How to Monitor Cell Phone Activities

Computer software and a monitoring service allow you to track cell phone usage.

Keeping on top of cell phone usage becomes more challenging with each new leap forward in technology. There was a time when all a parent or business owner had to do was inspect the monthly bill, and that's still a good idea. But with Internet-enabled smart phones that allow texting, email access and a host of calling options, it's harder to tell who's calling whom or what they're talking about. Here are tools for monitoring cell phone activity to keep your kids safe and to keep an eye on what your employees are doing with their company-issued phones.

Instructions

1. Take time to review your monthly billing statements for unusual activity, such as a high number of text messages, Internet surfing and long calls to particular numbers, especially unfamiliar numbers.

2. Limit the services and features you pay for on the cell phones billed to your name or company. By restricting access to certain features or cancelling them outright, you eliminate the potential for abuse.

3. Buy a monthly subscription to a cell phone monitoring service. Many companies now offer live monitoring of a cell phone number, enabling you to receive instant notification on incoming and outgoing text messages, monitor phone calls, see what websites the user is visiting, and track the time being spent on the phone. Most of these services are only available for smart phones and cell phones equipped with Bluetooth technology.

4. Talk to kids with cell phones about the dangers of texting with people they do not know, or surfing the web.

Tips & Warnings

• Cell phone monitoring services come with a monthly, quarterly or annual fee. It may be cheaper to cancel a teen's access to the Internet over a cell phone than to pay for and spend time reviewing a monitor's report of the child's online activity.

References

• Cell phone monitoring service

Resources

• Read this Article in Spanish