Can I Access the Chaperone Site on my BB?
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"We (4 phone family account) use chaperone on the two kids phones. Recently upgraded one of the parent phones to a blackberry storm. Still get the chaperone child-zone text message alerts, but the locate function is pretty much not available on the blackberry storm - in spite of both
a) some GPS/GET-IT-NOW functions (Navigator) being made available on the blackberry, and
b) a pretty good browser (that does not yet support flash).
Please either
c) port the chaperone parent application from the vcast-phone to the blackberry, or
d) implement a .mobi chaperone application.
Option D) would probably be best. The Vcast chaperone implementation feels weak - though perhaps held back by limited server support.
Thank you."
While I'd like to think Verizon would immediately see the wisdom of my request and implement it swiftly ... I think we all know a gang tackle would be more effective. Please shoot off your own email to Verizon. The more the merrier!02-11-09 11:44 AMLike 0 - ... but no one home.
Got a reply. It was long. It was polite. It said nothing at all. I doubt the person who replied even knew what chaperone was. I suggested they try again ... but probably need to think more about how to effectively get the point to the right person or department or whatever.02-12-09 12:44 PMLike 0 - Once you resign yourself to patiently navigating through the tortuous phone options tree and drill down to the people actually trained on chaperone, they can be quite good. The trained up ones are aware of the limitations and don't try to slip propaganda into every sentence. Or so far, anyway. They actually got me to use the child zones - which surprised me by being more far more useful than the basic locate function.
But apparently the people handling email support are only concerned about returning excessively polite and overly verbose boilerplate according to time-to-response standards. Actually addressing the technical issue raised seems to be totally off their radar. I've had three replies by now ... all making vague suggestions about calling in rather than expecting anything to be accomplished via email.
Perhaps the V email support is handled from India and the "techs" there just cut and paste the polite nonsense in.02-16-09 10:18 AMLike 0 - Unfortunately I spent 2 hours on the phone with tech support. They said for one that applications like Navigator and Banking were requested enough for them to create the ability to get it with the BB. Once that happens with Parent, then they will work toward making an application for BB. so keep those letters going.
Secondly, we worked alot of different angles to access the site to do locates and so forth to no avail. We tried many ways, but the java application on the site does not work with the BB browser. I will say that I had more promising moments with the BB Browser versus the IE or Firefow, or opera Mini...I have not tried Bolt yet. But I will.
In any event, when someone breaks through to the other side, please let the rest of us know. I di use the zones and have text messages sent to me when My daughter enters and leaves zones. Its the best way to track. But I want the Parent on my phone FOR SURE.02-16-09 02:26 PMLike 0 - Was calling in anyway so tried to get the chaperone parent requested whilst I was at it.
(The email people (aka Internet Response Unit) having generated a missed call message on my phone without the phone actually ringing. I was in coverage and looking right at it at the time. Odd. But certainly fits with pattern of offering the appearance of support while continuing to lack substance.)
Just as the email people wanted me to call it in, the call people wanted me to email it in. Feels like nobody has a category this one belongs in, so they naturally try to pass it ... elsewhere.
A rep is looking for the request list now. He professed no knowledge of it...
After a wait: rep knows of no such list. None of his people, peers or supervisors know of any list requesting a functional Chaperone Parent app for the Blackberry platform.
Rep suggested contacting
Executive Relations - Verizon Wireless
P.O. Box 553
Warrendale, PA 15386
via a dead tree letter. Rep suggested mentioning that
1. Internet Response Unit completely whiffed on the issue, and
2. Tech Support has no such request list, and
3. Request a functional Chaperone Parent app for the Blackberry.
Seems like as eager as VZW is to enhance revenue per customer by hooking us all up with a data plan, that they would like us to keep using other enhanced revenue items like Chaperone. As such, a little support for the hand-held parent app does not seem unreasonable.
But, though I would like to believe previous posters on this thread have requests on a list somewhere gathering credibility which each additional request, I think it far more likely that we still have not gotten anyone's serious attention. Certainly not a decision maker.
Anyone else willing to kill some trees and mail some USPS letters? Thoughts? Time to organize the intrepid write-in campaign? Or stop beating the dead horse?02-23-09 11:42 AMLike 0 -
- Took my own medicine. Sent the following to Verizon:
"We (4 phone family account) use chaperone on the two kids phones. Recently upgraded one of the parent phones to a blackberry storm. Still get the chaperone child-zone text message alerts, but the locate function is pretty much not available on the blackberry storm - in spite of both
a) some GPS/GET-IT-NOW functions (Navigator) being made available on the blackberry, and
b) a pretty good browser (that does not yet support flash).
Please either
c) port the chaperone parent application from the vcast-phone to the blackberry, or
d) implement a .mobi chaperone application.
Option D) would probably be best. The Vcast chaperone implementation feels weak - though perhaps held back by limited server support.
Thank you."
While I'd like to think Verizon would immediately see the wisdom of my request and implement it swiftly ... I think we all know a gang tackle would be more effective. Please shoot off your own email to Verizon. The more the merrier!
I have the same problem with Chaperone.
When you get your test messages from Chaperone, are they garbled? Mine are. All they're good for is to tell me my child has either entered or left a "zone".03-17-09 03:04 AMLike 0 - From Consumerist.com:
Here is a new number for reaching the Verizon Wireless Executive offices: 908-306-6750. They picked up right away for us. 910-794-6232 for Lisa Williams, Executive Customer Relations, still works, as does a general executive office inline, 910-794-6200. Use the info in this post to guide your contact through the process of dealing with executive customer relations.
Reach Verizon Wireless Executive Customer Service03-17-09 05:26 AMLike 0 - To give you Chaperone parents out there, if you are using IE 8 chaperone will not work. It took me a couple of hours to fiqure that one out. Just a heads up!!!
Ok, I installed IE 8 again and now it works with no errors. I dont know why it gave so much trouble, but when you are trying to located your kid and it does not work and your using a new IE8 and you uninstall it back to IE7 and it works.....I'm glad it works nowLast edited by mluihn; 06-13-09 at 04:50 PM.
03-26-09 06:43 PMLike 0 -
Make sure you have the latest Flash plugins...05-22-09 06:44 PMLike 0 - Thanks to all the posters on this site for sharing. I have spent many hours troubleshooting this one, thinking...somewhat arrogantly...that I could find a way. I got excited with Bolt, which appeared to let you work with Chaperone, but won't. You can login, see your settings, but you cannot search/locate. The reason for this is Bolt (and the much anticipated Skyfire to I'm afraid) don't actutually have flash built into them, they render the requested URL on their servers and then feed it to your BB in a format that it can understand. This allows you to see the little locating green bar begin, but that's about it...because the Bolt browser is not seeing any update or change it just sort of "hangs" there forever.
Its close, and I got the warm fuzzies thinking it was working, but only to a point, and not the final result of actually seeing a map with your child.
I will test the beta for Skyfire as soon as I get my hands on it and report back here, but to my understanding from research, it works much the same way.
Somebody has got to see the value in developing an App for this...if not Verizon. It seems like Bolt is so close, they could do it with some small changes.
If my wife's Krazr can put my kids on a map, it blows my mind that Blackberry can't...or that nobody has a true flash enabled browser for BB
Hoping...
Andy05-22-09 09:52 PMLike 0 - verizon hasn't even made the standard mobile web things available for the storm yet...
as in checking your minutes and such...
they sell mobile phones yet sometimes I Wonder what they are thinking...
no mobile minute checker via web on one of there top mobile web surfing devices lol05-22-09 10:12 PMLike 0 - verizon hasn't even made the standard mobile web things available for the storm yet...
as in checking your minutes and such...
they sell mobile phones yet sometimes I Wonder what they are thinking...
no mobile minute checker via web on one of there top mobile web surfing devices lol05-22-09 10:33 PMLike 0
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Can I Access the Chaperone Site on my BB?
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