WebWatcher 2011 Review
WebWatcher 2011 Review
WebWatcher 2011 Review
WebWatcher is the number one product in this category. Features that propel this application past the number two and number three ranked products include robust content filtering, website blocking, advanced reporting features and remote management of the monitored computer. Please see below for a full discussion of the parental software's features.
Awareness Technologies, a Los Angeles-based company, has been in the software development market since 1996. WebWatcher is one of the company's premiere products. Many consider the application as the Gold Standard for monitoring software.
Installation & Management:
After the purchase of WebWatcher, Awareness Technologies sends the customer an email that contains an embedded link and login password for accessing the software's website-based user interface. The interface is well-organized. Navigational links assist the parent in locating the software download area, recorded data, favorites and more.
After successful login and download, the installation of WebWatcher is simple and fast. Parents must agree to the software's terms of service. These terms explicitly state that the software may only be installed on a computer they own. Further, the parent must notify any person who uses the PC of the software's presence on the machine. The violation of this agreement voids the company's contract with the customer.
Subsequent to the installation process, the application runs in stealth mode and is invisible to all users of the monitored PC. The app doesn't show up in the Windows Task Manager, System Tray, Add/Remove Programs or the Process List. The software covertly performs its function with virtually no drain on other vital system resources or internet bandwidth.
Removal of the app occurs by the entering of a series of hotkeys and providing an administrative password.
Customization:
The parental software comes equipped with numerous customization options. In Basic Mode, predefined settings monitor all users of the computer. The application's Advanced Mode allows parents to assign different recording options to children of varying ages, computer abilities and more.
Additionally, parents can specify keywords, blocked sites, allowed sites and configure a variety of other settings to their personal preferences.
Recording Capabilities:
The parental software can capture sent and received user emails. Supported email clients include Outlook and Outlook Express. The app also captures web-based email exchanges sent through Gmail, Hotmail, Yahoo and others. In addition to these recording capabilities, the software logs both sides of instant message and chat conversations.
The app's Alert Word system may help alleviate the fears of some parents. After the parent designates words of concern or interest, the software actively scans all communications seeking the specified alert words.
Upon discovery of an alert word, WebWatcher's Smart Camera tool takes a screenshot of the communication in question and generates an email notifying the parent of a potential problem. The Smart Camera tool shows everything a child views on their computer screen. The app saves the images in chronological order.
Each purchase of the parental software entitles the customer to one thousand complimentary screenshots. For some, this is a disappointing feature of the application. To obtain more screenshots, parents must pay an extra $17.00. The amount entitles them to an additional block of ten thousand images.
WebWatcher's advanced keylogger records every keyboard stroke a child makes. It comes equipped with the ability to format the strokes into a readable format. This formatting includes the removal of backspaces and deletes. The feature captures spaces, backspaces and alphanumeric keyboard strokes.
Parents can view every website a child visits with the application's website recording feature. The application lists the website address, the number of times a child accessed the site, the time of visit and the length of the visit. This feature is handy for parents who are concerned about a child's activity on Social Networking sites such as Twitter, MySpace, Facebook, blogging websites and others.
The software captures all words and phrases used to perform online searches. Should a search contain an alert word, the application displays a blank page rather than the desired search results.
The software also records all incidents of user-launched applications. Parents can view reports of the most frequently accessed computer application as well as the length of time the child used the app.
Filtering & Blocking:
WebWatcher has unmatched blocking and filtering capabilities. Parents can block websites by address or actual page content. The application filters content on the fly. It proactively scans search terms and website content for appropriateness based on parents' designated alert words or undesirable content categories. In addition to blocking by address or content, parents can elect to allow browsing of designated websites only.
Parents can prevent children from launching particular applications. Category-based blocking allows a parent to specify a group of applications such as web browsers, chat and instant messaging clients, and email software for blocking. Alternately, parents can implement blocking by using the application's given name.
Reporting:
WebWatcher implements remote reporting. Parents can view the collected data via any internet-connected computer. The manufacturer's reporting interface is easy to navigate and well-designed. Even computer beginners will have no difficulty locating the gathered information. The gathered information is easy to read and reflects the software's reliability as a monitoring application.
The software sorts the information in chronological order and by application type. The Alert Word system flags all data that contains the designated words or phrases.
Unfortunately, accessing the manufacturer website is the only method of reporting the application has. Viewing the reports from the hard drive of the monitored computer is not possible. The app does send out email alerts, but the information included in the report is limited to a specific keyword incident. Perhaps in the future, the manufacturer will implement a multi-tiered reporting method.
The manufacturer saves all captured information on their website for 14 days. However, if a parent desires to save the data longer, they must pay for long-term storage. The costs associated with this storage starts at $4.95/mo per 50-megabyte block.
Licensing/Support:
If requested from the manufacturer, a trial version of the parental software is available. Each purchase of the application licenses the software for installation on one computer. Customers are eligible for free live-chat tech support on a first-come-first-serve basis. VIP support is available for an additional cost of $29.93 a year.
Standard live-chat tech support requests received timely responses. However, some responses appeared to contain canned answers. Additionally, redirects to watch a video were common responses to several questions.
The website hosts a searchable knowledge base and a FAQs area.
Upgrades are not included in the purchase price. Upon checkout, customers are strongly encouraged to purchase the upgrade package for an additional $29.95. This price entitles the customer to new version releases of the software that occur for one year after their initial purchase. At the end of the year, customers are eligible to re-purchase the product for a 50% discount.
If the customer chooses to forgo the upgrade offer, the manufacturer claims that the purchased version will work for one year. However, this statement comes with a caveat. Although the manufacturer will continue to support the purchased version, changes in popular applications such as Facebook, instant messaging applications and others, could render the purchased version obsolete.
A number of customers have completed online evaluations of the software. Several customers indicate that they purchased a version of the software only to find that it no longer worked just a few weeks after their purchase. Upon contacting tech support with their concerns, representatives told them that they must pay to upgrade the software if they desire to retain the product's full functionality. Clearly, some are not content with the manufacturer's method of conducting business.
Operating System
Windows 2000
Windows XP
Window Vista
Windows 7
Summary:
WebWatcher is a robust, well-equipped parental control application. However, some customers feel that the additional costs the manufacturer tacks on for extra storage space, screenshots, upgrade protection and customer support inflates the product's price and places its cost-efficiency into question.
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