My Mobile Watchdog is a safety service installed on your child’s phone that allows you to monitor their usage and receive instant alerts about unsafe activity. A growing number of young people – including kids as young as six – own a mobile phone, making this technology an essential monitoring tool.

The advent of technology and in particular the internet has created a digital divide between most parents and their children. Facebook, MySpace, chat rooms and MSN are normal aspects of a young person’s daily communication routine, but what does it all mean for parents?

In most cases, the home computer is set up in the living room so parents can keep an eye on what websites their children are accessing. However mobile phones are exactly that – mobile. How can you be sure what your child has viewed or received.

Mobile technology has advanced significantly in recent years and handsets are not what they used to be. The latest models offer users the ability to send and receive e-mails, access the internet and chat instantly with anyone. All of the functions offered by your home computer are now available on a mobile phone – anywhere, anytime.

My Mobile Watchdog empowers parents and allows peace of mind by delivering alerts, via email about unsafe activities. It also provides a web-based log of all communication, including text messages, phone calls, e-mails, picture messages and websites accessed.

From the online control panel, parents can establish a list of approved contacts with which their child can interact. Any communication with an unapproved contact sends an instant alert via e-mail, allowing parents to intervene if necessary.

Similarly, the sending and receiving of picture MMS and SMS messages can be monitored from the web interface. 

My Mobile Watchdog is not spyware – children are reminded that their mobile phone is being monitored every 24 hours and whenever they switch it on. Sitting down with your child to approve the list of contacts can often be a productive and insightful exercise, helping to strengthen parent-children relationships and prompting honest discussion.

Instead of taking technology away, My Mobile Watchdog allows children to continue using their mobile phone while educating them about responsible behaviour and consequences. Parents are encouraged to remain open and honest about the technology and communicate with their children about the importance of the software and cybersafety issues.

My Mobile Watchdog should always be used in conjunction with an open dialogue and education, and allows parents to break down the barriers created by modern technology.

The software also encourages children to be organised, with a dynamic calendar and scheduling function. Parents can set appointments and send appointment reminders from their e-mail or mobile phone to their child's mobile phone.