Axcess Family Finder features easy-to-use interactive maps to monitor or guide family members to specific locations…The Axcess Family Finder Web site also supports added security measures with Scheduled Checks which allows parents to register specific locations to be tracked during certain times. GPS technology is used to locate the child’s phone, and the parents’ phones can receive a text message automatically notifying them of the child’s location.

84 percent of respondents expressed interest in “child locator” services that would show a detailed route to where their child is currently, and 47 percent expressed interest in “friend locator” services.

A healthy willingness for subscribers to pay for such services: Approximately 74 percent of respondents with a minor child indicated an acceptance of monthly fees for “child locator” offerings, and nearly 40 percent of respondents indicated wiliness to pay for “friend locator” offerings. Of note, respondents expressed heightened interest for such offerings if provided via ad-sponsored models.

GPS Business News points out the great discrepancy between what people say and what they do, noting that the adoption rate for child tracking services is very low, despite the availability of such offerings.

The monthly service plan is unlimited. By unlimited we mean that the Evolution device can report a position at a frequency as low as every 3 minutes while the ignition is ON. Furthermore, the customer has the option to do a manual “Locate Now,” allowing the customer to keep track of the vehicle even when the ignition is OFF.

If truly unlimited, this could be a good deal, as many GPS tracking firms charge according to how many times you check on a vehicle’s location.

SkyPatrol installation costs $79.99. According to the company,

Regarding the installation cost, at $299.99 the installation is extra. We include in the packaging an InstallerNet card but the consumer will need to activate the card with InstallerNet and pay $79.99 for the installation. If the customer purchases the Evolution device from our website (www.myskypatrol.com) and pays $399.99, the installation is included.

According to its survey, 44% of parents want to tag their children with GPS tracking devices while almost 60% would be pay for GPS devices that are incorporated into the school uniform.

Interestingly, 39% of kids from 9-12 years old want to be tagged, saying they feel safer if their parents know where they are. Unsurprisingly, kids aged over 13 were less keen on Mom and Pop knowing their whereabouts.

Totally unsurprising to me, considering that there are Brits that want to inject their kids with a GPS tracking chip, and that commenters here overwhelmingly favor it.

Teensurance is available beginning today at an introductory rate of $14.99 per month, which is guaranteed for two years. Safeco is citing a normal rate of $29.99 per month. Installation and emergency roadside assistance is included. Further costs are likely to be incurred with Safety Beacon alerts:

Teensurance subscribers purchase and spend “credits” to enable and receive Safety Beacon™ notifications. For example, you spend one credit each time:

• Safety Beacon™ notifies you about an event, such as your vehicle exceeding a speed threshhold or reaching a destination.
• You request information from Safety Beacon™—such as your vehicle’s location—from a phone or your account at teensurance.com.
• You configure a Safety Beacon feature or turn a feature on or off.

You receive 100 free starter credits when you buy Teensurance. Additional credits must be purchased through your online account. A block of 100 credits costs $29.99.

Other features include stolen vehicle retrieval support and remote door unlock.

Surprisingly, and to their credit, Safeco says they will not use collected individual data, stating that “individuals’ driving data (speed and location notifications) will be available only to parents and teens.”

This is a simple and easy to understand nationwide program; I expect it will prove quite popular.

Scheduled to become available beginning in September 2007, AmberWatch Mobile’s services will include text-message, voice, web and email alerting systems that provide:

• Alerts: Individuals will be able to send alerts, which include their GPS location, to family and friends to indicate that they need assistance.
• Location Views: Select family and friends who will be able to view a loved one’s location on a map from a PC or mobile phone.
• Scheduled Checks: Parents will be able to set up “scheduled checks” so they will be automatically notified that their children are where they should be, like arriving at home from school.
• Phone Tree: When a loved one feels threatened and sends an alert, if their primary contact is not reachable, the system will continue to be active until a secondary contact is reached.


Approximately half of the proceeds from product sales go to the Foundation in support of its programs educating children and their parents on how to stay safe from sexual predators.


]]> http://gpstrackingsystems.biz/amberwatch-mobile-gps-tracking-service/49/feed/ 3 http://gpstrackingsystems.biz/inject-your-kids-with-a-gps-tracking-chip/44/ http://gpstrackingsystems.biz/inject-your-kids-with-a-gps-tracking-chip/44/#comments Wed, 16 May 2007 16:03:39 +0000 Rich http://gpstrackingsystems.biz/inject-your-kids-with-a-gps-tracking-chip/44/ It’s good that there is no such thing as a subcutaneous GPS tracking chip, because some crazy Brits would inject them into the country’s kids! Geez, and I already thought that kid-tracking cell phones might be a bit overboard. The scary thing is that someday we might actually have subcutaneous trackers.




]]> http://gpstrackingsystems.biz/inject-your-kids-with-a-gps-tracking-chip/44/feed/ 84 http://gpstrackingsystems.biz/maryland-bill-proposes-gps-tracking-of-truant-students/27/ http://gpstrackingsystems.biz/maryland-bill-proposes-gps-tracking-of-truant-students/27/#comments Tue, 13 Feb 2007 04:01:09 +0000 Rich http://gpstrackingsystems.biz/maryland-bill-proposes-gps-tracking-of-truant-students/27/ Wow. I’m a fan of GPS tracking, but maybe this is going too far. A legislator in Maryland has proposed GPS monitoring for truant students — repeat offenders anyway.

Maryland Delegate Doyle Niemann (D-Prince George’s Co.) says it’s not enough to simply hold parents accountable when their children don’t show up for school.

“They’re not in control of their children. They take them to school, the kid walks in the front door and then out the back door. It doesn’t make any sense to continue to beat on the parents,” he says.

Meanwhile, Japan is going gaga over GPS tracking of kiddies — to the tune of $212 million. Via Digg.

]]> http://gpstrackingsystems.biz/maryland-bill-proposes-gps-tracking-of-truant-students/27/feed/ 0 http://gpstrackingsystems.biz/gps-tracking-of-school-buses/16/ http://gpstrackingsystems.biz/gps-tracking-of-school-buses/16/#comments Fri, 08 Dec 2006 23:59:41 +0000 Rich http://gpstrackingsystems.biz/gps-tracking-of-school-buses/16/ WXIA-TV in Atlanta reports on GPS tracking of school buses. The tracking, done via Sprint Nextel cell phones, has seen costs plummet recently:

“This technology was something that used to be 1500-2000 dollars per bus and that information was not real time,” reveals Robert Lacey, Sprint/Nextel education account manager.

“With technology it brings it down to anywhere from $200 to $300 dollars per bus for the hardware. And, $1.00 to $1.50 a day for service fee.

Technorati tags: GPS tracking GPS tracking of school buses

]]> http://gpstrackingsystems.biz/gps-tracking-of-school-buses/16/feed/ 0 http://gpstrackingsystems.biz/gps-tracking-teens-by-cellphone/5/ http://gpstrackingsystems.biz/gps-tracking-teens-by-cellphone/5/#comments Sun, 10 Sep 2006 22:04:31 +0000 Rich http://gpstrackingsystems.biz/gps-tracking-teens-by-cellphone/5/ Here’s an article in the Lawrence Journal-World about GPS tracking of teens by cellphone. The article begins:

Nat Caron, like more than half of today’s teens, carries a cell phone.

The 15-year-old keeps a tiny, silver phone in his pocket to keep in touch with friends. But he’d gladly give up the device if he knew his parents could use it to track where he was at every second.

“That’s creepy,” he says. “We should have freedom.”

With Global Positioning System technology booming around the world, several cell phone companies have begun offering services that allow parents to locate their children’s cell phone locations through their own cell phones or by logging onto a Web site.

Depending on who you are, the technology might be a safety feature and way to keep your family connected, or an invasion of privacy designed to control children.

Technorati tagsGPS tracking, GPS tracking teens

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