Instant Messaging

richard.kuhlenschmidt@famundo.com (Richard Kuhlenschmidt) — Wed, 15 Mar 2006 08:03:00 -0500

Instant messaging, along with text messaging, has become one of the social communication modes of choice for a large number of today’s teens and pre-teens. While banning it entirely may be impractical, if not impossible, it is important for your child to understand its proper use and etiquette as specified by your family or school rules, and that abuse of these rules may result in the restriction if not banishment of its use.

How to monitor its use is an ongoing dilemma. Some instant messaging services do have archiving features but others, including one of the most popular, AIM, do not (at least as far as I have been able to discover).

One solution I found is a product called IMbrella ChatChecker Pro. Priced at $49.99, ChatChecker installs on YOUR PC and lets you remotely monitor, block or record instant messaging on 2 other PC’s in your home or small office. No one will know how their IM is being checked and it will never stop working until you shut it off!

IMbrella ChatChecker will allow parents to: â€¢ Check up to 3 PCs (including the PC it’s installed on)

â€¢ Record or block all AOL, MSN, Yahoo, Trillian and ICQ conversations

â€¢ Set up special time windows for permitted IM use

â€¢ Discover inappropriate or sexual content

â€¢ Search messages by keyword and date

â€¢ See live messages as they occur in real time

â€¢ Block harmful viruses hidden in IM file transfers

â€¢ Reveal both sides Instant Messages

â€¢ Save conversations for 30 days

If there are any other solutions that anyone knows of, please let us know.

The Famundo Blog: Instant Messaging

Instant Messaging