ABOUT OUR SYSTEM
Necessity is the mother of invention…
Founded in 2005, MIKKO USA is a home electronics company specializing in the development of media control solutions that make it possible for parents to manage the amount of time their children spend watching television, playing video games and on the Internet.
According to MIKKO founders, Michael Putnam and Joe Paonessa, their own need for a simple, effective time-management solution for their families’ home entertainment systems defines the company’s mission.
For Michael, his 11-year-old daughter was literally glued to the television — to the point where conversation wasn’t even possible without the precursory “turn off the television” dispute. And Joe once found his 12-year-old son pulling an all-nighter trying to beat a video game with a box of Hershey Bars, his Play Station 2 and the travel television smuggled from the family’s SUV.
Almost every parent has a similar story — and almost every parent has searched for an effective, non-confrontational solution.
Hence, the MIKKO Que — an easy-to-use timing system that enables parents to manage and monitor the amount of time a child may spend on a particular entertainment system connected to a lock box that interrupts video and audio signals.
MORE THAN SOFTWARE
One of the first technologies invented to help parents monitor children’s Internet usage was parental control software. Still available through several different brand names, this software does a fairly good job of monitoring a child’s Internet use and blocking certain websites, but it doesn’t allow parents to set a schedule range (for example, 5:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.) for Internet access, or to set time usage limits. Furthermore, parental control software only works on computers, so it does not help with other issues like parental TV control or video game control.
Whether you’re a parent looking to set guidelines before your youngsters reach the electronic media age, or have older kids who are already experiencing issues with overexposure, the Mikko Que is a simple device that can help time-manage users on TV, video games, and parental Internet control over children’s access.
Our innovative Que plugs into just about any device in your home – Internet-connected computers (wireless or hardwired), televisions, and video game systems like the Xbox, PlayStation, Wii, etc. – and empowers you to assign a set amount of time within a schedule range for each child to spend with any of these items. You can even set up a split schedule range such as 3:00 to 5:00 p.m. and 7:00 to 9:00 p.m.
Here’s how it works:
- Using the parental control software on the included setup software in their own computer or even a borrowed computer , parents program the names and time allotments for themselves and for each child. This info is burned to standard USB thumb drive, called a TimeKey. One TimeKey is customized for each family member. (Adults, of course, can be given unlimited time.)
- After inserting a TimeKey into the Mikko Que, the user selects from the LCD screen on the Que, picking TV, video games, or Internet. Then their timer starts.
- When nearing the allotted time limit, an audible and visual warning will alert the user to save any work. Warnings come at 5 minutes, 3 minutes, 1 minute, and 30 seconds before the session is over. Then, once the time limit has been reached, the Internet, video game, or TV audio and video signal will be blocked for that media type. The user may have access to another media type if it is allowed on his or her schedule, and the same process will occur.
- The amount of time available for each media type (or no time available, if that’s the case) is displayed on the MIKKO Que’s LCD screen.
With our cutting edge technology offered in the Mikko Que, you can take control of all the media and entertainment devices in your household, unlike parental control software which can only be installed on computers.
