Things to consider when keeping your family connected
Whether it’s down to a parent who works away or a teenager who’s always out in the evenings with friends, mobile phones can be an important part of family life. The ability to stay in touch with one another even when we’re not together can help to maintain strong bonds between members of the family.
Particularly in families with younger kids, it can be wise for families to choose their mobile plans in conjunction with one another. Here, we take a look at several things to look out for when connecting your family via a mobile network.
Coverage
The ability to reach one another at any time of day is quite an important aspect of family life. While most of the country is now pretty well connected on mobile networks, there remain a few black spots which can make life difficult.
Be sure to test for signal in your family home in order to ensure that these black spots don’t affect your family. According to an infographic by Mobile by Sainsbury’s, 37% of mums think their mobile phone is important because it helps them keep close to their family so don’t let poor coverage diminish this.
Same network deals
In some cases, you can receive reduced rates when calling the same network. Alternatively, you may be able to select some mobile numbers and receive special rates when speaking to them. This can be hugely beneficial to families who speak to one another on a regular basis as texting and calling friends and family both made it into the top three things mum said they do with their mobiles in the research from Mobile by Sainsbury’s.
Bonus deals
It may sometimes be the case that deals can offer your family something extra, unrelated to your phone contracts. In the case of this winter deal from Mobile by Sainsbury’s, the double points can go towards treats which all of the family can enjoy, particularly over the festive period. They produced an infographic on this with the £180 families could save being equivalent to the cost of 2 family meals at Cafe Rogue or one family trip to Legoland with lunch included.
Don’t leave out the little ones
It’s no secret that kids are getting to grips with technology at a younger age than ever before. Kids are growing up today in a world which is reliant upon technology and we shouldn’t be surprised when they take an interest in it.
The Guardian has come up with a helpful guide to help parents make the right decisions regarding handsets for their kids. The decision on the correct tariff is down to you and you may want to start them off with a Pay As You Go tariff which will allow you to limit the amount their spend by giving them a weekly or monthly budget and taking control of topping-up for them yourself.
Limitations
The task of keeping the kids’ mobile use in check is something which is different in each household.
While each parent will take a different view on how much their kids should be able to use a phone, they key for each of them lies in speaking directly to the kids themselves, highlighting the dangers and worries, as well as the advantages. A shocking 50% of mums admitted they checked their mobiles before saying good morning to their partners in the research by Mobile by Sainsbury’s so perhaps you should consider your own mobile phone habits first before addressing those of your child?
* This post is a PR collaboration *
