Occasionally I will be asked to review a new tool for accountability, but mostly I find them on my own. In this case, I was approached by the CEO of Saavi to take a look at their accountability software. I was kind of hesitant to present another product to my readers, but now I feel it can’t hurt to let you know of another tool.
Accountability software is meant to record and report your online activity to an accountability partner. Knowing that someone has access to your website visits, it helps you to stay away from whatever it is that you struggle with. Saavi Accountability software can be set up to notify your accountability partner when you hit on a site that deals in Gambling, Games, Hate, Sexually Explicit, or Violence. These are the general categories that will generate an email or text message to your partner.
Saavi software can also alert your accountability partner to certain applications such as file sharing, games or VOIP. You can also set the software to catch keyword phrases if you have problems with vices such as drinking or drugs.
I installed the software on a laptop computer then configured the standards online. I also input my cell number and email account for notification, but these will be assigned to your accountability partner. Now it was time to test the software.
My first test was to go to Google to do a few searches. My first search was for ‘porn’. Within a minute I received a text message stating that the named computer had looked at google.com which contained the flagged keyword ‘porn’. Wow, that was quick! I also received an email right behind the text message. To prevent any temptations, I limited the rest of my test to normal usage.
I checked my email, logged into this site, and did some internet searches. I received 3 more text messages. The software flagged pornography and porn. I guess my own website can trigger an alert, but the good thing is you can see the context of which the word was found. In my alerts, I saw that my email triggered the word and also this website. Nothing to be concerned about here.
So I went back to Saavi’s online dashboard and looked at the reports. The reports are top notch! You see the email alerts and text alerts that were sent. You can also see what videos were watched and what searches were performed and where. If your computer has multiple users set up you can see which user watched the videos, did the searching or visited questionable sites.
One thing I must mention is that you need to configure the standards along with your accountability partner. I found that the MSN homepage has the word ‘porn’ embedded in it somewhere and I would get an alert every time someone in my house hit the MSN homepage. There is a simple fix to work out these types of bugs on the control panel by either rating the site safe or adding the site to your do not scan list.
In conclusion, I think Saavi Accountability software is very good if you want to be accountable for your internet activity in regards to pornography addiction. The best part of the software is the instant alerts to your accountability partner to get instant help in time of temptation. The reporting is simple and provides enough information to create discussions however often you and your partner get together. The only sticky part of Saavi is working out the bugs like I had to with the MSN homepage, but that is minor all things considered.
I can whole heartily recommend Saavi Accountability Software because it simply works well. You can purchase Saavi and download it instantly by going to SaaviAccountability.com. Please mention Battleplan in the promotion code box to help support my website. Thank you.
