In December 2012, changes were made in the way abducted-child AMBER Alerts are delivered to cell phones and other mobile devices.? In mid-December, AMBER Alert distribution began through FEMA?s Integrated Public Alert and Warning System (IPAWS) Commercial Mobile Alert System (CMAS).? As part of this change, alerts delivered via the long-established Wireless AMBER Alert Program were ended on December 31, 2012.? But should this move have been made at this time?
Should CMAS Replace a Popular Alerting Method?
As noted before on AWARE, CMAS only began in April 2012, and the vast majority of mobile devices currently out in the field do not yet incorporate the ability to receive CMAS alerts.? Conversely, the Wireless AMBER Alert program was begun by the wireless carriers back in 2005, and had a subscriber base of 700,000 people who had opted in to receive these alerts.? Granted, the Wireless AMBER Alert Program was SMS-based and was designed to target only down to the zip code area, but one would wonder with the still-low penetration of CMAS handsets whether the SMS-based program with almost three-quarters of a million subscribers (who opted in voluntarily) should have been retired at this early point in CMAS deployment.? Somewhat acknowledging that shortcoming, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) published a list of alternate sources of AMBER Alerts for those former SMS-based subscribers who do not yet own a WEA-capable mobile device to transition to.? The options include AOL, Facebook, Google, MySpace and Yahoo.? Those links are on the NCMEC website here. Also on the NCMEC site is the press release regarding this wireless device alerting change.
AMBER Alerts on CMAS
Nonetheless, the change was made.? So what do AMBER Alerts via CMAS look like?? Now that we are into 2013 and a few of these alerts have been issued, we can answer that question.? The graphic accompanying this story shows the screen capture of a CMAS AMBER Alert issued in Washington State recently.? The alert contains the vehicle description and license plate number.? This is similar to what we saw in the initial CMAS AMBER Alert issued in San Antonio, Texas, which read:
AMBER Alert: check local media.
LIC/7CZTJ (TX) 2002 Black Chevy Trailblazer
With CMAS messages limited to 90-characters, there isn?t much room for further details.? Note also that Federal Communications Commission (FCC) rules prohibit the use of Internet website links or phone numbers, so officials are relegated to the phrase ?check local media? as a suggested source of further information.? For those interested in the details of the Common Alerting Protocol (CAP) message issued by NCMEC, the Headline element contains the same 90-character wording as above, but the Description and Instruction elements are not used.? The CAP Area Description is simply, ?Target Area?.? NCMEC also uses the new BLOCKCHANNEL feature, which limits IPAWS dissemination to only the intended CMAS channel. ?For AMBER Alert cancelations, the CMAS message issued by NCMEC is to read: ?The AMBER Alert in your area has been canceled.?
How CMAS AMBER Alerts are Activated
AMBER Alerts are typically issued by a State AMBER Alert Coordinator, or other associated officials.? Those authorities route the abduction details to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC), which then issues the AMBER Alert via CMAS as well as other numerous notification methods established by NCMEC.? NCMEC was established as the gatekeeper by FEMA to ensure that all AMBER Alerts issued via CMAS meet appropriate age and abduction details to ensure uniform CMAS AMBER Alert criteria across the country.? FEMA noted in a recent webinar that NCMEC has thus far issued 17 CMAS AMBER Alert messages involving eight to ten actual abduction events, with some events having multiple messages disseminated such as for the cancellation of the alert.? FEMA stated that most AMBER Alerts were statewide, but a few have been multi-county alerts.? It was agreed during the webinar that more public awareness needs to be done on CMAS AMBER Alerts; FEMA said it will likely involve its External Affairs office as it joins NCMEC in that effort.
How to Receive CMAS AMBER Alerts
The wireless carriers refer to CMAS as Wireless Emergency Alerts (WEA).? When purchasing a new mobile device, be sure to ask for a device that is WEA-capable.? For a list of carrier web pages listing the currently-available WEA-capable devices go to www.ctia.org/wea. WEA-capable devices are sold with the user opted in, so if you wish to receive these alerts there are no settings to change.? As we progress further into 2013 and we gain more experience with CMAS AMBER Alerts, AWARE will update this issue.
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