Recently, I was given the chance to review the AT&T FamilyMap program. This program allows you to locate any family member on your AT&T plan via their cell phone signal. As a mom to a teenager, this seemed like a great service to try.
I logged into the website, and signing up only took a few minutes. Bug was sitting in the living room with me, and quickly asked what the text message she received meant. I explained the idea of the program and the look on her face was priceless. After a brief discussion, she agreed that this could be a good tool.
Bug is about to begin driving, and has been testing her freedoms for the last several years. While she has never given us a reason to wonder where she has been, I'm sure there will be instances in the near future where she will. Perhaps she will be late coming home from a job, or an activity, or even a date. Logging in and locating her phone can provide us with a little peace of mind, as we'll be able to see where she is located.
The program has a lot of neat features. You can create a schedule to check on various family members regularly. Perhaps you want to know that your son or daughter is home before curfew? Or making it to school on time in the morning. You can schedule the program to automatically check their location at a certain time each day, or just certain days, and have a text message sent to your phone if they are not near the location you chose. You can name various locations and store them for use, and you can view a week's worth of history.
Luckily, I did not have to use this in an emergency situation during my review period, but it did provide me peace of mind knowing that I could if needed. Unfortunately, the telephone does have to be powered on. Phones not equipped with A-GPS and phones with A-GPS without a clear line of sight with a satellite will not provide as accurate of a result as those that do have those items. This meant that it showed my daughter at a house in our neighborhood, but not actually at our house, and still considered her at home. This might improve when she is upgraded to a new phone in the next couple of months.
Overall, I was impressed with this program. I will seriously consider signing up for it long-term as she begins to drive.
To learn more, and sign up and get your first 30 days free, check out att.com/familymap
Now comes the exciting part for me! I get to give away a $100 Visa Gift Card, compliments of AT&T. I'm so excited for my first real give away! To enter, leave me a comment below and tell me how you find your peace of mind or you may leave a link to your post on your own blog in the comments below. The contest will begin at 8/27/2009 and will end 9/20/2009. Make sure that the e-mail address you leave is correct.
Rules:
- No duplicate comments.
- You may receive an additional entry by linking on twitter and leaving a link in the comments.
- You may receive an additional entry by blogging about this contest and leaving a link in the comments.
- This giveaway is open to US-residents, aged 18 and older
- Winners will be selected via random draw, and will notified by e-mail.
- You have 48 hours to get back to me, otherwise a new winner will be selected.
- Go here for official rules.
Check out how the rest of the BlogHer Reviewers explored AT&T FamilyMap - you have 10 chances to win a $100 Visa gift card.
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