Phones for the safety of children and the peace of their parents: an overview of the new bb-mobile
In this article I will talk about curious mobile phones to ensure the safety of children and, as a result, the peace of parents. The bb-mobile phones “GPS Beacon II” and the bb-mobile “Firefly” are called. It is worth emphasizing that in addition to bb-mobile, almost no one is engaged in such devices. Individual companies at one time or another released one or two of these children's mobile phones, and that was all. Meanwhile, bb-mobile has been relentlessly releasing children's mobile phones with security features since 2007. During this time, more than 10 models have been created.
Tell me why such tubes are needed at all? Well, it’s obvious that you have children, though not everyone. No - it means that someday they will surely appear. And in general - we will all be there, as they say :-). Even if the parents have iPhones, then giving such a technique to a child of “kindergarten” and primary school age is at least unreasonable.
I had a personal experience. A 4-year-old child in the middle of the day, while walking with two adults, suddenly fell out of bed, ran away and hid. And, of course, lost. In half an hour, parents twice ran the entire street, questioned each passerby, raised the police to their ears ... But in the end it turned out that the baby ran across the road with busy traffic and sat down on the bench to cry. Compassionate people saw our sobbing child, and went to look for parents ... and only after 40 minutes of general hysteria the family reunited. As you know, it was very lucky that everything ended well - there are a thousand terrible scenarios that could happen. And all these horrors flashed before the eyes of the parents, while they scrambled back and forth in search of panic.
But the presence of such a phone in a child could instantly solve the problem. Phoning, understanding where the baby is now and finding him soon - such an opportunity would save parents from deep shock. Now the daughter is already going to first grade, and the question “Should she buy a phone?” Is not even worth it - of course, yes!
Say, this is stupid, because the child at school is supervised, he gets home with his parents? Well, this is which side to look at. I want to be calm for the baby one hundred percent. And so that she could contact her relatives if, for example, she would be rudely treated with her. So, our child has been perfectly managing mother’s and father’s iPhones since the age of one, watching YouTube, installing games, launching, performing any actions in them, but he doesn’t know how to call and poorly understands how to do this, gets confused, presses the wrong way. They tried to offer the child a simple dialer for a thousand rubles - the same story, only more confusion with a bunch of buttons. It’s going to call the wrong way, it’ll send an SMS to some number, and once for 100 rubles, instead of beeps, it sets Stas Mikhailov's hit ...
As a result, we settled on the bb-mobile "Firefly" - this is the simplest option that is easy to learn. Our child is calm and diligent, so there is no special need to control him: the daughter will not run away from the garden (and later from school). But for more active kids, bb-mobile also has an option: a different phone would suit such a child, namely GPS Beacon II with a larger screen and GPS monitoring option.
As mentioned above, the Business Bureau company, which owns the bb-mobile brand, has been dealing with children's phones since 2007. Such bb-mobile devices are not just mobile phones in the form of toys or cartoon characters. The devices are designed for use by the smallest children and, among other things, are equipped with SOS keys, have the function of audio monitoring of the situation around the child and receive calls only from certain (given by parents) numbers.
Another important point is that the radiation level of bb-mobile handsets is two times lower than that of conventional phones.
The SAR coefficient for bb-mobile models is 0.568 kg / w. Such a solution reduces the harmful effects of cellular communications on the emerging children's body. At the same time, the reduced level of radiation, according to the results of our operation, did not affect the reception quality of the cellular network signal.
In general, bb-mobile “Firefly” and “GPS Beacon II” are not just “cute” phones that can cause a surge of joy in children with their very appearance. These are phones to ensure absolute peace of mind for parents and the safety of children. Once again, to consolidate: the essence of these devices is not only and not so much in cool design as in the filling (about it below).
There are practically no such children's phones on the market with advanced security features. bb-mobile is the main player in this segment in Russia. From time to time, cellular operators try to produce devices of this type, but the results of their attempts do not become widespread. LG had something similar, but the Korean manufacturer turned this topic away. Meanwhile, bb-mobile since 2007 has released more than a dozen phones that guard the security of the younger generation. Among them, for example, are the bb-mobile Baby Bear models (by the way, it is still relevant and sold), Guard, “GPS Beacon” and “Bug”, which offer various “tricks” for tracking the location of the child.
bb-mobile “Bug”, Baby Bear, Guard and “GPS Beacon”
Now the time has come for GPS Beacon II and Firefly. I will tell you more about them below.
Immediately it is worth noting that, despite the visually different menus, in fact the set of functions, the sequence of actions, and even the buttons are the same for the “Firefly” and “GPS Beacon II” models. The only difference is that GPS Beacon II has a couple of GPS-based features and an audio player. Plus, the menu navigation buttons are located not on the side, as in Firefly, but among the keys on the front panel.
Of course, to use the phones you will need a SIM card, namely mini-SIM. It is important to know that you must disable PIN entry for the card in advance. Support is also required in the selected tariff plan for data transfer via GPRS.
To turn on the device, hold the button with the image of the red handset for a few seconds. By default, the mobile phone is turned on in the so-called parent mode, where all settings are made. “Child mode” and “parent mode” on the phones are significantly different. For adults, for example, more menu items are available - settings, call log, sound profiles, etc. When “child mode” is on, a yellow emoticon is displayed on the screen.
Use the up / down buttons to move through the menu to the "Security" item. Enter the password 1234 and get into the list of three items:
First of all, we are interested in the first point. We press the SOS button (analogue “Enter” when navigating the menu) and we see that we have to specify the parents' phones. There are exactly two numbers available - “Parent 1” and “Parent 2”. It is not necessary to fill in both options, just enter one number.
SMS confirmation that came to the parent phone
Then in the settings we select the phone book. Here we “hammer” 4 main numbers into the phone (these are the “main” numbers, and you can enter up to 50 numbers in total.) That is, we add to the address book all the numbers from which your child can receive calls - and which they can call. Each number, in the order in the list, is assigned to auto-dial to the buttons of the phone 1, 2, 3, and 4. Keep in mind that calls from all other numbers will not be received, the phone will automatically reset them. And this is great - the child is safe, he will not get through to malefactors, or the ubiquitous telephone "questionnaires". The same applies to SMS: devices simply do not display messages from unfamiliar numbers.
On this setting, "Firefly" ends. For GPS Beacon II, you need to perform a few more actions: activate data transfer via GPRS and start GPS. Both tasks are extremely simple, you only need to send two SMS to the child’s phone number with the text “## 12 #:” and “## 09 #:”, respectively. Carefully read the instructions: 4 out of 5 users did not immediately guess that there should be a colon at the end of each command.
I also recommend setting a password to turn off the phone - then the child will not be able to be "inaccessible", accidentally or intentionally.
If your child goes to school, then use the option "In the lesson." You can inform the phone about the class schedule, specify the days off, and at the right time it will automatically switch to silent mode. It’s convenient, considering that parent-child phones are ringing very loudly!
Writing texts on the telephone keypads is not provided, but it is possible to select several templates for sending ready-made SMS and even enter one of its own 1 pattern in the case of “Firefly” and 4 patterns in the case of “GPS Beacon II”.
We will deal with the main thing - exactly how the bb-mobile GPS Beacon II and Firefly will allow you to quickly find a child if the child is lost, say, in a crowded crowd at a holiday. Generalized phone tools come down to the following list:
SOS button. If the child unlocks the phone (you must first press the “call” button, then “reset”) and hold the SOS-key for several seconds, then the emergency communication and SMS sending mode is activated. In this case, the bb-mobile “GPS Beacon II” and “Firefly” “look” at the phone book and begin to ring 4 main numbers, starting from the first.
The phone found the first number and immediately activates a voice call to it.
Further, two scenarios are possible. Or the subscriber on the other end of the wire picks up the phone and a conversation occurs. Or for some reason they don’t pick up the phone. As soon as the phone accepting the call, after 30-40 seconds, automatically drops the incoming call, bb-mobile, GPS Beacon II or Firefly sends an SMS to this number with the text “Emergency! Please, call!".
After that, a voice call to the next main number in the phone book immediately starts (of all the main numbers, I remind you, you can “score” 4 pieces).
Advantages of the method - in fact, the child will only have to remember that you need to press and hold one button, which will help parents find the child as soon as possible. The regime insures in the best way parents who (you never know) could, for example, leave their phones in the car. In this case, other subscribers from the “four” basic numbers will come to the aid of the child — it could be, say, grandfather and grandmother.
Minus - in a stressful situation, a child can completely forget about the existence of a phone. Also, ideally, I would still like the SOS mode to be activated with a long press, even if the phone is not unlocked.
Audio monitoring. This is an opportunity to hear what is happening next to the child, and an attempt to find out where he is. Or hear with whom and what he is talking about.
To activate audio monitoring from the parent phone, which is initially “tied” to the bb-mobile settings “GPS Beacon II” or “Firefly”, you need to send an SMS with the text “## 07 #:”.
In just a few seconds, a voice call from the “GPS Beacon II” will begin to arrive on the parent devices. It is noteworthy that at the same time, the bb-mobile children's phone will in no way give out its activity - no vibration, the screen is still turned off. If the parent picks up the phone, he will be able to hear sounds near the child's phone.
This “spy” behavior of the phone is justified by the fact that in this way the battery is saved as much as possible, and depending on the situation, parents are able to conduct audio monitoring for as long as possible.
In order to use the option, you must remotely enable GPS in the bb-mobile "GPS" Lighthouse II ". We send an SMS with the text “## 09 #:” from the parent phone and immediately receive confirmation of activation. After that, satellite tracking of the phone will always be active.
So - the child is lost, and we need to find out the exact coordinates of his stay. We send an SMS with the text “## 11 #:” to bb-mobile “GPS Beacon II”.
In response, we receive an SMS with a link to Google maps. Click - and in the browser on your smartphone the corresponding service is launched, where the location of the child is displayed. A message can be of two types:
“General location: coordinates”. This means that the coordinates are formed according to the data of the stations of the cellular network. Such information has a smaller error than information from satellites.
“Precisely Location: coordinates” - here the link is formed on the basis of only satellite data and, as stated in the instructions, “has high accuracy”.
Positioning - access from your personal account on the site en.coomix.net. This method is more suitable for tracking the monitoring of a child from a computer. It’s so convenient to find out if the child is going home from school straight away or walking somewhere. In relation to our situation with the loss of a child on the street - you have a negative balance and you can’t send SMS. But you can connect to free Wi-Fi and use the Internet.
We open the browser, it does not matter on which device - laptop, computer, tablet or smartphone. Go to en.coomix.net. In the login column, enter the phone’s IMEI (written on the box or under the phone’s battery), enter 666666 in the “password” field.
In the dialog that appears, we will immediately see the card. If the phone is turned on, immediately display in real time immediately displays the current location. If not, the bb-mobile phone will be turned off - the coordinates of the point where the last signal came from. Additionally, the exact address and battery level of the phone are reported in text.
If you go to the View History tab, you can see the history of movements. child with bb-mobile "GPS Beacon II" in your pocket (well, or in your hand).
Finally, a few words about a very useful feature called “ Theft Protection". With it, the phone sends SMS to parents if the SIM card has been replaced in the device. Agree, a simple and extremely effective way to find out about the fate of the missing device.
We have already considered some of the possibilities for remote control of bb-mobile “Firefly” and “GPS Beacon II”. The following remote requests are also available on devices:
With the most important sorted out, it is time to talk more about the package and the appearance of the phones. Both phones have boxes with a cheerful design. The devices come with a charger, a USB cable, a manual, a guarantee, a lace around the neck, reflective stickers (can be used on the phone itself, on clothes, a school backpack - they will allow motorists to see the child in the dark), a small screwdriver and a screw. The "Firefly" is additionally equipped with reflective stickers (can be used on the phone itself, on clothes, a school backpack - these accessories will allow motorists to see the child in the dark).
Screwdrivers and cogs are needed in order to open the phone case without the knowledge of the parents was as difficult as possible. And this is also an important trifle - a child can try to disassemble the phone out of curiosity, or simply drop it, and when screwed on, the back cover will no longer bounce. And if the mobile phone, God forbid, is stolen, it will be quite difficult to get the SIM card out of it while the thief is on the move.
Telephones are made in classic colors for boys and girls - for each model there are blue and pink options. bb-mobile “Firefly” is compact, the size of a key fob alarm from a car, bb-mobile “GPS Beacon II” is a bit larger. In any case, both are convenient for tiny children's pens and almost weightless.
bb-mobile “Firefly” has nice “ears” and a wider case at the bottom, children compare it to a teddy bear. Between the ears - eyelet for the strap.
bb-mobile “Firefly”
On the right side of the handset are two large silver keys. It is designed not only to adjust the volume, but also to navigate through the menu.
bb-mobile "Firefly"
Microphones and connectors for charging / cable for both models - at the bottom.
bb-mobile "Firefly"
The bb-mobile “GPS Beacon II” there (at the bottom) has a hole for a screwdriver, while the “Firefly” has it on the rear panel.
bb-mobile “Firefly”
Please note that the older model supports the microUSB standard, and the youngest - the outdated miniUSB. In case of loss of the complete cable, you will have to look for a new one.
bb-mobile “Beacon II”
Another of the differences is that for Svetlyachka bb-mobile “Svetlyachka” the speaker is also used to play a ringtone, “GPS Beacon II” has a separate multimedia speaker on the rear panel. And next to it is an opening “eye” for the strap. The sound volume of both phones is high, the sound quality is not the best (especially for “Firefly”), but this is not critical. The sound is loud - this is really important.
bb-mobile “Beacon II”
Having removed the back panels of the tubes, you will see slots for SIM. In the case of bb-mobile “GPS Beacon II” there is also a slot for a microSD memory card - the phone supports MP3 playback.
The front panels of the phones also differ, but slightly. The older model has a larger screen (1.75 inches, 128x160 pixels), while the younger model has an optional role (1 inch, 128x64). In the end, this type of phone is designed solely for communication with parents, they need displays more for ease of setup. The screens are not bad in quality, they have decent viewing angles, bright, readable under the sun. Especially the “Firefly” monochrome display.
Both models have large reception and end call keys and 4 buttons (clear strokes, comfortable lighting, large designations), on which you can hang up the necessary numbers - mothers, fathers, grandparents, for example. There are SOS keys for emergency calling. The bb-mobile GPS Beacon II also has up and down buttons to navigate through the menu. In our opinion, the younger model is more suitable for young children - from 3-4 years old, it is smaller, the keyboard is simpler.
The weight of both handsets is so small that it is hard to believe that these are real phones - they look too much like toys.
Children's phone, of course, should be "tenacious". The junior model bb-mobile "Firefly" is equipped with a lithium-ion battery with a capacity of 600 mAh. Yes, this is ridiculous by smartphone standards, but you need to understand that this handset will be used for short calls and sometimes SMS - that's all! There is nothing to “eat” a battery in it, even a microscopic screen. During our test (every day sending and receiving 5 SMS and 15-20 minutes of calls), “Firefly” worked for 4-5 days.
bb-mobile “GPS Beacon II” due to the availability of the GPS monitoring option has a more capacious battery - 1,000 mAh. If you use it as a tracker, then the charge will last for a maximum day (20-24 hours). Therefore, if you do not need the option of monitoring the position of the child, it is better to turn off the GPS for this time (can be done via SMS). If GPS is not used, the handset will last up to 7 days from a single charge.
Both models are charged for an hour and a half.
Bb-mobile turned out to be excellent phones for parents who want to protect their child in the best way and know where the offspring is located at any given time, and what happens to him. bb-mobile “GPS Beacon II” costs 4,490 rubles, “Firefly” costs 3,390. And it’s not expensive, because the nerves saved on a quick search for a child lost or delayed from school are priceless. I emphasize that the bb-mobile "GPS Beacon II" and "Firefly" are phones not only for children, but for parents. In fact, all that young mobile users need to know is how to unlock the phone, and which button is used to quickly dial the number of mom, dad, or another relative. Therefore, the assessment of the interface, appearance or convenience of the menu seems secondary to us - phones “cheer” cope with their main tasks, and this is important.
Both models are quite a comprehensive security system for monitoring and communicating with a child. To summarize the capabilities of the models:
In case of bb-mobile "GPS" Beacon II "I will add:
As a common strong feature of both models, I note once again the low radiation level - one and a half times lower compared to conventional modern smartphones.
Of course, if we consider only the technical equipment of the phones, the price tag is not very low. But few will argue - for special categories of users need special means of communication. Perhaps the question "Does the child need a phone" should not even be at all. Times are different now, and it is better to use modern security capabilities to the maximum. Yes, you can give your old grandmother or child the usual “dialer”, but it’s much better when the device is thought out and created specifically for these categories of users, and it’s not a pity to pay a little extra.
Suppose, instead of the bb-mobile “GPS Beacon II”, you can take the cheapest “google phone” and install some kind of GPS monitoring software on it and give it to the child. And even if you do not take into account that the baby is unlikely to understand the interface, there are other problems - the child may drop the handset and it will fall apart, but it will not be able to assemble. Or he will remove the back panel out of curiosity. Or accidentally turn off the phone. Either he gets into the settings and deactivates tracking or changes the contacts in the address book, but you never know what. Plus, a “google phone” is still a full-fledged handset in the sense that you can put toys on it, upload videos, surf the Internet, and do you want your child to “hang” on the phone instead of studying or playing with peers?
It’s also important that tube-toys from bb-mobile are unlikely to attract the attention of thieves, unlike a smartphone and even the usual cheap dialer. Even being in sight and hanging around your neck! Nevertheless, these are niche options; they are not so easy to sell, especially without a box and important elements of the kit. And externally, bb-mobile “Firefly” and “GPS Beacon II” are more like toys than real mobile phones.
Tell me why such tubes are needed at all? Well, it’s obvious that you have children, though not everyone. No - it means that someday they will surely appear. And in general - we will all be there, as they say :-). Even if the parents have iPhones, then giving such a technique to a child of “kindergarten” and primary school age is at least unreasonable.
I had a personal experience. A 4-year-old child in the middle of the day, while walking with two adults, suddenly fell out of bed, ran away and hid. And, of course, lost. In half an hour, parents twice ran the entire street, questioned each passerby, raised the police to their ears ... But in the end it turned out that the baby ran across the road with busy traffic and sat down on the bench to cry. Compassionate people saw our sobbing child, and went to look for parents ... and only after 40 minutes of general hysteria the family reunited. As you know, it was very lucky that everything ended well - there are a thousand terrible scenarios that could happen. And all these horrors flashed before the eyes of the parents, while they scrambled back and forth in search of panic.
But the presence of such a phone in a child could instantly solve the problem. Phoning, understanding where the baby is now and finding him soon - such an opportunity would save parents from deep shock. Now the daughter is already going to first grade, and the question “Should she buy a phone?” Is not even worth it - of course, yes!
Say, this is stupid, because the child at school is supervised, he gets home with his parents? Well, this is which side to look at. I want to be calm for the baby one hundred percent. And so that she could contact her relatives if, for example, she would be rudely treated with her. So, our child has been perfectly managing mother’s and father’s iPhones since the age of one, watching YouTube, installing games, launching, performing any actions in them, but he doesn’t know how to call and poorly understands how to do this, gets confused, presses the wrong way. They tried to offer the child a simple dialer for a thousand rubles - the same story, only more confusion with a bunch of buttons. It’s going to call the wrong way, it’ll send an SMS to some number, and once for 100 rubles, instead of beeps, it sets Stas Mikhailov's hit ...
As a result, we settled on the bb-mobile "Firefly" - this is the simplest option that is easy to learn. Our child is calm and diligent, so there is no special need to control him: the daughter will not run away from the garden (and later from school). But for more active kids, bb-mobile also has an option: a different phone would suit such a child, namely GPS Beacon II with a larger screen and GPS monitoring option.
As mentioned above, the Business Bureau company, which owns the bb-mobile brand, has been dealing with children's phones since 2007. Such bb-mobile devices are not just mobile phones in the form of toys or cartoon characters. The devices are designed for use by the smallest children and, among other things, are equipped with SOS keys, have the function of audio monitoring of the situation around the child and receive calls only from certain (given by parents) numbers.
Another important point is that the radiation level of bb-mobile handsets is two times lower than that of conventional phones.
The SAR coefficient for bb-mobile models is 0.568 kg / w. Such a solution reduces the harmful effects of cellular communications on the emerging children's body. At the same time, the reduced level of radiation, according to the results of our operation, did not affect the reception quality of the cellular network signal.
In general, bb-mobile “Firefly” and “GPS Beacon II” are not just “cute” phones that can cause a surge of joy in children with their very appearance. These are phones to ensure absolute peace of mind for parents and the safety of children. Once again, to consolidate: the essence of these devices is not only and not so much in cool design as in the filling (about it below).
There are practically no such children's phones on the market with advanced security features. bb-mobile is the main player in this segment in Russia. From time to time, cellular operators try to produce devices of this type, but the results of their attempts do not become widespread. LG had something similar, but the Korean manufacturer turned this topic away. Meanwhile, bb-mobile since 2007 has released more than a dozen phones that guard the security of the younger generation. Among them, for example, are the bb-mobile Baby Bear models (by the way, it is still relevant and sold), Guard, “GPS Beacon” and “Bug”, which offer various “tricks” for tracking the location of the child.
bb-mobile “Bug”, Baby Bear, Guard and “GPS Beacon”
Now the time has come for GPS Beacon II and Firefly. I will tell you more about them below.
Initial setup
Immediately it is worth noting that, despite the visually different menus, in fact the set of functions, the sequence of actions, and even the buttons are the same for the “Firefly” and “GPS Beacon II” models. The only difference is that GPS Beacon II has a couple of GPS-based features and an audio player. Plus, the menu navigation buttons are located not on the side, as in Firefly, but among the keys on the front panel.
Of course, to use the phones you will need a SIM card, namely mini-SIM. It is important to know that you must disable PIN entry for the card in advance. Support is also required in the selected tariff plan for data transfer via GPRS.
To turn on the device, hold the button with the image of the red handset for a few seconds. By default, the mobile phone is turned on in the so-called parent mode, where all settings are made. “Child mode” and “parent mode” on the phones are significantly different. For adults, for example, more menu items are available - settings, call log, sound profiles, etc. When “child mode” is on, a yellow emoticon is displayed on the screen.
Use the up / down buttons to move through the menu to the "Security" item. Enter the password 1234 and get into the list of three items:
- Parent numbers
- theft protection;
- disable ban.
First of all, we are interested in the first point. We press the SOS button (analogue “Enter” when navigating the menu) and we see that we have to specify the parents' phones. There are exactly two numbers available - “Parent 1” and “Parent 2”. It is not necessary to fill in both options, just enter one number.
SMS confirmation that came to the parent phone
Then in the settings we select the phone book. Here we “hammer” 4 main numbers into the phone (these are the “main” numbers, and you can enter up to 50 numbers in total.) That is, we add to the address book all the numbers from which your child can receive calls - and which they can call. Each number, in the order in the list, is assigned to auto-dial to the buttons of the phone 1, 2, 3, and 4. Keep in mind that calls from all other numbers will not be received, the phone will automatically reset them. And this is great - the child is safe, he will not get through to malefactors, or the ubiquitous telephone "questionnaires". The same applies to SMS: devices simply do not display messages from unfamiliar numbers.
On this setting, "Firefly" ends. For GPS Beacon II, you need to perform a few more actions: activate data transfer via GPRS and start GPS. Both tasks are extremely simple, you only need to send two SMS to the child’s phone number with the text “## 12 #:” and “## 09 #:”, respectively. Carefully read the instructions: 4 out of 5 users did not immediately guess that there should be a colon at the end of each command.
I also recommend setting a password to turn off the phone - then the child will not be able to be "inaccessible", accidentally or intentionally.
If your child goes to school, then use the option "In the lesson." You can inform the phone about the class schedule, specify the days off, and at the right time it will automatically switch to silent mode. It’s convenient, considering that parent-child phones are ringing very loudly!
Writing texts on the telephone keypads is not provided, but it is possible to select several templates for sending ready-made SMS and even enter one of its own 1 pattern in the case of “Firefly” and 4 patterns in the case of “GPS Beacon II”.
Security features
We will deal with the main thing - exactly how the bb-mobile GPS Beacon II and Firefly will allow you to quickly find a child if the child is lost, say, in a crowded crowd at a holiday. Generalized phone tools come down to the following list:
- SOS button;
- audio editing;
- GPS positioning (only for GPS Beacon II).
SOS button. If the child unlocks the phone (you must first press the “call” button, then “reset”) and hold the SOS-key for several seconds, then the emergency communication and SMS sending mode is activated. In this case, the bb-mobile “GPS Beacon II” and “Firefly” “look” at the phone book and begin to ring 4 main numbers, starting from the first.
The phone found the first number and immediately activates a voice call to it.
Further, two scenarios are possible. Or the subscriber on the other end of the wire picks up the phone and a conversation occurs. Or for some reason they don’t pick up the phone. As soon as the phone accepting the call, after 30-40 seconds, automatically drops the incoming call, bb-mobile, GPS Beacon II or Firefly sends an SMS to this number with the text “Emergency! Please, call!".
After that, a voice call to the next main number in the phone book immediately starts (of all the main numbers, I remind you, you can “score” 4 pieces).
Advantages of the method - in fact, the child will only have to remember that you need to press and hold one button, which will help parents find the child as soon as possible. The regime insures in the best way parents who (you never know) could, for example, leave their phones in the car. In this case, other subscribers from the “four” basic numbers will come to the aid of the child — it could be, say, grandfather and grandmother.
Minus - in a stressful situation, a child can completely forget about the existence of a phone. Also, ideally, I would still like the SOS mode to be activated with a long press, even if the phone is not unlocked.
Audio monitoring. This is an opportunity to hear what is happening next to the child, and an attempt to find out where he is. Or hear with whom and what he is talking about.
To activate audio monitoring from the parent phone, which is initially “tied” to the bb-mobile settings “GPS Beacon II” or “Firefly”, you need to send an SMS with the text “## 07 #:”.
In just a few seconds, a voice call from the “GPS Beacon II” will begin to arrive on the parent devices. It is noteworthy that at the same time, the bb-mobile children's phone will in no way give out its activity - no vibration, the screen is still turned off. If the parent picks up the phone, he will be able to hear sounds near the child's phone.
This “spy” behavior of the phone is justified by the fact that in this way the battery is saved as much as possible, and depending on the situation, parents are able to conduct audio monitoring for as long as possible.
GPS location
In order to use the option, you must remotely enable GPS in the bb-mobile "GPS" Lighthouse II ". We send an SMS with the text “## 09 #:” from the parent phone and immediately receive confirmation of activation. After that, satellite tracking of the phone will always be active.
So - the child is lost, and we need to find out the exact coordinates of his stay. We send an SMS with the text “## 11 #:” to bb-mobile “GPS Beacon II”.
In response, we receive an SMS with a link to Google maps. Click - and in the browser on your smartphone the corresponding service is launched, where the location of the child is displayed. A message can be of two types:
“General location: coordinates”. This means that the coordinates are formed according to the data of the stations of the cellular network. Such information has a smaller error than information from satellites.
“Precisely Location: coordinates” - here the link is formed on the basis of only satellite data and, as stated in the instructions, “has high accuracy”.
Positioning - access from your personal account on the site en.coomix.net. This method is more suitable for tracking the monitoring of a child from a computer. It’s so convenient to find out if the child is going home from school straight away or walking somewhere. In relation to our situation with the loss of a child on the street - you have a negative balance and you can’t send SMS. But you can connect to free Wi-Fi and use the Internet.
We open the browser, it does not matter on which device - laptop, computer, tablet or smartphone. Go to en.coomix.net. In the login column, enter the phone’s IMEI (written on the box or under the phone’s battery), enter 666666 in the “password” field.
In the dialog that appears, we will immediately see the card. If the phone is turned on, immediately display in real time immediately displays the current location. If not, the bb-mobile phone will be turned off - the coordinates of the point where the last signal came from. Additionally, the exact address and battery level of the phone are reported in text.
If you go to the View History tab, you can see the history of movements. child with bb-mobile "GPS Beacon II" in your pocket (well, or in your hand).
Finally, a few words about a very useful feature called “ Theft Protection". With it, the phone sends SMS to parents if the SIM card has been replaced in the device. Agree, a simple and extremely effective way to find out about the fate of the missing device.
Remote control
We have already considered some of the possibilities for remote control of bb-mobile “Firefly” and “GPS Beacon II”. The following remote requests are also available on devices:
- adding a contact to the address book - the address and name of the subscriber are registered in the SMS;
- changing the number and name of the subscriber already entered in the address book;
- Change only the name of the subscriber already entered in the address book;
- creating a new SMS template;
- enable / disable the "In lesson" mode;
- remote phone lock;
- turn off the phone remotely.
Contents of delivery
With the most important sorted out, it is time to talk more about the package and the appearance of the phones. Both phones have boxes with a cheerful design. The devices come with a charger, a USB cable, a manual, a guarantee, a lace around the neck, reflective stickers (can be used on the phone itself, on clothes, a school backpack - they will allow motorists to see the child in the dark), a small screwdriver and a screw. The "Firefly" is additionally equipped with reflective stickers (can be used on the phone itself, on clothes, a school backpack - these accessories will allow motorists to see the child in the dark).
Screwdrivers and cogs are needed in order to open the phone case without the knowledge of the parents was as difficult as possible. And this is also an important trifle - a child can try to disassemble the phone out of curiosity, or simply drop it, and when screwed on, the back cover will no longer bounce. And if the mobile phone, God forbid, is stolen, it will be quite difficult to get the SIM card out of it while the thief is on the move.
Design and control keys
Telephones are made in classic colors for boys and girls - for each model there are blue and pink options. bb-mobile “Firefly” is compact, the size of a key fob alarm from a car, bb-mobile “GPS Beacon II” is a bit larger. In any case, both are convenient for tiny children's pens and almost weightless.
bb-mobile “Firefly” has nice “ears” and a wider case at the bottom, children compare it to a teddy bear. Between the ears - eyelet for the strap.
bb-mobile “Firefly”
On the right side of the handset are two large silver keys. It is designed not only to adjust the volume, but also to navigate through the menu.
bb-mobile "Firefly"
Microphones and connectors for charging / cable for both models - at the bottom.
bb-mobile "Firefly"
The bb-mobile “GPS Beacon II” there (at the bottom) has a hole for a screwdriver, while the “Firefly” has it on the rear panel.
bb-mobile “Firefly”
Please note that the older model supports the microUSB standard, and the youngest - the outdated miniUSB. In case of loss of the complete cable, you will have to look for a new one.
bb-mobile “Beacon II”
Another of the differences is that for Svetlyachka bb-mobile “Svetlyachka” the speaker is also used to play a ringtone, “GPS Beacon II” has a separate multimedia speaker on the rear panel. And next to it is an opening “eye” for the strap. The sound volume of both phones is high, the sound quality is not the best (especially for “Firefly”), but this is not critical. The sound is loud - this is really important.
bb-mobile “Beacon II”
Having removed the back panels of the tubes, you will see slots for SIM. In the case of bb-mobile “GPS Beacon II” there is also a slot for a microSD memory card - the phone supports MP3 playback.
The front panels of the phones also differ, but slightly. The older model has a larger screen (1.75 inches, 128x160 pixels), while the younger model has an optional role (1 inch, 128x64). In the end, this type of phone is designed solely for communication with parents, they need displays more for ease of setup. The screens are not bad in quality, they have decent viewing angles, bright, readable under the sun. Especially the “Firefly” monochrome display.
Both models have large reception and end call keys and 4 buttons (clear strokes, comfortable lighting, large designations), on which you can hang up the necessary numbers - mothers, fathers, grandparents, for example. There are SOS keys for emergency calling. The bb-mobile GPS Beacon II also has up and down buttons to navigate through the menu. In our opinion, the younger model is more suitable for young children - from 3-4 years old, it is smaller, the keyboard is simpler.
The weight of both handsets is so small that it is hard to believe that these are real phones - they look too much like toys.
Autonomy
Children's phone, of course, should be "tenacious". The junior model bb-mobile "Firefly" is equipped with a lithium-ion battery with a capacity of 600 mAh. Yes, this is ridiculous by smartphone standards, but you need to understand that this handset will be used for short calls and sometimes SMS - that's all! There is nothing to “eat” a battery in it, even a microscopic screen. During our test (every day sending and receiving 5 SMS and 15-20 minutes of calls), “Firefly” worked for 4-5 days.
bb-mobile “GPS Beacon II” due to the availability of the GPS monitoring option has a more capacious battery - 1,000 mAh. If you use it as a tracker, then the charge will last for a maximum day (20-24 hours). Therefore, if you do not need the option of monitoring the position of the child, it is better to turn off the GPS for this time (can be done via SMS). If GPS is not used, the handset will last up to 7 days from a single charge.
Both models are charged for an hour and a half.
Total
Bb-mobile turned out to be excellent phones for parents who want to protect their child in the best way and know where the offspring is located at any given time, and what happens to him. bb-mobile “GPS Beacon II” costs 4,490 rubles, “Firefly” costs 3,390. And it’s not expensive, because the nerves saved on a quick search for a child lost or delayed from school are priceless. I emphasize that the bb-mobile "GPS Beacon II" and "Firefly" are phones not only for children, but for parents. In fact, all that young mobile users need to know is how to unlock the phone, and which button is used to quickly dial the number of mom, dad, or another relative. Therefore, the assessment of the interface, appearance or convenience of the menu seems secondary to us - phones “cheer” cope with their main tasks, and this is important.
Both models are quite a comprehensive security system for monitoring and communicating with a child. To summarize the capabilities of the models:
- SOS button for emergency calling of 4 main numbers from the phone book;
- Remote listening to the situation around the child - audio monitoring;
- Receive calls and SMS only from numbers from the phone book;
- Turn off the lock so that the child does not accidentally disconnect the power turned off the device.
In case of bb-mobile "GPS" Beacon II "I will add:
- Accurate GPS positioning at any given time;
- the opportunity to observe the history of the child’s movements - through the browser in the "personal account";
- receiving, upon request, a direct link to Google maps with an exact location at the time of the request.
As a common strong feature of both models, I note once again the low radiation level - one and a half times lower compared to conventional modern smartphones.
Of course, if we consider only the technical equipment of the phones, the price tag is not very low. But few will argue - for special categories of users need special means of communication. Perhaps the question "Does the child need a phone" should not even be at all. Times are different now, and it is better to use modern security capabilities to the maximum. Yes, you can give your old grandmother or child the usual “dialer”, but it’s much better when the device is thought out and created specifically for these categories of users, and it’s not a pity to pay a little extra.
Suppose, instead of the bb-mobile “GPS Beacon II”, you can take the cheapest “google phone” and install some kind of GPS monitoring software on it and give it to the child. And even if you do not take into account that the baby is unlikely to understand the interface, there are other problems - the child may drop the handset and it will fall apart, but it will not be able to assemble. Or he will remove the back panel out of curiosity. Or accidentally turn off the phone. Either he gets into the settings and deactivates tracking or changes the contacts in the address book, but you never know what. Plus, a “google phone” is still a full-fledged handset in the sense that you can put toys on it, upload videos, surf the Internet, and do you want your child to “hang” on the phone instead of studying or playing with peers?
It’s also important that tube-toys from bb-mobile are unlikely to attract the attention of thieves, unlike a smartphone and even the usual cheap dialer. Even being in sight and hanging around your neck! Nevertheless, these are niche options; they are not so easy to sell, especially without a box and important elements of the kit. And externally, bb-mobile “Firefly” and “GPS Beacon II” are more like toys than real mobile phones.
