Sprint today launched Safe & Found, a feature-rich family services app, designed to give parents the ability to view their child’s smartphone location – to help make sure children are safe and to provide greater control over internet browsing and app usage.
The Service
Safe & Found – powered by Smith Micro Software’s SafePath Platform – provides the following safety and control features:
- Real-time location: Locate your family1 on your smartphone in real time.
- Geo-fencing: Create safety areas like home, school or work for family members and receive alerts when they enter or leave those areas.
- Notifications: Receive alerts when family members arrive at a destination or leave safety areas.
- SOS button: Send an emergency alert with your location to all family members.
- Parental controls: Restrict calls to trusted numbers; make sure installed apps are appropriate for the child’s age and regulate usage to specific times of day.
- Phone security: Find, lock and wipe any family phone if lost or stolen.
- Content protection: Filter out inappropriate web content and block certain apps from children’s phones.
Safe & Found is the latest example of Sprint’s commitment to help families stay connected and safe. We’ve long been a leader in offering family-focused apps that help parents stay in touch with their children and monitor their phone usage. Safe & Found combines these multiple services into one simple platform.
Testimonials
I wanted to hear first-hand from parents. How do they use this service? Did it really provide extra reassurance? Because the service was still in beta and being trialed – I spoke with a user from Sprint and one from Smith Micro.
Dad Tries Safe & Found
We provided Jaro Drela from Sprint, a free trial of the Safe & Found service. Jaro tried the service with his 11-year-old son. Thanks to Safe & Found, Jaro was able to create safety areas for school, a nearby park, and home. Because of the “safety area” designation, Jaro and his wife received notifications when their son entered or left these areas.
Jaro also set up the parental control features on their son’s smartphone and tablet to limit exposure to inappropriate content and restrict his access to pre-approved apps and games only. Jaro found it reassuring to check his son’s location in real time and that his son knew how to use the SOS button.
Mom Finds Comfort in New Service
Kelly Clay-Slack from Smith Micro (the company that developed Safe & Found), also received a free trial of the service from Sprint, and, with her daughter’s permission, used it while her daughter2 was studying abroad in France.
Kelly used the “Locate Now"3 function to find her daughter’s location and traveled along using the interactive map. Additionally, Kelly created a safety area for the French campus and received alerts whenever her daughter left and returned.
“With everything happening in the world today, this is a way for parents to stay connected to their kids, whether they’re 3,000 miles away traveling abroad or two miles down the street at school. Providing a tool that helps parents stay in touch, create safety plans, restrict numbers from unknown and potentially dangerous sources, and filter and block inappropriate apps is very reassuring.” –Kelly Clay-Slack
I asked Kelly how her daughter felt about being monitored by Mom (remembering my own somewhat crazy college days and my adventures as an exchange student). She said that her daughter felt more secure knowing family was watching over her from over 3,000 miles away and could alert them with a single tap of her phone. Hey, it REALLY is a different world from when I was in college!
Pricing
Safe and Found is available to iOS and Android customers for $6.99 per month.4 We are offering a free 15-day trial of Safe & Found to all new subscribers.5
Check out the following website for more details on how Safe & Found can give you peace of mind for your family members.
https://safeandfound.sprint.com/
1 All users will need to have application installed on compatible device which includes IOS, Android.
2 Terms and conditions are within the app in order for individuals to accept to this service.
3 International coverage is included with the app.
4 Limited time offer. Requires compatible smartphone devices and active subscription. Features may req. add’l. plans/fees. Restrictions apply. Offer/coverage not avail. everywhere. Network and GPS reliability vary by environment. Parent smartphone must have an internet connection to locate a connected smartphone. Subject to service terms and conditions, located at https://safeandsound.sprint.com. See website for details and FAQs. ©2017 Sprint. All rights reserved. Sprint and the logo are trademarks of Sprint. Other marks are the property of their respective owners.
5 Limited time offer, every new customer gets 15-Day Free trial. Customers receive SMS during trial with links to cancel.