Copyright: ©2003 BioNet Systems, LLC
Citation: ©2003 BioNet Systems, LLC


Welcome

Net Nanny's Chat Monitor discretely monitors and records popular chat and instant messaging programs, notifies parents when their child is in a potentially risky conversation, limits time spent online chatting, and enables parents to secure identity-related information such as names, phone numbers, bank account and credit card numbers.

Key Benefits:

•	Know exactly what your children are saying online

•	Reduce risk of exposure to online predators

•	Control time spent chatting online

•	Secure the software from tampering

•	Easy to use and customizable


Starting and Stopping Chat Monitor

Visible Installation

You can start and stop Chat Monitor from either the system tray menu or from within the Chat Monitor Settings window.

To stop and start from the system tray menu

1.	Click the Chat Monitor icon in the system tray.

2.	From the menu, choose Stop Chat Monitor or Start Chat Monitor.

Whenever you stop or disable the program, it remains that way until you start it again. It does not automatically start when Windows or your computer restarts (reboots).

Stealth Installation

You can only start and stop Chat Monitor from within the Chat Monitor Settings window.

To stop or start from Chat Monitor Settings

1.	Open the Chat Monitor Settings window.

2.	Select or clear the Chat Monitor On or Chat Monitor Off options at the top of the window.

3.	Close the window when done.


Contacting Technical Support

The technical support team helps customers both through one-to-one communication and by maintaining a self-help website. The team provides:

•	A comprehensive website available 7 days a week, 24-hours a day at www.netnanny.com.

•	Direct, one-to-one assistance by e-mail from 8:00 am to 5:00 pm Pacific Standard Time. Send email to support@netnanny.com

•	Pay-as-you-go telephone support from 8:00am to 8:00pm Central Standard Time. Call 1-800-350-9859. To receive phone support for your product, please have a Visa, MasterCard, Discover, or American Express card ready, as you will be charged $19.95 for this call.


Changing Email Settings

You can change the email address where you receive email alerts, email reports and security emails containing changes to the program’s security settings, at any time.

To change email settings

1.	Open the Chat Monitor Settings.

2.	From the File menu, choose Change Email Settings.

3.	Make the necessary changes.

4.	Send yourself a test email message to verify your changes.

What is SMTP and why do I need to provide information about a SMTP server?

Short for Simple Mail Transfer Protocol, a protocol for sending e-mail messages between computers (servers). Most e-mail systems that send mail over the Internet use SMTP to send messages from one server to another. When you are installing Chat Monitor, you will be prompted to specify the SMTP server name or address for your email provider, by choosing it from a list. If your provider is not on the list provided, you will need to contact your email provider to get the information and then type it into
Chat Monitor.


Changing Security Measures

Security measures include the password, the authentication questions, the time synchronization with an atomic clock, and if you chose a stealth installation, the hotkey combination. You can changes these at any time within the Chat Monitor Settings, from the File menu.

To change a security measure

1.	Open Chat Monitor Settings

2.	From the File menu, choose one of the following:

•	Change Hotkey (Stealth installation only)

•	Change Password

•	Change Questions

•	Change Time Zone

3.	On the window that opens, make the necessary changes.

4.	Click OK to save your changes and close the window.


List Updates

The most current list update is posted in the Support section of the Net Nanny website. You can download the update to your desktop and then “import” it into your Chat Monitor program.

1.	Go to www.netnanny.com.

2.	Choose Support.

3.	On the Support page, choose Chat Monitor.

4.	On the Chat Monitor page, click the link to download the list to your desktop.

5.	After the download completes, open the Chat Monitor Settings.

6.	From the File menu, choose List Update.

7.	When prompted, locate the file you downloaded on your desktop and select it.

8.	Click Open to add the file to Chat Monitor.


Updating the Software

Periodically, new versions of the software are made available that include fixes for defects or small enhancements to functionality. You can keep your software current using the Update Software Wizard.

Important: Updating the Chat Monitor requires a restart of your computer.

To update the software

1.	Open the Chat Monitor Settings.

2.	From the File menu, choose Update Software.

3.	Follow the instructions. The process finishes with a restart of your computer.


Turning Features Off and On

You can turn Chat Monitor features off and on from the main Program Settings window.

•	Allow selected chat programs. This features globally turns on and off the support for the chat and instant messenger programs listed within the program. The programs each have an individual status of Allowed or Blocked. When you turn this feature off, your current settings of Allowed and Blocked for the individual programs are retained, but not in effect. All programs are “blocked” while this feature is turned off. When you turn it back on, all programs retain their previous designations of blocked or allowed.

•	Record All Chat Activity. This feature globally turns on and off the recording of individual chat conversations. If there are no recordings, there are also no summary reports created.

•	Create a Summary Report. This feature globally turns on and off the creation of a summary report consisting of information derived from individual recordings of chat and instant messenger conversations. When this feature is off the summary report is empty.

•	Email the Summary Report. This feature globally turns on and off the sending of the summary report by email. You may decide to suspend receiving the summary report for several days, perhaps during a family vacation.

•	Filter Keywords in Chat. This feature globally turns on and off the keyword filtering capability of the program, including any actions you have selected for when Chat Monitor detects keywords in a chat or instant messenger conversation.

•	Record System Activity. This feature globally runs on and off the recoding of events related to chatting, such as tampering attempts or email delivery failures. When this feature is turned off, the system log is empty.

To turn features on and off

1.	Open the Chat Monitor Settings.

2.	Select and clear the options as necessary.

3.	Click Close.

4.	When prompted, save your changes.


Displaying Messages to Users

Chat Monitor includes several customizable messages that you can choose to display to users who chat on your computer. This includes a message when Windows starts, a message when a user starts a chat conversation, and a message when a user attempts to chat when chatting is not allowed.

To display a message at Windows start up

1.	Open the Chat Monitor Settings window.

2.	Select the Display monitoring message to user at start up check box at the bottom of the window.

3.	Click Edit to create your message.

4.	Click OK to save your message.

To display a message when an attempt is made to access a blocked program

1.	Open the Chat Monitor Settings window.

2.	From the item list in the top left corner, select Allow Chats and Instant Messengers.

3.	Under the list of chats and instant messengers, click Options.

4.	In the Message Options window, select the check box and type your personal message.

5.	Click OK.

To display a message when chatting is not allowed per a time schedule

1.	Open the Chat Monitor Settings window.

2.	From the item list in the top left corner, select Allow Chats and Instant Messengers.

3.	Under the list of time periods, click Options.

4.	In the Schedule Options window, select the check box.

5.	Optionally, personalize the message.

6.	Click OK.


Viewing Individual Recordings

You can view recordings by selecting then from the Chat Session Log.

Important: Be sure that Word Wrap is enabled for Notepad as this makes the information easier to read. To enable Word Wrap, select it from the Format menu in Notepad. A check mark appears on the menu when Word Wrap is enabled.

To view a recording

1.	Open the Chat Monitor Settings.

2.	On the main window, select Chat Session Logs from the list in the top left corner.

3.	From the table, select a specific recording.

4.	Click View.

5.	Optionally print the recording by choosing Print from the File menu in Notepad.

6.	Close Notepad when you are done viewing/printing the recording.

To manage the Chat Session Logs

1.	Open the Chat Monitor Settings.

2.	On the main window, select Chat Session Logs from the list in the top left corner.

3.	Optionally, do one or more of the following:

•	To delete one record in the log, select it and click Delete.

•	To manually delete all records in the log, click Delete All.

•	To change the automatic deletion of the log by changing the number of days the log is stored, specify a different value from 1 to 999 days. The default value is 180 days.


Managing Keywords

Chat Monitor includes lists (High Risk, Personal Information, Other) of keywords that can be detected within chat and instant messenger conversation. When detected, Chat Monitor takes actions based on options that you specify.

When Chat Monitor is first installed, keyword detection and filtering is turned off.

To turn on keyword filtering

1.	Open the Chat Monitor Settings.

2.	On the main window, locate the link Filter keywords in chat and select the On option.

Important: By default, the only action Chat Monitor will take is replacing keywords and phrases from the High Risk and Other lists as they are typed with an asterisk character. If you want Chat Monitor to take different action or if you want Chat Monitor to prevent personal, identifying information from being used in an online conversation, you must specifically choose those settings.

To choose what actions you want Chat Monitor to take when a keyword is detected

1.	Open Chat Monitor Settings.

2.	On the main window, select Filter Keywords in Chat Conversations from the list in the top left corner.

3.	Choose the list of keywords you want to modify from the Display Keywords list box at the top of the window. The list displays in the window.

4.	Click Options.

5.	Make your selections for the selected list.

6.	Click OK.

7.	Repeat steps 3-6 for additional lists.

To add, edit or delete keywords

1.	Open Chat Monitor Settings.

2.	On the main window, select Filter Keywords in Chat Conversations from the list in the top left corner.

3.	Choose the list of keywords you want to modify from the Display Keywords list box at the top of the window. The list displays in the window.

4.	Do any of the following:

•	To add a new keyword, click Add.

•	To edit an existing keyword, select it and click Edit.

•	To delete an existing keyword, select it and click Delete.

5.	Repeat steps 3 and 4 for additional lists.


Viewing the Summary Report

The Summary Report contains highlights of the online chatting activity that has occurred for a specified time period. You can choose different options for the report, including having it sent to you on a regular basis by email.

To choose Summary Report Options

1.	Open the Chat Monitor Settings.

2.	On the main window, select Summary Report from the list in the top left corner.

3.	Select Options.

4.	Choose options as needed.

5.	Click OK to close the window


Managing the System Log

The system log records events that occur on the PC where Chat Monitor is installed that relate to possible tampering attempts as well as items that may need corrective action, specifically email delivery failures from Chat Monitor to your specified email address.

To manage the system log

1.	Open the Chat Monitor Settings.

2.	On the main window, select System Log from the list in the top left corner.

3.	Use the scroll bars to view the contents of the log.

4.	Optionally, do one or more of the following:

•	To delete one record in the log, select it and click Delete.

•	To manually delete all records in the log, click Delete All.

•	To change the automatic deletion of the log by changing the number of days the log is stored, specify a different value from 1 to 999 days. The default value is 180 days.


Allowing and blocking programs

You can choose to block and allow various chat and instant messenger programs at all times or you can allow access to some or all chat and instant messenger programs based on a day of the week and time of the day schedule.

In addition, you can set up a schedule and then turn the whole schedule off and on. This is useful, for example, if you only want to restrict access to chatting online during the school year and not on school holidays. The schedule applies to only those chat and instant messenger programs that have a status of allowed (not blocked.)

To block or allow a chat or instant messenger

1.	Open the Chat Monitor Settings

2.	On the main window, select Allow Chat and Instant Messengers from the list in the top left corner. The list of programs appears at the top of the window. Programs that are allowed have a green circle icon next to them.

3.	Do one of the following:

4.	To block a program, select it and click Block.

5.	Do one of the following:

•	If you want to have Chat Monitor allow and block programs as you have indicated, be sure the check box Allow users to chat with these programs is selected.

•	If you want to choose settings but not have Chat Monitor enforce them, be sure to clear the Allow users to chat with these programs check box.

You can set up a schedule of time periods when users of your computer are allowed to chat online using only the chat and instant messenger programs you have specified. When the schedule is enabled (turned on) chatting in chat rooms or with instant messengers is allowed only during those time periods you have specified and only in the programs that have a status of Allowed.

To add an allowed time period

1.	Open the Chat Monitor Settings.

2.	On the main window, select Allow Chat and Instant Messengers from the list in the top left corner.

3.	Click Add at the bottom of the window.

4.	Choose the time and the day for the allowed time period.

5.	Click OK.

6.	Repeat for additional time periods.


Change Email Settings

Email Address

Type the email address where you want keyword detection alerts, changes to security information, and activity summary reports sent.

Retype Email Address

Type your email address a second time to confirm you have typed it correctly. You cannot copy and paste your email address into this box.

SMTP Server

This box contains a list of email servers from which you can choose. The server you select must match the server of your email provider. For many email accounts, it is very easy to select the correct server from the list. For example if you have a Hotmail email, choose the Hotmail server.

Not every server is listed. If you cannot determine which to select, you will need to contact your email provider and ask what the server address is. Once you have that, you can type it into this box.

Test Email

It is strongly recommended that you always send a test message to the email address you have specified.

My email server requires authentication

Some email servers require users to provide their account name (user name) and a password. By selecting this check box, you enable the Account Name and Password boxes where you can type your information.

Account Name

Type your email account name in the box.

Password

Type your email password in the box.


Change Hotkey

Hotkey Sequence

Type a number or a character to personalize the hotkey.

Send me an email containing my new hotkey for my records

It is strongly recommended that you always send this email to yourself.


Change Password

Old Password

Type your current password in the box.

New Password

Type a new password, 4-12 characters in length, in the box. You cannot use the same password again.

Retype New Password

Type your new password a second time to confirm that you know it.

Send me an email containing my password for my records

It is strongly recommended that you always send this email to yourself.


Change Authentication Questions

Question 1

Select a question from the list.

Answer 1

Type a one word answer in the box.

Question 2

Select a question from the list. Question 2 must be different from Question 1.

Answer 2

Type a one word answer in the box.

Send me an email containing my questions and answers for my records.

It is strongly recommended that you always send this email to yourself.


Change Time Zone

Yes I want Chat Monitor to keep the date and time of my PC current by synchronizing with an atomic clock server on the Internet

Select if you want Chat Monitor to update the date and time each time a new online conversation begins.

Confirm your time zone

Select the correct zone from the list.


Add or Edit a chat session

Start Time

Choose the hour, minute and time of day you want the session when chatting is allowed to start. The start time cannot be after the end time.

End Time

Choose the hour, minute and time of day you want the session when chatting is allowed to start. The end cannot be before the start time.

On these days

Choose one or more of the check boxes to define on what days you want the session to occur.


Search

Search for

Type a word or phrase in the box.

Find results with ALL words

This is the default. When selected, the search finds individual recordings that include all words typed in the search box.

Find results with the EXACT phrase

When selected, the search finds only those recordings that contain the exact phrase typed in the search box.

By date

Select to enable searching by date.

In the

Select to specify a pre-defined date range to search within.

Between

Select to specify a custom date range to search within.


Options for Keywords

Types of Keywords

Select one of the three types of keywords from the list: High Risk, Personal Information, Other.

Replace keywords used in conversation with an asterisk (*).

Select to have Chat Monitor mask characters typed by one or both parties in a conversation with the asterisk symbol.

Send email alert after <insert number> keywords are used in conversation.

Select to send an email alert to the administrator after one or both parties in the conversation have used a specific number of keywords and phrases.

Display a message to the user after <insert number> keywords are used.

Select to display a personalized message after one or both parties in the conversation have used a specific number of keywords and phrases.

Message box

Type a personalized message to display to the user chatting online.

End chat communication after <insert number> keywords are used

Select to end the chat or instant messenger conversation after one or both parties in the conversation have used a specific number of keywords and phrases.

Block user access to ALL chat and instant messenger programs until administrator allows (unblocks) them.

Select to shutdown all online conversations in programs monitored by Chat Monitor after one or both parties in the conversation have used a specific number of keywords and phrases.

Block user access to ONLY the one chat or instant messenger program that has communication terminated, until the administrator allows (unblocks) it.

Select to shutdown only the one conversation in the specific program monitored by Chat Monitor after one or both parties in the conversation have used a specific number of keywords and phrases.


Change Program Startup Message

Display the default message each time Windows starts.

Select to display the default message “Chat conversations on this PC may be monitored” on the desktop to the user when Windows starts.

Display a customized message each time Windows starts.

Select to display a personalized message “Chat conversations on this PC may be monitored” on the desktop to the user when Windows starts.


Message Options

Display a message to the user when an attempt is made to access a chat program that is blocked.

Select to display a personalized message on the desktop to the user when the user tries to chat or use an instant messenger when a specific chat or instant messenger has been blocked.


Schedule Options

Display a message to the user when time expires.

Select this check box if you want to warn users that their time chatting online has expired.

Display a message to the user when an attempt is made to access a chat program during a time period when chat is not allowed.

Select this check box to display either the default or a personalized message to users who want to chat or use an instant messenger outside of the allowed time schedule.


Add or Edit a Keyword

Category

Select one of the three categories from the list: High Risk, Personal Information, or Other.

Type

This box only becomes available when you have selected the Personal Information category of keywords.

Information to block

Type the words or phrase you want Chat Monitor to detect within chat or instant messenger conversations.


Summary Report Options

Create the summary report at this time

You can choose between having Chat Monitor create the report once a day at a time you specify or every few hours.

On these days

You can choose on what days you want to receive the summary report.

Email the summary report after it is created

You can choose between three different email options.

•	First, you can choose to not have the report sent at all by email. You can still view it online through the Chat Monitor Settings.

•	Second, you can choose to have the summary report emailed to you without any individual recordings. You still get the high level information, just not the detail of one or more individual conversation recordings.

•	Third, you can choose to receive both the summary report and individual recordings of online conversations. Because some email providers have size limitations on the emails they accept, you have the option to compress the recordings, which increases the likelihood that your email provider will accept them.