With the growth of mobile device and vehicle interconnectivity, we looked to leverage the technology and hands-free usability of automobile entertainment systems. We created a simple yet visual and informative interface that would make it easier than ever to process, review and respond to AMBER Alerts at the precise moment that people are most likely to have useful information for authorities — when they are in their cars and likely to see a suspect’s car.

AMBER Alert Auto is a mobile app that uses SYNC SmartDeviceLink and functions when connected to vehicle entertainment systems. When the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children issues an AMBER Alert, servers send an immediate push notification to nearby users. The app continuously evaluates users’ locations to determine if they are within an active alert area.

Vehicle, abductor and child information appears in an easy-to-read interface on a vehicle’s entertainment system screen. Drivers or passengers can take immediate action through simple voice or on-screen commands:

RECALL — plays back critical information of active alert

MORE — reads all alert details

REPORT — initiates call to 911

From conception and design through testing and distribution, AMBER Alert Auto took more than four months to develop. It’s currently fully functional, in review and set to launch in the Apple App Store in May 2017.

In a time of crisis, most people are willing to help — if they feel they are empowered to do so. By integrating AMBER Alert information with the existing technology of a person’s smartphone and connected car entertainment system, we’re able to deliver pertinent, location-based information about the alerts in a timely and actionable way, all so that drivers and passengers can be better informed and feel enabled to help if and when the need arises. By creating an integrated mobile application that delivers timely, relevant and useful information to people at a time they can make the most impact, the long-term expectations are that we can successfully resolve cases of child abduction more quickly and effectively than ever before.