It's every parent's dream. A way of keeping track of their children. Twenty-four hours a day. Seven days a week. Without - a key issue with children today - embarrassing them.

Michele Elliott, Director of Kidscape Children’s Charity, recently voted Charity of the Year, says it will give parents "greater peace of mind" and "may actively reduce the risk of a child being abused or abducted. It will help keep your child safe," she says.

Playing a key role in the background: Hopewiser’s address management technology. The parent’s dream come true is KidsOK, a mobile mapping service that enables them to locate their child by means of their mobile phone and a satellite navigation system.

• Parents want to know where their child is located. They text their request to the dedicated shortcode 60777. 

• They text the word 'PING' followed by their child's name.

• In about 60 seconds they receive a map showing the location of their child's phone.

• If the parent's phone is unable to receive a picture of the map, they receive instead a text message detailing the location.

Says Peter Stent, Managing Director of KidsOK, "It’s the ultimate peace of mind product. Parents obviously want to know where their children are. Our system enables them to track their children to within 50 yards of where they are.

"Children say they are going to visit friends in Chalfont St. Giles. Our system enables parents to see which particular house they are in in Chalfont St. Giles. "But more than that. It enables parents to check without embarrassing their children. There is no direct telephone call. There is no message. There is no buzz or alarm.

"All they do is request the location of their children. The system provides them with the information they want.

"Children also like the system because it is not intrusive. It is not embarrassing. They dislike the intrusion of a direct call or a text from their parents when they are with their friends. But research shows they like the idea of their parents knowing where they are.

"Our location service gives peace of mind to both children and parents. It’s the perfect solution."

KidsOK, which can be implemented by all four mobile phone operators, Vodafone, O2, Orange and T-Mobile, has strict procedures when it comes to enrolling parents and children.

"Security is critical," says Peter Stent, "we have to make certain that we identify the parents or fosters or guardians. We also have to make certain that non-parents don’t have access to the system. That is why we have used Hopewiser from the beginning.

"With Hopewiser we are able to confirm names and addresses. After that we confirm telephone numbers, bank details and so on.

"It’s more than the usual address check. It protects the child. It ensures the wrong people don’t have access to the system. It also ensures the security of the whole service."

Once the parents have been security checked, they are then given their own activation code. It’s only after the code has been received and texted back to KidsOK from the parents phone that the service is activated.

Children not only have to agree to take part in the service, they also are regularly reminded by text messages direct to their phones that they are still part of the service and that they can opt out at any time.

Says Michele Elliott of Kidscape "We feel Kidscape has been able to play an effective role in shaping a service industry to enhance the safety of children in connection with location devices. We are pleased that our experience has been brought to bear in this critical area. With KidsOK we have found partners who understand the need to minimise the risk of abuse of the services and we look forward to continuing to work with them.

"The KidsOK product will help to keep your child safe. Kidscape endorses the product and will continue to work with the KidsOK team to ensure that security provisions are kept as high as possible. Parents deserve no less."

Says Peter Stent, "Hopewiser have been terrific. One assumes from the beginning that their software works and it does. In micro-seconds. There can be no higher praise. It does what it says on the box. The information is always accurate and up-to-date.

That is also vital in such a security sensitive area as child protection."