Using GPS Trackers to Locate Your Child

When your child is out of sight, do you know where he is? What is he doing? Who is he with? How long has he been there? Personal GPS trackers have come a long way, technologically speaking, and they can help you answer some of those questions.

If you think you need one for your son or daughter, especially if he/she is a flight risk, you’ll want to know some answers up front and then you’ll need to do your homework. Let Rowell Family Empowerment help you out with this!

Things to Know

The first thing to know is that GPS trackers use global positioning systems (satellites) and although they can be very helpful they are not perfect. No GPS unit will perfectly pinpoint your child all the time. Manufacturers tend to claim their tracker is the best thing since sliced bread. Whoa, horsey! While this technology is good and can be helpful it’s not sliced bread. Manufacturer claims are usually a tad to the extreme. Such is today’s marketing. It’s sorta like when you see a hamburger on television and then you see the real deal in the restaurant and it looks nothing like the commercial.
The second thing to know is that GPS generally only works outdoors. While makers are aware that people want their stuff to work indoors, reliability at present is much better outdoors. Some of the makers are innovating and trying to solve this issue though.
The third thing you want to know right off the bat is pricing. And it seems to be the thing GPS manufacturers like to hide while they reel you in by wowing you with all the great features of their unit. Truth is, between the cost of the unit, monthly fees, possible activation fees, shipping, etc it’s just easier to give you pricing based on the first year of use.

Many Different Features

All personal GPS trackers have the main feature you want, the main thing you absolutely must have; they track the location of your child. But beyond that they each offer different features. You’ll want to review the features each one offers and decide which things are most vital to you because all GPS trackers are not created equal.

Some of the various features include…

2-way phone calls
Sexual predator alerts
Detailed info when your child is in transit
Small, easy-to-carry unit
Non-removable wearable unit
Good, intuitive app for your mobile device
Low cost of ownership
Well-concealed power button

Other Considerations

If you’re like me, cost is a big deal. Do you have to get in a contract? How long and for how much per month? And when the device has issues support from the manufacturer becomes a very big deal. Not all of them offer phone support. And what about battery life? And depending on where you live and where the device will be primarily used; does the carrier have a strong enough signal in your area? You’ll not only need a good GPS signal, but also a good cell phone signal and/or internet connection of some kind.

Thorough Reviews

We’ve personally reviewed each of the devices from the comparison chart above in detail. There are other manufacturers, but the chart above (and the list below) has the top 5 in our opinion. So “Top 5” is subjective but you’ll have a difficult time finding another GPS tracker that is worthy of being in the upper echelon. In no particular order:

Sales and Marketing Ploys

Don’t be fooled by marketing promotions on some of the websites. After checking the websites for AngelSense, Trackimo and others we’ve noticed that many times sales never end. This marketing strategy is misleading. Some manufacturers will show you a regular purchase price that’s way high so they can tell you how much you’re “saving” when in fact the “sale price” more or less represents the usual price they sell the unit for.