Netnanny Chat Monitor

Chat rooms that target children are a concern to many parents, but now kids can talk online more safely with Netnanny Chat Monitor. The program is like an electronic grown-up standing over their shoulder, ready to step in if anyone uses improper language.

It runs in the background and controls access to the main chat systems, including AOL, MSN and Yahoo Messenger, although it doesn't block the Java chat rooms found on many websites. You can set it to log all chats and filter out certain words/phrases. It even offers a comprehensive list of things to watch for, plus you can add your own, such as addresses and phone numbers.

During installation, you can opt for stealth mode, where the program is invisible and called up by a hotkey, or visible, where there's a system tray icon. Normal access to chat programs isn't affected unless you've blocked them completely, in which case they won't connect. You can put in a warning or set a timetable for chatting; you can even set a block to take effect when keywords are spotted a certain number of times.

We found that this actually made MSN Messenger pop up an offer to send error information to Microsoft. At times, the program didn't seem to filter messages sent using Trillian, a multiplatform messenger. It also failed to log ICQ messages sent via Trillian, but behaved fine with AOL Instant Messenger.

If you stick with official software and keep the kids from using Java chat or installing anything else, it's a helpful tool. As it stands, it's too clunky for wholehearted recommendation.

Contact: Netnanny 0118 934 7429
www.netnanny.com

Specifications:

• Windows 98SE or later
• 32MB memory
• 10MB disk space for software and chat logs