How does ChatAlert! work?

Once installed on your children's computer, ChatAlert! works in the background carefully analysing their online chat, instant messaging and web site activities; looking for phrases, slang and abbreviations that may indicate a potential threat to your children.

In particular, it seeks out conversations and activities that potentially breach the threat categories and levels you have set.

Unlike other applications that monitor for exact phrases or sentences, ChatAlert! uses a fuzzy logic approach by analysing a full conversation over a full session.

This ensures ChatAlert! is triggered by even the most subtle online predator or paedophile, without creating a multitude of false alerts. It also helps ensure ChatAlert! can understand a conversation even if it using new abbreviations or slang.

ChatAlert! dictionaries are being constantly updated to meet the changing phrases used online by children, and unfortunately, by online predators and paedophiles. Your dictionaries are constantly being updated automatically whenever your children's computer is connected to the internet. 12 months updates are included with ChatAlert!, with additional years being available through subscription.

If your children's activities breach the threat levels you have selected, three things occur:

• You will be immediately sent an alert via email and / or SMS text message to your mobile phone (depending on the selection you made during set up);
  
• the smiley face visual guide in the task bar (located near the clock) turns red, providing your child with an easy guide to their activities; and
  
• your child sees an animated character on-screen that tells them (using a computer generated voice) and shows them (through a text balloon) that an alert has been sent.

SMS text alerts (and your replies) are sent using a Premium SMS service. This service may incur fees over and above normal SMS text fees, but ensures that all alerts and responses are delivered speedily. Some corporations and telecommunications companies do disable Premium SMS services, if in doubt, please check with your mobile phone provider.

When you receive an alert, you will be invited to respond by replying to the message with A, B or C to:

• Alert or warn your child on-screen. Your child will see the animated character advising them of the default or personalised warning message. This is spoken (using a computer generated voice) and displayed in a text balloon in the middle of their computer screen on top of all other applications.
  
• Break the conversation. ChatAlert! will break the conversation by closing the offending software - whether that be a chat program, instant messaging program or web browser.
  
• Close the computer. ChatAlert! will automatically close the computer down.

If you are unable to reply to an alert, ChatAlert! will automatically respond for you. By default, if you do not reply within 5 minutes, ChatAlert! will perform option A - Alert the child. You can change this to B or C, and can change the time frame ChatAlert! waits for your reply in the Control Center.

Using ChatAlert! helps parents better protect their children from online predators and paedophiles in real time - 24 hours day, 365 days a year. It enables parents to take control of the actions enforced, adjust the levels of threat analysis and to customise the messages provided to children to ensure they are relevant and appropriate.

Additionally, through the innovative use of on-screen visual and audio alerts, ChatAlert! helps educate your children as to what you believe is acceptable online behaviour.