AOL Puts AMBER Alert Service Online

Digital bulletins about missing children offered to anyone, through e-mail, messaging, or wireless device.

Tom Mainelli, PCWorld.com

AMBER Alerts designed to quickly spread the word about missing and kidnapped children are finding their way onto the displays of PCs, pagers, and cell phones of anyone who signs up for the free service through America Online.

The program is officially called America's Missing: Broadcast Emergency Response, and was named after murdered nine-year-old Amber Hagerman of Texas. Law enforcement transmits AMBER Alerts to television, cable, and radio stations using the Emergency Broadcast System. There are currently 74 states, counties, and cities with AMBER Alert plans in place.

AOL announced the inaugural online implementation of AMBER Alerts in October, and launched the service Thursday. The online service will send the timely information to anyone, AOL customer or not. More than 70,000 people have already registered since AOL began accepting sign-ups in October.

"The goal is to reach as many people online as possible, anywhere and anytime," says Nicholas Graham, AOL spokesperson. "The more eyes made available to law enforcement, the greater the possibility of saving a child, and that is the goal."

To achieve that goal the company is using its existing AOL Alerts service, which traditionally provides users with news, sports, and stock information updates, he says.

Cooperative Venture

AOL is operating the service in conjunction with the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children and federal, state, and local law enforcement authorities, Graham says.

"We're doing this as a coordinated campaign; we wanted interested people to understand this is a serious issue," he says. AMBER Alerts are credited with saving 36 lives so far.

AOL hopes to add to that number by delivering alerts to a much wider audience, Graham says. In addition to its nearly 27 million online members, AOL is offering the service to registered users of its free AOL Instant Messenger service, as well as to anyone on the Internet with an e-mail address, a text-based pager, or a cell phone.

Free, Simple Sign-up

Sign-up is free through AOL's site. Registered AOL or AIM users can plug in their screen name for alerts broadcast through the instant messaging service. Other users must sign up for a free screen name to get e-mail or text-based wireless messaging, Graham says.

During the sign-up process, users enter their zip codes so that AOL can target the messages geographically. The company encourages users to provide both their home and work zip codes.

Users who sign up for the alerts can expect to see them appearing shortly after local law enforcement issues them to the Emergency Broadcast System, he says. The messages are typically concise, offering information such as the child's name and description, details about the alleged kidnapper, and facts about the suspect's vehicle.