Enterprises look at mobile Web monitoring service

After an operator started selling a service that lets parents control the Web sites their kids access on their phones, the service provider noticed something unusual: The third most popular category of Web content being accessed by phones monitored by the service were job hunt sites.

“We were convinced there must have been a problem because kids aren’t looking at those sites,” said Simeon Coney, vice president of business development for AdaptiveMobile, the company that offers the monitoring technology to operators.

But then AdaptiveMobile figured out that the operator had broadly advertised the service as one that blocks adult content on handsets. Companies noticed and started buying the service to restrict access to sites by employees. The mobile workers were visiting the job sites.

AdaptiveMobile launched its Policy Control Framework monitoring service for the North American market at the CTIA conference Tuesday in Las Vegas. It’s already being used outside of North America.

Mobile operators that want to offer the service to users must implement AdaptiveMobile’s product in their networks. AdaptiveMobile’s technology then monitors Web traffic to and from phones and can block traffic that doesn’t meet set rules.

If an operator sells the service to parents, they can log on to a Web page to set rules for their children’s cell phone use. AdaptiveMobile has created packages of Web sites appropriate for different age groups. Parents can choose one of the packages and add or delete sites from it.

In addition, parents can set time frames during which kids can access the Web from their phones. They can also restrict other basic communications, including phone calls and text messages to and from certain numbers.

In the U.S., a tier two operator is in the process of rolling out the service, but AdaptiveMobile wouldn’t reveal the operator’s identity. Some operators in other regions charge a monthly fee for the service while others give it away as part of family plan packages, Coney said.

While enterprise use of the service has so far been by chance, that could change. “We’re in discussions with operators about bringing this out to the corporate markets,” he said.

Enterprises are starting to recognize that they want more control over employee use of mobile phones, he said. Most employees know that their laptops and PCs at work are monitored by IT administrators, but they often know that their mobile phones aren’t, opening the door for possible abuse, he said.