themselves having to call again and again and not know if the phone is actually on or not, and not knowing whether any voicemail left will or has been listened to. An SMS to the phone will almost certainly be read and seen instantly.
The Network Watch feature is a new free-of-charge addition to all of ParentShield thousands of existing customers, and available in the ParentShield parent portal that customers use to access all their child’s network controls and call and SMS recordings. It is available on all four of the company’s Child-Safe SIM Only Plans which start from £9.99 per month. The ParentShield Portal also allows parents to see the latest registration status of the child’s phone – including which network the SIM is attached to.
This is a service the Network can also provide on request to the Authorities that are trying to locate a missing person.
ParentShield’s roaming SIM empowers users by allowing them to remain social with their friends at all times through text, calls, and online interactions. Meanwhile, parents gain peace of mind from having an uninterrupted source of contact. This also ensures that other features, such as parental alerts, can be sent immediately rather than hours later when the signal is back to full strength.
As it is a Mobile Network and SIM card, ParentShield is not restricted by the constraints of individual devices. The only way a signal will be interrupted is if the entire network fails or if the user puts their smartphone on airplane mode. However, if they do that, they won’t be able to share text messages or calls with other people.
The child-safe and family-friendly roaming SIM has quickly established itself as a major hit with parents of pre-teens and teenagers alike. And because they can stay connected, many kids love it too.
About ParentShield
ParentShield is the UK’s only Mobile Network designed specifically with children in mind, incorporating a wide range of tools – from call recording to keyword alerts – that allow parents to oversee their child’s phone usage without invading their privacy. It can work with any unlocked feature-phone, smartphone or smartwatch and does not require any app or parental controls to be set on the device. Its features are handled remotely, allowing for optimal convenience while kids retain their independence. The SIMs work across the UK and beyond.
Being a SIM-based network-side service, parents can provide ANY unlocked phone to their child and give them a totally normal mobile phone experience without the stigma of being a locked or crippled “parental control” phone that you wouldn’t want to show your friends in the playground.