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Of equal importance to website monitoring in our eyes--and in the eyes of most parents--is IM and chat monitoring.

Monitoring chats and IM conversations--even ones that are closed and that have had their local histories deleted--is another area where Spector Pro impresses.

Once a kid turns the volume down on their computer so the instant message notification sounds can't be heard, even a parent in the same room is unlikely to know what's going on just a few feet from them.

Given the immediacy of chat and instant message conversations, it takes next to nothing for an online predator, bully, or anyone else to get a hold of a child online.

These are a few of the reasons we believe so strongly in solid chat/IM recording for a program to be included among any of our best, top-rated parental control software, as Spector Pro is.

Once a parent is able to see who their kids are talking to online and what's being said, it can help a parent get an entirely new perspective on what their kids are up to.

What's toughest about Instant Messenger conversations is that they're both immediate and immediately closed. It takes only a blink for a kid to close a chat conversation and go back to what they were doing, but who were they talking to (and perhaps more importantly about what) when he or she saw you coming and closed the window?



As WebWatcher and Spector Pro's sibling eBlaster does, Spector Pro records all instant messages and chats, on both sides. Parents can block specific IM contacts once they decide that that contact isn't safe.

As you'd expect from a program like Spector Pro, it impressively records email, attachments and all, on the computer you're monitoring.

No matter if it's sent or received, Spector grabs a copy of the message for you to have a look at as you'd like.

We saw Spector Pro record every incoming and outgoing e-mail message including attachments, and even web-based emails are recorded for parents to review.

Even though we can't definitively say that Spector (or any parental control software for that matter) will work universally with all web-based emails, we're confident that it certainly should, as the email monitoring component is a solid part of Spector Pro.

Ah yes, the keylogger.

In the arsenal of tools parents need to monitor their child online, a software keylogger is a must. Luckily, Spector Pro includes an excellent one.

In many ways key logging software is a bit like a Swiss Army knife: it can do a ton of different things.

Key loggers can be a last line of defense in parental monitoring software because even if something isn't necessarily typed into an email or text message doesn't mean it isn't just as important.

Quite the contrary, in fact.

The most sensitive things may only be typed once, then printed and handed to someone, in which case monitoring software without a software keylogger component would miss these things.

Spector Pro's invisible keylogger captures every key typed on the PC in question, either online or offline, and records what application it was typed in.

Aside from documents and messages that don't get saved or sent to someone else, keyloggers are the only practical way to capture the usernames and passwords that kids use to login to inappropriate sites, hidden email accounts, or to purchase unapproved materials.

Once parental software is installed it's easy to see what's happening on a child's computer; however, without a keylogger it may be impossible to see the emails they've sent and received before the parental monitor was installed.

With a keylogger though, you can capture (some perhaps may "steal") their usenames and passwords and get access to old emails.

For some instances the software keylogger is a perfect tool, but what if your child just clicks links and never types anything?

This is what makes screen snapshots a must and is included in Spector Pro and WebWatcher alike, the two programs we consider the best parental control software on the market today.

This feature allows you to get a crystal-clear picture, literally, of exactly what your child was doing online.

Spector Pro has an innovative playback feature that, as they accurately describe it, gives you "VCR-like playback" of what happened on the computer you're monitoring.

What's interesting about the way Spector does it is that with the 'Event Sidebar' you're able to jump between different events without having to sit and watch everything that happens.

That part makes it more like a DVD player that lets you instantly jump from scene to scene on a DVD rather than a VCR where you can only fast-forward or rewind.

The end result of the screen snapshots feature is that you'll know what your child sees online, if he or she downloads inappropriate pictures or programs, or if they purchase something without your knowledge.

Spector Pro can limit the use of the Internet to certain time frames that are defined by mom and dad.

This way kids can't use the Internet at times other than when they're supposed to.

Even when kids don't have computers in their bedrooms, some will sneak to use the Internet in the middle of the night or at other times when they're not supposed to.

Spector Pro's time limiting features are effective and can help curb this and ensure they're only using the Internet when they're supposed to.

In the past we've given Spector Pro poor marks because it doesn't allow for remote access to data recorded from the PC being monitored, as WebWatcher does.

In our view, remote monitoring is a must to be considered among the parental control software today. So we asked this year, have they remedied this situation?

Sort of.

The Spector Pro license will allow parents to install a remote viewer module on a second computer, so long as it's within your own home network.

So as long as you're using another home computer, you can open the data files on your child's system and see everything they're up to.

This is definitely an improvement over no remote access or email-only (as with eBlaster), but it's still not as versatile as WebWatcher's view-from-anywhere capabilities.

Make no mistake true remote viewing as with WebWatcher allows parents to see what their kids are doing online from anywhere, but what SpectorSoft has done with the latest release makes it much more useful for computer monitoring and parental control software.

This is an essential tool for working parents or for those who can't always be at home when their child is online.

If you don't need a product with complete remote monitoring, Spector Pro's solution might be just the trick for your home.

In the case of Spector Pro, it does an excellent job of stealth and can operate as a completely invisible computer and Internet monitoring program.

We like this because we believe the idea of stealth in parental control software is smart because it leaves the decision up to the parents.

If a parent so chooses to disclose to their kids that they're being monitored, they can; if parental control software doesn't have this capacity, the parent can never decide what's best for their particular needs.

There are two schools of thought when it comes to parental control software and the notion of stealth and being invisible:

The first school of thought is that a parent should never disclose to their kids that they're being monitored when they use the computer.

The idea being that by keeping it a secret, you're much more likely to see what they really do at their computer and online.

The second school of thought is that a parent should always disclose to their kids that they're being monitored.

The idea being that by revealing it, you're letting them know they need to be on their best behavior even if/when you're not physically there.

The one thing about never disclosing monitoring software is that by doing so, it does tie parents' hands in website blocking, because to suddenly begin blocking websites would surely reveal that something was happening on the kid's PC.

As far as overall stealthiness goes, we'd rank Spector Pro on par with Spy Agent but not quite as good as WebWatcher because Spector seems to be more easily found with the best antivirus/antispyware programs.

It's worth saying, no software of this type should ever be believed to be completely undetectable, as someone with enough time, knowledge, and interest in learning if they're being monitored may be able to uncover that they're being monitored.

We believe, however, most families will most likely find that Spector Pro does an excellent job of stealth and being undetectable.

Spector Pro offers free tech support via email or phone, 24 hours a day and 7 days a week. You can't beat that.

Like WebWatcher, they also have an excellent "VIP" style support offering called, "Ultimate Care," which we're fans of.

"Ultimate Care" gives parents:

1. free upgrades for a year
2. free 24x7 phone tech support
3. free knowledgebase access
4. discounts on additional licenses and other Spector products (i.e. eBlaster for instance

Even without "Ultimate Care" (which they're offering for free right now) we think you'll find Spector's technical support staff prompt, friendly, and knowledgeable in answering questions.

We recommend it though if you're concerned about being able to install and/or operate the software on your computer and think you may need a little (or a lot) of extra tech support.

Spector Pro is an outstanding parental control / computer monitoring application, arguably one of the best two or three programs in the world for this purpose.

Because it is among the best parental control software out there, it has many ways it can help parents keep an eye on how their kids use their PCs and help keep their kids safe online.

We see only a couple of shortcomings to sully an otherwise outstanding review.

First and foremost, while Spector Pro has made some strides towards remote viewing, it is limited access when compared to WebWatcher.

Working parents are likely to find more robust remote monitoring makes it easier for them to keep an eye on their kids when they can't be in the home.

There's also the lack of content filtering before the fact. Spector Pro believes that it's more effective to block websites after parents have reviewed their child's online activities.

However, many parents would prefer that their parental control software program be more pro-active, and block materials before their kids can see them.

So for parents who don't mind blocking materials after their kids have accessed it, Spector Pro is a good solution.

If more aggressive form website blocking is needed other products like Net Nanny or WebWatcher offer this.