Always Have a Plan B

Update: Brian's phone was recovered yesterday in one of the bathrooms in the school. Although the phone was missing its SIM card, the phone was otherwise okay. Yay!

So you lost your cell phone, or it got stolen...now what??

This is the question that Brian and I were forced to ask ourselves after one of his students stole his cell phone off of his desk yesterday. So that he wasn't charged for any phone calls or internet usage that was incurred while his phone was out of his possession, his mom went on and shut down the phone until we figured out how to pursue it.

If you are ever in this situation, don't completely freak out. Before you have the phone shut off, go online and search the Prey Project. Prey allows you to remotely download an app to your device that will then ping its location to your email account allowing you to trace the phone. Another app that we tested through Kassie was Plan B. Plan B is a little bit different from Prey in that when you download Plan B to your phone, the download appears on the screen, so if the person happens to be looking at the phone at the time, they will be able to cancel the download. Prey on the other hand downloads secretly. However, as we found out last night, neither will download unless the phone is still working. Bummer.

Luckily for Brian, this has happened with other teachers that he works with over the years, and they have each gotten their phone back. The resource officer as well as the vice principle were going to talk to each of his classes today to try and have the phone returned before charges were pressed.

So instead of going through what Brian is dealing with, be smart and as soon as you get a phone, download a GPS app that you can log into online to track your phone if it is ever stolen. I am a fan of "Find iPhone" for people with iPhones like myself, or if you have an Android, Plan B and Prey should both work on your device.

The cool thing about Find iPhone and Prey is that not only will they track your phone, but they will track your laptop as well. Prey even allows you to remotely access your webcam and take a picture of the person using your laptop. How crazy is that?! Find iPhone also allows you to not only send a signal that makes your device beep in case you can't find it, but it also shows you a GPS coordinate of your device as well as allows you to remotely wipe your device if you are afraid of any information that someone might gain access to.

So, learn from us. Download a phone finder GPS app before something happens. Whether you simply forget your phone somewhere or you actually have it stolen, these apps are a lifesaver!