I see one has the ability to enable or disable features per line like texting, data usage and so on from the dashboard. It would be very useful to be able to set limits on usage to help keep the kids in control and teach them to manage their usage. You already track usage per line and you have the disables, you just need to add the limits and compares.
enable usage limits for each device (data, calls, texting)
Michael Roberts
Comments
Michael, This is a great idea. I also hope Ting could add per line limits. Especially for the kids lines!
+1
(Would prefer prepaid plans, but this would be sufficient.)
I don't see a need for prepaid plans on Ting but I do agree with having the ability to set limits to a particular phone line within the Ting panel. For example, I intend on sharing a data connection with my partner at some point soon. I know enough about android and IT in general that I can limit my usage and trust myself to keep it down. Can't say that for the partner or in another circumstance, a child. We already have the option to disable certain features on a phone; manual limits (hey, kid you can't use more than 20mb of my budgeted 100mb or whatever) is a very good idea that Ting should seriously consider implementing within the next 90 days.
Any news on this particular feature? Would love to see it added since when I plan on moving over, I'll have four people including myself on my plan. Having per line limits would be excellent to say the least.
The team is working on a "2nd Generation Control Panel" now. This new version takes into account a lot of the feedback we've had since launch with particular emphasis on making the control panel even better for people with lots of devices and people looking to have more control over individual phones within an account. That includes setting limits on usage per phone.
We'll release various elements of the new control panel separately over the next few months and I'm pretty confident we'll have all the features out before Labor Day. We don't ship stuff unties it's working right though, so that's not a firm promise. Only the team itself gets to say when it's ready to ship!
Sounds good Ken! Thank you for the great answer and I appreciate it being so quick as well. Cannot wait to switch!
+1
If you get any updated timeframes please let us know. I have a child with SMS control issues. I got her the phone to use but she is a bit out of control. Would be nice to tell her she has X amount per month and me not be the bad guy for cutting her off mid-month. She would have to meter hereself and blame herself if she used them all before months end.
In addition to per line limits, it would be very nice to see per-line or "sub account" logins that can view the usage of just that line, so that individual users/groups could view their usage without having access to the entire account's details usage (sensitive information). Optionally, it would be nice if the primary account could toggle just total account summary statistics (with or without per line totals).
For kids phone it would be great. Especially if you could place daily limits, only allow texting, or only allow calling the main number. It could actually be implemented programatically on the android.
Keith, you could always get her an android phone and give her NO TEXT MESSAGES. Then she'd have to use the free text messaging apps (like google voice) to send/recieve messages. And if you blocked data, she could only do it where she had wifi. It would limit her. Also, there are other solutions. How many text messages is she using?
Sub accounts are on our development backlog! Our "Official" Android app may offer functionality like this. Thanks!
I'm glad this is going to be implemented. I think it'll be a great addition.
@Shaun: I agree with limits but the ability to still call the main number. Another options would be to add limits but also enter "opt out" numbers for the limits. So kids usage could be limited, but their parents could still call them and/or they could call their parents. While I may want to restrict a child's usage I certainly don't want them to be unable to contact me or me contact them because they've reached their limit.
Now that per line limits exist in the new dashboard I have one feature I would love to see added. Being able to warn my child at one number of texts and shut her off and a bit higher is great. It worked great this month. She pouted but didn't blame me. The one thing I noticed was that if texting is disabled because the limit was hit, it does not automatically re-enable after a new month begins. As a programmer I understand the additional labor and complexity this adds. If I missed something and it already works that way then great.
@Shaun
The cost of the texts are not really the issue. I'm not rich but texts are cheap and I make them pay for them. The issue is learning personal control. I also am of the belief that children lack the ability to talk to other face to face or on the phone and that is an important skill. Being able to control tone and inflections is your voice is just as important as what you are saying when on a voice call. It will actually cost me more by turning off texting and forcing them to voice but worth it to me. I do have an 11 year old that is using an old T-Mo phone that isnt acive attached to my wifi and google voice. She can make and receive voice calls and SMS when she has internet.
Thank you Ting for implementing my suggestion. I agree with Keith that the disabled features should automatically reset at the beginning of a new cycle. It would also be nice to get a text when it's re-enabled. Could that just be added as another alert type? When usage hits 0, then I could have the option to enable the feature and/or email or text? The beauty of doing it this way is that you don't have to remember if a feature was disabled because of an alert or not, it's totally configurable by us and would satisfy everyone's needs.
We'll probably look at adding an additional Alert option, namely "Disable until end of this Billing Period" in the future as it does make sense.
Awsome!
OK, I fail at spelling... I mean Awesome!
As it is now, the per line limit isn't going to work so well for me. It appears that data usage is being logged about 6 days behind. By the time someone hits the limit, they still have 6 days worth of data yet to show up. A lot of data can happen in 6 days. Any thoughts about reducing the latency?
There's currently a bit of a delay on data usage logging (which you can read about at https://help.ting.com/entries/22031301-data-usage-reports-are-delayed). We're hoping to have the backlog cleared up soon, at which point the per line limits should work properly again.
I don't see this "per line limit" functionality in the dashboard at all. All I see is the ability to send alerts... is the functionality currently in place?
In the Add Alert dialog, the "When" dropdown, choose a specific device and a Disable area will appear in the bottom right.
Ah... that makes sense. I was looking at the account side, to disable it for all phones...
hey, when I click the link about data usage reports being delayed, it gives a Zendesk error and says I don't have access to the topic.
Hey Virginia, that was an old post (from 2012) that we've archived because it has since been resolved. We receive data usage from Sprint®* in a timely manner, although from time-to-time (rarely), we could receive a packet of data a couple of days late.
*Sprint is a trademark of Sprint.
Thanks Brennan! I was curious about how long it took for data usage to show up and I didn't notice the date stamp. I am so impressed with Ting, by the way! Everything about it is a breath of fresh air. There's nothing else like it. You guys are amazing!
I see it's been a while since this has been updated. Any word on adding a per line cutoff on the Alerts so that one wouldn't have to shut all devices off when a cap is met? I think this could be a huge selling feature for referrals. I was actually just telling someone this was a thing before I double checked.
Anyway, to summarize:
The Alerts should be able to disable a single device (like the kids cell phone) after a usage limit is met.
Thanks!
Hi Kevin. Our alerts do allow you to disable just the feature on one device, or the account when a limit is reached. You also have the choice to leave the device or feature disabled until you reactivate it manually or to automatically re-enable at the start of your next billing period.
Good suggestions and posts from customers and response from Ting; a reason why I am in process of joining
I love ting for my kids so far. So I have disabled their internet usage (they don't need it ) they use wifi where available. if we are out then I set up so they can use my unlimited as a tether. Also i use an app called line. my phone service does not work all the time at my job doesn't matter the service but they can use that to reach me for small things . And it is free so they can call me thru it and text me thru it and video chat except their phones don't have that capability. So their 100 minute and 100 text limits can be saved. they use for friends who don't have LINE or KIK and emergency and grandmas.....
I would also love to see Ting Widgets that could be put on the Android desktop that shows minutes, messages, and megs per device. Something in the face. As the owner, I would love mine to show my usage and on the next line, total account usage. It would be awesome
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