Features:  

Foremost among SMobile Security Shield Parental Control Edition’s features are the numerous parental controls. Parents can choose to monitor all text and multimedia messages and email that is sent to or from the phone. They can also define keywords which the program then recognizes and sends special alerts to the parents if they’re used. Parents are entirely in control of this function and can have the program send alerts for any terms they deem appropriate. These features serve both to protect kids from people online who may bully or intimidate the youngster as well as the more dangerous predators that cause greater concerns. They also encourage kids to avoid behavior that parents would find objectionable since they know that their communications can be monitored.

In addition to seeing messages and email that is exchanged, parents also have the ability to set limits from whom and to whom messages can be sent. Parents can also set up controls that will limit the phone numbers that are allowed to call the phone. Using the Parental Control Dashboard also permits viewing of the phone’s complete contact list including addresses and phone numbers. Any third party applications that are being used such as games or social networking sites like Twitter and Facebook can also be viewed.

The program does not serve as an internet filter. The program neither prevents the accessing of web pages nor does it monitor URLs that have been accessed.

Ease of Use:  

Beyond being a great source for remote monitoring, the Parental Control Dashboard also provides for unusually simple use of the program. Users have multiple options on the mobile device, but owing to its role as parental control programming, the control of many features is rightly left to the dashboard and a computer is just about always a more user friendly platform than a cell phone.

In general, required user interface on the device is minimal with automatic, over the air updates of virus definitions and scheduled scans. In the event that a virus is found during a scan, the user is alerted and has the option to simply close the alert box or to delete the infected file by selecting “Viruses.” The user also has access to a list of all viruses on the device. It can display the name of the infection and the location in which it was found.

The program works on just one mobile device, so if you choose to monitor more than one child’s phone, you’ll need a copy of the program for each. You can, however, use a single dashboard to monitor all your children’s phones.