New Parent Dashboard!
February 2, 2010
by Carol Politi
Login to your kajeet account to see the all new Parent Dashboard!
We have revised the Account Details and Parental Controls pages to make it easier for you to manage your child’s account including monitoring Account Activity, purchasing and changing plans, and controlling the time, features, and spending for each phone on the account.
Please comment here to let us know what you think!
Summer Miracles for Kids and Families
January 29, 2010
by Daniel Neal
Three and a half years ago my wife, Heller An, and I met our now 14-year-old son, Alex, through an amazing organization: Kidsave International. Kidsave’s motto is “Because every child needs a family.” Simply put, that is why kidsave exists. It helps kids without families find them.
In their own words:
“Kidsave gives kids who are hidden from public view in foster care and orphanages the opportunity to visit with families and build relationships. We work as a catalyst for change, training social workers, orphanage workers and volunteers to help kids find permanent families, and change practices, laws and public financing to increase permanent family care for orphans and youth in foster care.”
Since 1999, more than 2700 individual children have found parents and lasting connections with adults because of Kidsave programs. Thousands more orphans and children in foster care around the globe have parents and lasting connections because of Kidsave’s training and advocacy efforts.
One of Kidsave’s most successful programs is its Summer Miracle Program.
Our family participated in this program in 2006. Yes, you probably guessed: our beloved son Alex was the child we hosted that magical summer.
Kidsave is now seeking Host Families for its 2010 Summer Miracles Program. If you know someone who may wish to learn about this program, you can find out more here .
If you want information about the Kidsave organization and its other programs, you can learn more here .
Thanks,
–Daniel Neal
CEO & Founder, kajeet
7 Hours and 38 Minutes of Media Per Day?
January 22, 2010
by Carol Politi
Wow. Even those of us focused on kids and media were surprised with the recent Kaiser Family Foundation Study on kids and media use. The study, called “Generation M2: Media in the Lives of 8- to 18-Year-Olds“, indicates that kids spend more than 53 hours a week consuming media (counting a blend of TV, computers, gaming devices, cell phones, etc.). And that count does not include multitasking – which brings the media use count up to 10 hours and 45 minutes per day.
Much of the increase is driven by the accessibility of media on mobile devices – ipods and cell phones (though the increase in social media use is also a factor). Note that text messaging is not considered media use in this study – and that “7th-12th graders report spending an average of 1:35 a day sending or receiving texts”!
Clearly, media consumption is a fact of life. So what’s wrong with this picture?
1. Kids that are heavy media users report getting lower grades.
2. Kids that are heavy media users report being less personally content.
What’s the upside here? One bit of upside is that parents can have an impact! The study indicates that “When parents set limits, children spend less time with media. Those young people who say their parents have some rules about their media use are exposed to an average of nearly three hours (2:52) less media content per day than those who say they don’t have rules.”
Most parents get cell phones for their kids for safety reasons. But doing so can put more media – and another device with which to multi-task – in the hands of kids. kajeet customers can set limits – on both the type of content/service used on the cell phone and the time spent using the cell phone. This includes limiting access at night, during school, and during home work time. To set these up simply login at kajeet.com or call kajeet customer care (1-866-452-5338).
Please comment here to let us know what you think of the Kaiser Family Foundation study and how you manage media access and use in your household. We could all benefit from some good ideas!
New Mobile Web Sites!
January 11, 2010
by Carol Politi
We have been keeping our eyes open for mobile web sites that are appropriate for kids and have made available additional sites in the “Other Great Mobile Sites” category on the handset. As our mobileweb users know, the service supports four categories of sites:
- Category 1: Free sites
- Category 2: Other “kid appropriate” mobile sites
- Category 3: Social Networking and IM Sites
- Category 4: Open Internet
We have opened access to number of new sites in Category 2 – including sports, style, several magazines, Thesaurus, etc.
Enjoy! Please let us know if there are other mobile sites we should include in this category.
Holiday Thoughts and Thanks
December 30, 2009
By Daniel Neal
When we started kajeet a few years ago, we were grateful simply to have the opportunity to pursue our dreams of creating the very best mobile services for kids and their families. We owe many people a great debt for this opportunity. We deeply thank them all.
Now that kajeet has been a reality for just over 2 years, we have many other things to be thankful for: supportive investors, business partners who believe in us, the families who encourage us in our work and, most importantly, our customers.
We can never say it enough: thank you for your business and for placing your confidence in kajeet. You trust us to deliver critical communication services for your children, your families. With 2 children of my own, I know just how precious your trust in us is.
kajeet is a very young company. Many have experienced our exceptional product, rate plans and service. We’ve been recognized for what we’ve achieved. And I’m proud that, with your support, we’ve done so much so fast.
Still, we do make mistakes (and I can’t promise we’ll ever stop!). Providing a cell phone service – particularly one with unique parental controls and location services – is a notoriously complex business. When we do make mistakes, we’re grateful for those who point them out, and who are patient with us as we hustle to fix them.
Yes, we are grateful for every last bit of customer feedback, no matter how small, or how challenging to address. Our dialogue with our customers is precious. It encourages us to make our services better every day, which is the best way to make kajeet grow.
I’m personally grateful to work on a team that puts our customers first, and goes far above and beyond the call of duty to see that our customers are happy. Because your being a part of kajeet makes us happy. Your satisfaction – your happiness – means that our dream of providing the best and safest cell phone services for kids and families is coming true.
So, please continue the dialogue that helps us be better for you, for your family. And thank you for making the kajeet dream come true each day.
We at kajeet wish you and your family a joyous Holiday season, and a happy and healthy New Year.
Sincerely,
–Daniel Neal
Activating Your New kajeet Phone
December 22, 2009
by Carol Politi
If you got someone a kajeet phone for Christmas, or if you received one, the first thing you need to do is to activate your phone. You can do this entirely online!
Both new kajeet customers activating a new kajeet phone and existing customers that are “swapping” or swapping or upgrading to a new kajeet phone can do this online.
What is “activation”?
Prior to use, each kajeet account needs to be set up with parent (or guardian) information and assigned a phone number. Once you activate you will automatically be enrolled in the rate plan you chose when the phone was purchased. If you did not select a rate plan at the time of purchase, simply login kajeet.com from your PC and select a plan.
What is the best way to activate my phone?
Online activation is your best option. New customers can activate online here at kajeet.com. Existing kajeet customers that have purchased a new phone and want to upgrade to it (and keep their phone number) can login to kajeet.com and upgrade their phone (see my recent blog post describing how to do this).
What if I am moving/porting my existing number to kajeet?
You will need to contact kajeet customer care if you are porting (moving) a number from another cell phone service provider to kajeet. Have a copy of your bill and/or account login information with you when you contact kajeet customer care. While we are working to make this process as fast as possible, it can take up to 3-4 days to port a number. (We are dependent upon other telecommunications companies and they are all busy at this time of year).
How can you reach care and what are the kajeet Holiday Care Hours?
Our care department can be reached at 1-866-452-5338 or care@kajeet.com. kajeet Customer Care is closed on Christmas Day to give our hardworking care personnel from Canton, Ohio the day off with their families.
Our Holiday Care Hours are as follows
- December 21st – Dec. 24th: 9:00am – 10:00pm
- Christmas (December 25th) – Closed
- December 26th – 8:00am – 10:00pm
- December 27th – 9:00am – 5:00pm
- December 28th – 30th – 9:00am – 8:00pm
- December 31st – 9:00am – 6:00pm
- January 1 – Closed
Care is already busy and we do expect them to continue to be busy after the holidays. Avoid the wait and activate online!
Thanks!
If you decided to give a kajeet phone as a gift this holiday, we thank you! Have a happy holiday!
kajeet Family Plan
December 16, 2009
by Carol Politi
How much does it cost to get kajeet for an entire family? Combine the new Parent Plans we are testing with our kid-optimized rate plans and it’s the most affordable solution around.
For example:
1) Family with 3 communicators (e.g., family with a parent and two teens who are all social): ~$80/month
- Parent uses the kajeet unlimited Talk and Text plan – $49.99 per month
- Each teen uses our 60 anytime minute/unlimited text plan: $14.99 per month per line
Total? Only ~$80/month for 3 lines for heavy communicators! And the teens can use more minutes for only 10 cents per minute (or they can upgrade to our $19.99 plan and get an additional 90 anytime minutes for just $5 more).
2) Family with 3 light communicators (e.g., a mom with modest usage and two kids that each use 20 minutes and 20 texts per month): ~$36/month
- Parent uses the kajeet Parent 500 minutes and 100 texts plan: $19.99 per month
- Each kid uses the kajeet $4.99 Basic Plan (with 10 included minutes). They take advantage of the low 10 cent rate for additional minutes/texts to purchase 10 extra minutes and 20 texts. Each spends only $7.99/month
Total? Only ~$36 per month for 3 lines! Plus, you can change plans at any time – and there are no annual contracts.
Who wants to worry about what cell phone company their friends (or kids’ friends) have? And who wants to be concerned with exactly how many minutes everyone in the family is using at any point in time just to make sure you don’t get hit with expensive overages?
Those days are ending with affordable pay as you go plans. And kajeet allows you to manage them all from a single account. Simple.
What’s the catch? Well, for now this is a test of kajeet Parent Plans, so it is a limited time offer. You must sign up for a Parent Plan before 1/26/10 to take advantage of these plans. If you are a new customer, this means you need to purchase by 1/5/09 in order to get your phone, activate it, and select the plan.
If you want to take advantage of our parent plan options, call care at 1-866-452-5338 to purchase your phone or select your plan. (If you prefer to purchase online, select “this is a gift” during purchase and call care to activate and get put on these Parent Test plans.) As always, if things go well with the test we consider making these plans part of our standard rate plan options.
Thoughts? We appreciate your comments and feedback on all our plans.
Girls’ Life
December 14, 2009
by Carol Politi
When we created kajeet, one of our top priorities was to develop a product that might help parents and kids navigate their tween and teen years. Our partner Girls’ Life is a media company with this same focus.
The magazine gives girls all the fun, fashion, and entertainment they want, along with the real, honest advice they often need – with a focus on boosting their self esteem. It has won the multiple Parents’ Choice Gold Awards, The Parent’s Guide to Children’s Media Awards, is the official magazine of choice for Girl Scouts of the USA, and is the official book for Take Our Daughters to Work Day! Wow.
Just in time for the holidays, Girls’ Life is running a great promotion that we thought would be of interest to kajeet customers. You can get Girls’ Life for 72% off and get a copy of Meg Cabot’s novel “Allie Finkle’s Rules for Girls: Moving Day” – free! Click here for more information.
Super Sale at kajeet!
December 12, 2009
by Carol Politi
Still looking for that perfect holiday gift? Looking for great savings?
Use promo code HOLIDAY10 and save 10% on any purchase on kajeet.com through Tuesday, 12/15/09. This includes the new, popular Rumor 2, as well any of our other hot handsets – even those that are already on sale! Plus, order now and also get free ground shipping!
Happy Holidays!
kajeet for Parents?
December 8, 2009
by Carol Politi
We hear all the time from parents interested in getting service from kajeet for themselves. They have kajeet for their kids, like the phones, want a service without a contract, and would like to manage multiple lines from a single account. Many adults also like our controls – they want to block certain numbers and stop the phone from waking them up at night!
The challenge is that our plans are heavy on texting and light on talk. For good reason! Kids tend to text far more than they talk.
Well, we are running a test to see if all these parent inquiries really represent interest. Here are the plans we are testing:
- 500 anytime minutes and 100 text messages for $19.99
- 1,000 anytime minutes and 100 text messages for $29.99
- Unlimited talk and text for $50.00.
All of this with a high quality nationwide digital network that delivers some of the best coverage around. This test is going to run through January 26th, 2010.
Existing kajeet customers can take advantage of these plans by calling kajeet customer care at 1-866-452-5338. You do not need to purchase a new handset to take advantage of these plans.
New customers can purchase any kajeet phone through customer care and ask the care agent to put you on one of these plans. Customers that want to purchase a new phone can do so through our care sales team at 1-888-525-3383.
Are these plans of interest to you? We would welcome your feedback!
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