Vodafone releases phones with child-safe features

As another school year starts, Vodafone is aiming to help parents by offering smart devices which will allow children to explore the internet and enjoy their device safely and securely.

The Vodafone Smart N9 and Vodafone Smart N9 lite devices have a range of parental controls that will allow children to use their devices while staying safe online.

Vodafone consumer director Carolyn Luey explains the need for these capabilities in smart devices today.

"Keeping kids safe online is one of the most difficult tasks for parents these days. There are a lot of single-feature parental control apps out there, but there are very few solutions that are robust enough to cover the growing needs of parents in terms of online child safety.

 "In this day and age, children are digital natives and are able to access content on the internet. With the Vodafone Smart N9 range, we're giving parents the ability to do things like restrict access to certain apps and set time restrictions so that their children are safe," Luey says.

Along with the restriction capabilities, these devices also have a range of emergency and safety controls.

Children are able to share their location with parents or family members when travelling alone using the Google Maps location feature, and can even set up Emergency Mode which allows users to quickly contact friends or family members in emergency situations.

"Vodafone is about keeping Kiwis connected but we also want to give everyone peace of mind by ensuring the safety of our more vulnerable customers. These devices address the common concern of a child having access to inappropriate content," Luey says.

Vodafone Smart N9 and the Vodafone Smart N9 lite features include:

·         Application access control: Allows parents to restrict access to installed apps such as the apps store, games or the Internet

·         Device access control: Allows parents to completely disable access to the device for a specific time period each day (without restricting calls)

·         Force ring: Allows incoming calls from specified contacts to ring at full volume, even if the child's phone is on silent

·         Share My Journey: Allows the child to share their location with parents or family members when travelling alone, using the Google Maps location feature.

·         Emergency mode: Emergency distress messaging in times of need (e.g. SOS messages which can be sent to up to five pre-selected emergency contacts)