Digital Innovations Making a Brighter Future in the Search for Missing Children

TORONTO, ONTARIO--(Marketwire - May 25, 2012) - Whether a child has been missing for 15 minutes or 15 years, communicating time-sensitive information in a case's breakthrough moment is critical in bringing that child back to safety. While the search for a missing child once involved a face on a milk carton, new media technologies are bringing immediacy, social relevance and real-time community participation to the search for a missing child.

"We now have incredible technological tools at our disposal that have not typically been optimized in the search for a missing child," explains Amanda Pick, Executive Director of the Missing Children Society of Canada (MCSC).

"We believe everyday citizens are concerned about the well-being of a missing child, but it's important to meet these people where they live their lives - online, on-the-go and on their phones."

Over the past two years, MCSC has made a significant shift toward embracing technology to support their ongoing, hands-on investigations. On May 25^th - International Missing Children's Day - the organization unveiled the following advances in the search for missing children:

1. MCSC signs on as official AMBER Alert broadcaster in Ontario via Poynt platform

MCSC and the Ontario Provincial Police today announced their partnership which will officially register MCSC as a broadcaster with the Ontario AMBER Alert program. MCSC has been signed as an official AMBER Alert broadcaster in Ontario through their Poynt platform push notification system, a technology which was first announced one year ago today on International Missing Children's Day 2011.

As a major corporate partner with MCSC, Poynt integrated a first-of-its-kind geo-targeted push notification system into their Poynt platform. Through the push notification system, MCSC can target Child Search Alerts directly to Poynt's millions of users worldwide, with the ability to target entire cities or as precise as 1 kilometer. Child Search Alerts direct Poynt users to MCSC's mobile website where they can view information about the missing child including pictures, a physical description, background details, information about other potential people who are with the child, as well as the areas where the child is thought to be located.

Since officially launching the technology in September 2011, MCSC has utilized the push notification system on 5 occasions - emergency situations as well as long-term breaking cases - pinpointing information to over 150,000 Canadians within those targeted geographic regions.

MCSC is in the process of connecting with other provinces across the country to offer the same AMBER Alert broadcasting service to those regions.

2. MCSC taps into the Power of Community to create an Online Search Party

MCSC also announced the launch for an innovative online tool - The World's Most Valuable Social Network (www.valuablenetwork.ca) - to allow anyone with a social network to "donate" their Facebook or Twitter feed to notify friends and followers when a child goes missing in their area. Users can choose to link their social networks for a day, a month or indefinitely and can modify their settings at any time.

When an active missing child investigation takes place in the user's area, MCSC will push a message directly to the user's social feed. Rather than relying on MCSC followers sharing information, this cutting-edge innovation created by MCSC's ad agency, GREY Canada, ensures timely and accurate information is being broadcast directly to the World's Most Valuable Social Network's users' friends and followers. As this system will be reserved for only the most critical situations, on average users can expect only a few alerts in their region each year.

MCSC is urging Canadians to use their social networks for social good by joining the World's Most Valuable Social Network at www.valuablenetwork.ca and downloading the Poynt platform at www.poynt.com.

"Social networks connect us to thousands of people, ideas and events each day. We want to turn this power in numbers into a collective set of eyes that can help us find a missing child," said Pick. "We hope to see Canadians get behind us on May 25^th and take a simple step that can ultimately save lives."

Since 1986, MCSC has been reuniting missing children with their searching families through professional investigations, public awareness and family support programs. MCSC is the only non-profit organization in North America that employs an in-house team of former police detectives to work closely with law enforcement while conducting frontline, hands-on investigative and search activities.

Since 1986, the Missing Children Society of Canada has been reuniting missing children with their searching families through professional investigations, public awareness and family support programs. MCSC's team of former police detectives and trained investigators work closely with law enforcement while conducting frontline, hands-on investigative and search activities.