Family Internet Content Filtering
We at NTD Athenet are proud to offer the premier Internet filtering service to our subscribers. We have selected Bess® Internet filtering service, by N2H2, for our subscribers to guarantee that you get the most effective, easy-to-use Internet filtering solution available. Bess is now currently serving millions of people and thousands of organizations across North America.
Bess filtering blocks access to inappropriate materials on the Internet for families, schools, libraries, and businesses. This includes Websites containing pornography, bomb making, hate crime, violence, and any other objectionable material available on the Internet today.
Bess can be activated instantly. It simply adds on to your existing service. There is no software to load, no hardware to buy, and no downloading - we do that all for you. Follow the links below to learn more about Bess Internet Filtering Service.
Click a link below to learn more about N2H2's Filtering Methods and Philosophy.
What is Internet filtering?
The Internet has a proliferation of Web sites that promote in graphic detail subjects that most feel are inappropriate for the home, educational and corporate environments. These subjects include pornography, drug use, criminal activity, violence and hate-oriented material. Open chat areas are also a frequent source of inappropriate and even dangerous discussion that can threaten the safety of children and be unproductive for employees. Internet filtering is a way of blocking access to these types of Web sites. Bess Internet filtering solution is flexible and allows parents, educators, and employers to override the system, when necessary, by using a separate password.
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What type of filtering do we offer?
One approach is client-based software products, which, when loaded onto an individual computer, check specific Web site requests against a database of Web sites deemed inappropriate, and disallows the retrieval of the content. There are several drawbacks to client-based products. First, the users must load software onto the individual computer. It is immediately out of date because new objectionable sites appear on the Internet daily. Updates are usually available, but continually updating is troublesome to the user. They are often easy to bypass because they are loaded on the same computer they're protecting.
The approach we chose to use is server-based filtering which resides at the network level, so that each computer does not have to have software loaded. In our case, we have the filtering server hosted at our network and then we allow our subscriber access to it. This is the most practical approach, user automatically receive the most updated list of blocked sites daily. We at NTD Athenet feel that N2H2, developers of Bess, is the safest, most effective solution for our customers.
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Why did we choose Bess to offer our customers?
We chose Bess for several reasons:
It is far and away the most effective filtering solution available today. N2H2 combines sophisticated keyword searches with human review to identify objectionable material with precision. Their team of reviewers visually check thousands of sites each day to make sure their list of blocked sites is current and complete. They can block just portions of a site that are inappropriate-even single words--while leaving the rest of the site accessible. N2H2 has the world's largest list, numbering in the hundreds of thousands of blocked Web pages.
Bess is flexible. Authorized users can override the blocking system with a password and the list of blocked sites can be customized to fit the local standards.
Bess is a complete service, not just a software program. Instead of requiring our customers to buy additional hardware and/or software, load programs, and manage updates, N2H2 partners with us to do everything for you. If we provide your filtering service from our network server, you benefit from daily updates to the list of blocked sites and the peace of mind that you're getting the best filtering available with no management requirement on your part. Bess can be installed in your network. If you are a school, library, business, or other type of organization with your own network, N2H2 will work with us to install a Bess proxy server in your network. Again, we handle everything: installation, maintenance, and updating. N2H2 provides 24 hour/7 day a week online monitoring and technical support-another reason we chose Bess. The Bess server increases the speed and efficiency of your network. If you have a Bess server installed, your entire network runs faster and more efficiently. Each time an Internet request is made, Bess stores the site in its cache. The next time a user requests that site, it is retrieved from the cache rather than from the Internet. Since your LAN speed is much faster than Internet speed, your network users appreciate noticeably faster access to frequently requested sites. Also, because an average of 50% of Internet requests are repetitive, the congestion through your Internet gateway is reduced by 50%. Bess gives you much more efficient use of your existing bandwidth and can postpone or eliminate the need for expensive hardware-based expansion.
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How does Bess help families?
Perhaps in your household, the kids just jump on the Internet without saying anything. If you're like most parents, this makes you a little uneasy because objectionable material on the Internet is so prolific now it is difficult to avoid. Kids are curious-and they're going to find their way to sites you would rather they avoid.
Bess can give you the peace of mind you want as the parent of a Web-surfing youngster. Bess blocks sites that promote pornography, drug use, violence, and hate crimes. It also blocks open chat areas, where objectionable and even dangerous discussions can take place.
As a parent, you can override blocking at any time. The best thing about Bess, though, is that you can allow your child to freely explore the Internet without worrying about the safety of their experience. That's how it should be.
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How does Bess help schools and libraries?
Bess was designed specifically for the K-12 environment. With Bess, there is no software package for you to load, no hardware to purchase, no troubleshooting, no downloading or constant updating for you to do. We do all this for you. Bess is a turnkey Internet filtering service that's on duty 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. N2H2's staff of human "web browsers" uses specialized software tools to examine thousands of Internet sites daily. We then add objectionable sites to Bess' list of blocked Web pages, currently totaling in the hundreds of thousands, the largest filtered database available today.
Libraries can activate Bess on selected computers in their children's sections without affecting Internet use in other areas of the library. Most libraries appreciate N2H2's check-every-site approach. Their team of human "Web browsers" review each site individually, to determine whether or not it should be blocked, unlike other filtering methods that rely entirely upon programmed searches for specific words that fail to block inappropriate content and often block sites that are acceptable.
Since we review thousands of sites every day, your database of filtered sites is automatically updated nightly. This frees your technology coordinators from the enormous task of creating local files of blocked sites or downloading incomplete lists from various sources. Bess does it all for you.
Bess also reduces congestion on school networks by an average of 50% and speeds up Internet access. When you access Internet documents, they are automatically stored in Bess' cache, so that subsequent access of those sites is much faster. Each time sites are accessed, Bess sniffs out changes, retrieves the most recent version of the site, and updates the cache as needed.
For more information, please contact our Business Sales Department at (920) 954-9799.
How does Bess help businesses?
Internet filtering also has its place in businesses. Employers have found that as office workers have access to the Internet, productivity decreases because the temptation to spend time visiting non-productive Web sites on company time is too great to resist. Many employers now have Acceptable Use Policies (AUP) for the Internet written into their employee manuals, but this does not mean they get a high degree of compliance. As a result, companies are now starting to use Internet filtering methods, such as Bess, to block inappropriate sites, which encourages employees to stick to their job while on company time.
With Bess Internet filtering service, compliance is automatic. You can decide how employees will use the Internet when they're on your time--without having to police the issue. Best of all, you don't have any hardware to buy, or software to install, or updates to worry about. We do everything for you at the server level, and we update the list of filtered sites automatically every day. A Bess proxy server can also be installed into your network. This gives you full flexibility to customize the list of blocked sites as you wish. Also, because Bess uses caching, your network will run faster and more efficiently. This further adds to your productivity and enables you to postpone or even eliminate the need to invest further in expensive hardware-based technology to expand your bandwidth.
For more information, please contact our Business Sales Department at (920) 954-9799.
How do I subscribe to Bess?
Call our Client Care Department at (920) 954-9799 or toll free at (888) 919-8700 to sign up. Then follow the instructions for your browser to setup Bess.
Bess - $4.00 per month with monthly automatic credit card or checking account payment program. $36.00 per year on an annual payment plan. 25% savings!
Bess Plus - Same as Bess except that we will provide an override feature that allows authorized users to view the blocked sites.
There is a one-time charge of $5.00 to enable the override.
This feature may also be disabled at any time for any additional $5.00.