02 Dec 7 Electronic Communication Tools to Help You Stay in Contact with Your Child
Are you living apart from your child? Is keeping in touch high on your priority list? Whether you’re separated due to a divorce, marital separation, or if you’re in the military – living away from your child it doesn’t necessarily mean being out of touch. Due to the current state of technology, you can find out how your kids are doing in school, extracurricular activities, and you can even read them bedtime stories.
On the other side of the coin, you can discover how well they are being taken care of and offer comments and suggestions. Here are seven electronic communication tools to stay in contact with your child. As these are electronic tools, the catalyst is that you must have an electronic device on both ends. In other words, you need to have a tablet of some sorts, and your child (or your child’s caregiver) must also have an electronic device to complete communication.
1. Skype
Price: Free, Subscription Plans Available
Everyone knows about Skype. It is accessible, free and easy to use. With Skype, you get free PC to PC calls and free instant messaging and one app. You can connect using Skype on several different platforms, so it doesn’t matter if you’re using an Apple or Windows or vice versa.
This next feature is particularly useful if you’re overseas. You can pay Skype for a subscription to connect you to any phone – worldwide. Depending on the circumstances, this may be the most economical way to keep in touch. If there are cameras on both ends of the communication line, then video calls are also possible. The only downside of keeping Skype open on a PC (from what I can tell) is that it is resource hungry. In other words, only keep it open when you’re using it. Otherwise, it can appear that your computer runs slower while it is open.
2. Verbs IM
Price: $2.99
Verbs IM is a fantastic little app that brings together different instant messaging platforms. It’s not enough to say one person is on Facebook messenger, while another one is on AOL, yet a third one is on Windows messenger. They don’t talk to each other. However, if you had Verbs IM, it wouldn’t matter. Verbs IM allows you to communicate seamlessly across platforms using the ever-popular instant messaging protocol.
3. Facebook
Price: Free
Does Facebook really need an explanation? In this case, yes it does. In fact, many people still don’t use Facebook – and they don’t plan to. For those who do, the ever-popular social media platform is an excellent way to keep in touch. Share posts, pictures, and videos. In fact, Facebook just rolled out a brand-new set of tools of their own so you can host videos directly from within your Facebook account. Now, you don’t need to host them on YouTube and then connect it to your Facebook post. Personal videos like this can seem to be like a journal. It’s an excellent way to keep in touch and let each other know what’s going on and how you’re doing.
4. Tweetbot
$4.99
Tweetbot is an app that uses Twitter’s platform. Sure, you could use Twitter’s mobile app directly. However, you may find it lacking. Enter Tweetbot – a way to keep your tweets in a manageable form. Use Tweetbot to link to pictures, videos, and other things you may want to share.
5. Ink Cards
Price: Free
The app is free, but the rest is not. Ink Cards allow you to use your photos and customize greeting cards. The thing about this app is that you can order these cards to be made into real cards and mailed to the recipient. It’s relatively cheap – much more affordable than going to a store, purchasing a card and mailing it out. Plus, it saves you gobs of time.
6. Stitch (Stay in touch)
Price: Free
Stitch works directly with your contact list. This is nice because it sets reminders to keep in touch. By using a series of swipe motions, you can look at a contact and set a reminder to call them or otherwise contact them. Another motion will allow you to see how long it’s been since you last contacted a person. This is a wonderful way to remind you to keep in touch – no matter how busy you are.
7. Bond
Price: Free
I saved the best for last. Bond is an app that consolidates several different “stay in touch” apps. It will work for WhatsApp, Yahoo!, Facebook, LinkedIn, Gmail, basic text messaging, and even connect with your phone app. You can pre-schedule meetings and reminders to stay in touch. Bond is not the way to stay in touch. Instead, Bond lets you see and manage all of your “stay in touch” apps from one place.