AT&T Offers Parental Controls on Cell Service

AT&T has heard the complaints from parents about high bills and too much texting by cell phone-carrying teens. The carrier is now offering a $4.99 add-on service that allows parents and teens (and 'tweens) to set limits on calls and text messages to ensure phones are not used during school hours and to help keep monthly bills in check.

The Smart Limits service will allow users to block calls and text messages from certain numbers, set certain times of day off limits to calls and text messages, and set an allowance for downloads, including ring tones. It's all done through a web site, just as carriers such as Disney Mobile and kajeet do through their services, which include the online management tools as part of their services.

As do the other services, AT&T allows calls to parents and 911 to override any set limits.

The Smart Limits service will be marketed to existing AT&T family plan customers and parents' magazines, but AT&T sees the potential for the service to expand to business customers or individuals who want to limit hours of incoming calls or block certain callers.

It's sure to be a tough sell with teens who have been using phones without it, but if it's a choice between having the phone taken away after excessive bills turn up and accepting limits, then they'll probably go for it.

These kinds of tools work best when kids are first getting phones so they can learn how to use them wisely.

Any AT&T customers out there who plan to pay another $5 a month for these services? If you've got another carrier plan that allows you to set up limits with kids, let us know if you like it. That goes for parents and kids.