Need a app and call blocker for specific...

[Mountain6996]

I work at a theraputic community and we have a small fleet of vehicles and the drivers will be using android phones to communicate with the main house, where to go, who to pick up, etc...
I really need a way to "lock" the phone so that it can only make certain calls and recieve only certain calls, also would like to track the phones mobile locations via the gps. I found an app that looked as if it would work, only allowing what we decided they could use but I cannot find the info on it again. It was $50 or around there for 5-6 licenses a year etc...
We cannot afford much so that could be an issue but this one was fine and seemed to do everything we needed, I beleive the name started with an M or the like.
I am sorry I have not much more info but really need to find a program like this ASAP, again, we would like to block just about everything but certain calls outgoing and incoming and still be able to track them via gps.
Please help and thank you,

 

[MoodyBlues]

Welcome to Android Forums, Mountain6996!

We cannot afford much so that could be an issue but this one was fine and seemed to do everything we needed

I'm a little confused. If you've already found an appropriate app, and its price was agreeable...what do you need?

I beleive the name started with an M or the like.

Is that it? You've forgotten its name and can't find it now?

Please clarify.

 

[Mountain6996]

Yes, have forgotten the name of the first app we looked at and would also like any suggestions anyone may have
Thanks for the help in advance

 

[MoodyBlues]

Oh, okay. Do you recall what search terms you used? That would be helpful.

 

[svim]

If your therapeutic center happens to be a non-profit I was going to suggest G Suite for Nonprofits
https://www.google.com/nonprofits/offerings/apps-for-nonprofits/
but your need to restrict phone calls to only selected phone numbers is apparently something of a tall order for a free solution. Perhaps this listing of mobile device management software will jog your memory for that mystery 'M.......' package?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Mobile_Device_Management_software

 

[Dannydet]

Why not lay down the law and tell the drivers not to use for personal calls?

 

[MoodyBlues]

Why not lay down the law and tell the drivers not to use for personal calls?

Just a guess: people don't follow rules?

 

[Dannydet]

But if it's a place of work there's got to be a chain of command. They get call logs so each call can be tracked.... Am I barking up the wrong tree?

 

[MoodyBlues]

But if it's a place of work there's got to be a chain of command. They get call logs so each call can be tracked.... Am I barking up the wrong tree?

Yes. Unfortunately, that would only reveal the calls after the fact, while the objective is to prevent the calls from happening in the first place.

Also, don't lose sight of the whole package the OP wants; it's not just limiting calls.

 

[Mountain6996]

The whole issue is yes, they do not follow the rules and it is a nightmare to keep up with what they are doing and when. I will say this, it is a womens/mens community for addiction/some mental health, women and sometimes their children, 90 day DPS, Vet's 1 and 2 year, and long term (1year) and short term. One of the Biggest issues is the drivers, they are clients in the program, most of the times new clients at that. As of now we have "frog phones" that only dial certain numbers and although they should not have the phone number, they can find out and have people call them and will mess with them trying to find ways to use them other than the intended way. The phones we currently have are no longer going to be supported so we have to switch to ones that are, the idea was to find a way to use a smart phone and be able to lock it down so as to receive only certain calls from certain numbers (hidden?) and also be able to track them through GPS, one main issue is drivers who make stops that are not allowed so it would be nice to know where they are at all times.
Ultimately, a way to lock down everything but certain outgoing/incoming calls and be able to track them via GPS would be great, I have also used programs where you can control the camera and microphone remotely to see what is going on. Although it does come down to having the right people who do what they are supposed to and follow the rules, usually this is not the case, mainly unauthorized stops at the wrong places for the wrong reasons. We are trying to hire drivers but as a non-profit the money is tight and it may still come down to whether they follow the job description or not.
I can't thank you all for the help enough, this is a main goal of ours as if this can be done, it will make the whole house run so much smoother and more efficient if that makes sense.
Hope this helped....

 

[svim]

As you are a non-profit and there are budget issues than G Suite for Nonprofits will allow you to remotely control and manage those phones you're distributing, but the phone call limitation issue might be better handled using a parental control service, as a lot of them allow parents to restrict send/receive calls only from selected phone numbers. Using a combination of a MDM service and a parental control service should meet your needs, but again, that phone calling limitation is going to be an issue. There are free parental control services but most have limitations (on number of calls or number of installs, etc.), and with a free service you always need to research its background for privacy and security issues (developers often need to monetize 'free' offerings in some way). A plus being your nonprofit status can often involve deep discounts or a pass on things like subscription fees so it'll pay off to shop around.

 

[MoodyBlues]

I'm wondering if some sort of kiosk mode would work. I have zero experience with this myself, but I believe they can be used to eliminate access to everything except what the users should have. In other words, the drivers would see nothing but what you want them to see/use.

I vaguely remember a 'family tracking' feature I set up on one of my early Android phones, just for the hell of it. It had to be through Google...a quick search yielded this support page about it. The app is called Family Link, and is intended for parents to control what their children can do--and shows where they are. I don't know about any potential legalities using it for adults. The point really is, though, that this is doable. Maybe not with this app, but doable.