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Tech company helps to relay AMBER Alerts for missing children over wireless networks
 | 11.14.2007 | 11:31:59 | Views: 6529 | ID:

November 14 '07: When a child is abducted in a community, residents and authorities sometimes only have a few critical hours in the beginning to ensure the safety of the child. Through the AMBER Alert system, a partnership of federal, state and local governments cooperating with community and private sector leaders, urgent bulletins can be issued to spread information about the stolen or lost child. Tech company Syniverse was selected to provide the platform upon which the communications and messaging are built.

AMBER Alerts are issued from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children which serves as a clearinghouse of information for the program. Syniverse helps the distribution of information between the NCMEC and the wireless carriers around the U.S.

That messaging and information is transmitted on a cross-carrier, interoperable wireless emergency messaging system using existing cellphone networks. Cellphone users can visit the Wireless AMBER Alert page, enter their phone number and will receive local information in the event of an abduction. Users who sign up can enter up to five zip codes identifying about what locales they would like to receive messages.

The company also helps to manage the front end of the Wireless AMBER Alert webpage and the "hosting of the subscriber enrollment process and database."

According to Syniverse, the company and "its technology partners have offered their services to Wireless AMBER Alert," including software development, testing, implementation support, web hosting, network monitoring, and "ancillary services" as a community service.

Using Syniverse's technology, all major wireless carriers in the U.S. including Sprint, Verizon, AT&T, T-Mobile, US Cellular, Verizon Wireless and MetroPCS and a dozen smaller wireless carriers are able to alert communities in the event of a missing child. Because of the nature of the partnership, about 96 percent of all cell phone users will be able to subscribe the alert messaging system in the near future.

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wireless-amber-alerts.pdf

 

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