So you live in Queenstown and your young kids are into high risk outdoors activities?

Ever found yourself sitting at the bottom of the gondola biting your nails off when your kids are riding the MTB tracks, and was meant to meet you 10 minutes ago but didn’t show up yet?

You sit there, running all kind of horror scenarios in your head, wondering where are they, if they’re ok, if there’s anyone near them who could help…

Didn’t you wish you had a way to not only know exactly where they are, but also hear or see what’s going on around them? hear if they’re crying, or just laughing with their friends and forgot to check the time?

Well, you can.

With a piece of readily available technology that won’t cost you an arm and a leg and your first-born.

Actually, you are very likely to already have that device. It’s a smartphone. Your child’s smartphone (and if you don’t want them to have the internet in their pocket you can set it up to only do tracking and cellular communications- just read on).

All you have to do to turn it into a parental supervision device is install a piece of software that enables you to track the phone’s location in real time and use its camera and microphone remotely to take photos and record audio and video clips remotely on demand, which you then receive to your email a few seconds later.

There are many more features you can utilize but these are the ones that can let you figure out if help is needed, and either get there yourself or guide a rescue to the location.

When our son got into downhill mountain biking he was old enough to ride a bike at a high level, young enough to have no concept of death and too young to have a smartphone (or at least one with unrestricted access to the internet).

Which basically put us in a position where us parents were not happy for him to go riding without one of us (me) riding with him.

It didn’t take long before his riding level was high enough that instead of me keeping an eye on him, he had to keep an eye on me and make sure I’m ok…

In order to let him ride at his pace without risking my own life we had to come up with a way to know he’s ok (or in trouble) without having to rely on him to report back.

This had to be something that will work even if he’s hurt and unable to function, be inexpensive, reliable and simple to use.

Also, we didn’t want to give him a device that will give him unrestricted access to the internet.

The solution came in the form of an Android device of older generation but high-end hardware. it doesn’t need to be super high performance, but you do want a reliable unit with enough grunt to drive the software and enough battery life to last a day of live tracking.

We’re using a Samsung Galaxy S8, you can still get them on TradeMe in great condition.

Two software apps are in charge of turning the device into the ultimate child-supervising-tool.

CerberusApp as the safety/security remotely-tap-into-the-phone tool, and AppLock as the access restricting tool that enables you to only allow access to selected features/apps on the device.

CerberusApp is a subscription service that will cost you less than $10 a year for one device, while AppLock offer a lifetime license for $7.20.

Setting up the phone and software require some knowledge, and you want to make sure it’s done correctly so you won’t lose functionality due to Android’s power saving features killing the background services, or restricting the wrong system functions.

Rooting the phone (bypassing the default user restriction of Android and enabling “superuser” access) will unlock important Cerberus features like the ability to remotely enable Mobile Data and remotely turn on GPS, both essential for live tracking, and also force maximum volume while sounding a siren and flashing the screen, useful for physically locating the device when getting close to it (think scenarios of a biker landed in the bush, skier buried in snow, or any after dark search & rescue situation).

Live tracking the boys riding Rude-Rock.
The blue dot is me, waiting at the bottom.

Things to keep in mind:

• You can’t track the phone if it’s:
  
  • Off.
  • Out of cellular reception.
  • In Airplane Mode.
• You must have data enabled cellular plan to use live tracking. Make sure you sign up with a reliable provider. 500MB per month is more than enough if you restrict user internet access.  
• You can’t live track if Mobile Data is turned off, but you can still retrieve the device’s location via TXT message commands.
• You can’t get an accurate location if GPS is turned off.
• You should root the phone so you can remotely turn GPS and Mobile Data on if these were turned off while away from your reach.
• Get your child into the habit of verifying that the phone is charged. It’s no use dead.
• Invest in a solid protective case. You want this phone to stay intact even (especially) if your child is broken!

This setup is meant for active monitoring. It won’t let you know when something went wrong.
You need to be watching, and actively send a recording command if you suspect something might have gone wrong.

You can monitor on your phone’s screen using a web browser, but you have to be watching to be able to help in real time.

If you are interested in using the system and method described above, and want help setting it up, configuring and have it up and running asap, contact me and we can make it happen very quickly.
You can bring your own compatible device (basically any Android phone with minimum 2GB RAM and a Quad-core 2.5 GHz CPU, but ideally one of solid hardware, like the Samsung Galaxy S8), or I can help you source one out.

You will need to purchase a subscription for the CerberusApp (via www.cerberusapp.com) and if you want to restrict the child’s internet access and ability to tamper with the phone’s settings, also buy the AppLock app (via Google Play).

I will then set up the device and teach you how to make the best use of it.

Setup Pricing: 

• Complete setup – $250:
  
  • Rooting the device.
    

    • You will be able to remotely enable phone functions like GPS and Mobile Data if your child turned these off, which are essential for live tracking.

    • Remote actions (like recording video or audio) will be invisible to the phone user.

  • Setting up AppLock to only allow the usage of selected phone functions.
  • Setting up CerberusApp and configure for remote actions, low battery text alerts (to your selected number) and live tracking.
    
    
• Basic+ setup – $180
  
  • No rooting:
    
    • You won’t be able to remotely enable phone functions like GPS and Mobile Data if your child turned these off, which are essential for live tracking.
    • Some remote actions (like recording video or audio) will be visible to the phone user.
  • Setting up AppLock to only allow the usage of selected phone functions.
  • Setting up CerberusApp and configure for remote actions, low battery text alerts (to your selected number) and live tracking.
    
    
• Basic setup – $140
  

  • No rooting:

    • You won’t be able to remotely enable phone functions like GPS and Mobile Data if your child turned these off, which are essential for live tracking.

    • Some remote actions (like recording video or audio) will be visible to the phone user.

       

  • Setting up CerberusApp and configure for remote actions, low battery text alerts (to your selected number) and live tracking.

     

***** You will have to purchase the appropriate app license(s) relevant to your desired setup.

This is paid to the app developer (via Google Play or developer’s website) and is an additional cost.

Contact me for an appointment.

Cheers!

Tai