My Mobile Watchdog is now available to Australian and New Zealand parents, but a select group of local families accessed the service early and where asked to provide insight into how My Mobile Watchdog works and its many benefits.

While the product’s success in the United States is widely documented, My Mobile Watchdog understands that Australian families have slightly different concerns and methods of communication

For this reason, a number of regular families were provided a mobile phone handset with My Mobile Watchdog pre-installed. Their children, all of varying ages, were asked to use the device as they would their own mobile phone.

The parents were then able to monitor their child’s usage for several weeks, setup instant alert notifications and encouraged to keep a log of their experiences. Here are a couple of real-life examples:

Family A
My Mobile Watchdog was installed on the phone of a 14-year-old boy and almost immediately his parents noticed the benefits. After sitting down initially with their son to approve all of his contacts, there were several instances when Mum and Dad received an alert via their e-mail account about contact with an unknown person.

Thankfully, it turned out to be a friend who had not been added to the approved contacts list but the parents were given peace of mind knowing that they were kept in the loop. The family was able to sit down again and have a conversation about who their son was contacting, adding these new numbers to the approved list.

During the trial period, Mum and Dad were also given a rare insight into how frequently their son used his phone. They were genuinely surprised at how many text, picture and video messages he sent and phone calls he made.

Given their son had owned his mobile for more than a year, the parents had a lengthy discussion with him about the introduction of My Mobile Watchdog.

“We saw this service as a natural extension of the software we use to supervise our children’s internet use, and after discussing My Mobile Watchdog with our son he was happy enough to have it on his phone,” Dad said.

On another positive note, both parents commented that My Mobile Watchdog encouraged a greater level of communication with their son.

Family B
This family, like many, bought their 12-year-old daughter a mobile phone for reasons of safety, convenience and communication. Knowing they could contact their daughter at any time was important to Mum and Dad.

This phone ownership came with its own concerns though, so installing My Mobile Watchdog was about knowing their child was using her mobile appropriately.

My Mobile Watchdog has given the family peace of mind, especially in light of recent instances of cyber bullying in the local community.

From the child’s perspective, having My Mobile Watchdog on her phone was a bit of a novelty. She felt comfort knowing her parents were monitoring her, even when she was out of the house. They were also able to send diary reminders about sporting events and other activities.

“We were surprised at how easy this software was to install and use,” Mum said. “Setting up the approved contacts was simple, as was navigating the web interface to view our daughter’s mobile usage".