1. 24th April 2013 Bern University of Applied Sciences
Economics
Alerting the population about child abduction
Study of the potential of electronic communication channels to alert the population about child abduction,
insights and optimizations
By Stefan Joss
Online survey of subscribers to
SMS abduction alert
In October 2012, as part of a study
program for the Executive MBA with
specialization in Public Management in
the Faculty of Economics at Berne
University of Applied Sciences, 2'000
SMS abduction-alert subscribers were
invited by SMS to help with the
improvement of the national abduction
alert. In response 389 subscribers
stated which type of mobile phone they
own, which way they are most likely to
report their observations and what type
of information they expect if the
abduction alert is posted on Facebook.
Simultaneously the response time of
subscribers to the SMS to opening the
link to the survey was recorded.
Accessibility and response
SMS messages, in the context of
abduction alert, are the fastest method
of spreading the information
comprehensively to the public within
an hour. Nearly 60% of subscribers
look immediately at their mainly
Smartphone devices on receipt of the
SMS. After only one hour, more than
90% have read the SMS text.
Opening the SMS, however, is no
guarantee of their willingness to read
all the information about the alert. Only
every fifth person accepted the
invitation at least to open the link to the
survey, although all subscribers had
an emotional connection to the topic.
Given the fact that 10% of the SMS
are not delivered, as was the case in
the survey, the alert got a response of
19% of all SMS subscribers.
Smartphones spread almost
everywhere
The Internet is used increasingly in a
mobile context. Experts estimate that
in four years’ time nearly half of all
Internet accesses will be in a mobile
context. About 93% of respondents
have received the text message (SMS)
to an Internet compatible smartphone
and almost nine out of ten people have
answered the questions online using
their smartphone.
Facebook unfit for rapid alerting
In Switzerland social media are used
differently for each linguistic region
and people’s age. Only younger
people consult their social media
account regularly and often enough to
snap up an alert. The French speaking
part of Switzerland love Facebook,
elderly people and Italian speaking
Since 1 January 2010, Fedpol (Federal Department of Justice and
Police) has been leading the operations centre for child abduction
alert. It records and coordinates, in the first hours after the
abduction, the phone reported observations from the population.
The participation of the population depends on how quickly and
comprehensively the kidnapping message is disseminated. It is
believed that social media have a huge potential for spreading the
alert. Facebook in particular is famous in the U.S., Canada and the
Netherlands and frequently used by the alarm spreading
institutions. The present report contrasts this development in the
U.S., Canada and the Netherlands with findings from a study of the
potential of electronic communication channels to alert the
population about child abduction. Results of a representative
survey of the SMS subscribers to abduction alert in Switzerland
show the following. Firstly the response that the SMS abduction
alerts triggers in the subscribers. Secondly it demonstrates that
more and more the subscribers use the internet mobile with
smartphones. Thirdly it answers the question whether Facebook is
effective enough for fast alarm distribution. The report describes
patterns of behaviour, outlines development opportunities and
submits suggestions to improve child abduction alert.
Stefan Joss
EMBA Public Management BFH

2. Page 2
people (in Ticino) like Google+ and the
German speaking Swiss are rather
reluctant to use any kind of social
media. As a communication channel to
spread the alert occurs within the first
two to three hours, Facebook is
therefore ineffective. The same
reasons also apply to other social
media.
MMS and internet instead of
Facebook
Many survey participants had
difficulties with the notion that the
abduction alarm could be spread on
Facebook. Instead they welcomed the
concept of supplementing the existing
alarm SMS with more information and
a photo of the kidnap victim.
On the one hand, social media can
then make an impact, for example, if
Twitter is used as a multiplier for an
alarm message on Facebook which
remains posted for more than three
hours. On the other hand, a
multimedia designed website also
meets the information needs of the
population, and additionally, has the
advantage that it doesn’t need a
membership in a social network.
Write SMS instead of call
The children of today are the adults of
tomorrow. As trendsetters they specify
how people will communicate in the
future. Approx. 96% of 12 - to 19-year-
olds in Switzerland read and send
SMS messages, but only 90% use the
smartphone to make a phone call. And
just a little more than a third of them
write emails.
1
In relation to the survey question to
the SMS subscribers similar patterns
of behaviour to those of the 12 to 19
year olds have been revealed. Namely
up to 17% would write a SMS to the
sender of the alert-SMS or to the
hotline number, but only 3% would
communicate their observations by e-
mail.
This new development is
problematic for operators at the call
centres, because a text never contains
the quality and quantity of information
that are found in a structured
telephone interview experience. But it
must be expected that because of the
increasingly mobile Internet use with
smartphones, the trend to write a short
text message (SMS) could become
more common.
Police emergency number 117 (in
Switzerland) firmly established
20% of the population share their
observation by writing, 76% pick up
the phone and 4% try to decide first.
Of those who report their observation
by phone, more than half select not the
published hotline number but they
select instead the police emergency
number 117 (in Switzerland). In case
of an incident, the competent cantonal
police emergency call centre, which is
often occupied by only a few people,
will be overloaded.
Optimization opportunities for the
child abduction alert
The official working group on
abduction alert is currently analysing
the results of the study and has
discussed the following possibilities
with the author of the thesis.
Instead of the short text message
(SMS), in future an MMS could be sent
with more information, supplemented
with a photo of the victim and with
active links to the relevant website
"abduction alert". If the website
"abduction alert" remained longer then
the actual alert, the interested
population would be able to express
their feelings about the event as a blog
post.
By calling on the public to report
sightings, the citizens are now made a
vital factor in the public search. In
order to maintain the interest in the
case and to motivate people to
continue to participate actively, People
could be informed in the meantime
about the progress of the investigation.
Observations reported by SMS are
not effective enough for giving
information. Therefore the call centre
should comb through the SMS for
relevant information. Depending on it’s
relevance, the SMS sender should be
called back to get more detailed
information. The whole process is time
consuming and labour intensive. The
dilemma lies in deciding whether the
call center should operate this system.
Anyone who has written a text
message will not additionally call. And
maybe just this one SMS message
could contain a key reference for quick
success. The developing trend of
using SMS in the communication
behavior of the population should
therefore be pursued. Depending on
the significance of the SMS it should
be reassessed to consider it’s usage to
together with all the necessary
consequences for the call centre
processes.
The abduction alert working group
and all cantons should clarify and
consolidate if, during the three hour
window when an alert is actually
running, all calls, including calls to
canton call centres, should be routed
to the Fedpol call centre.
Conclusion
Child abductions move the citizens.
Many people are emotionally affected
by them and want to help. The faster
and easier access to information and
multilateral communication tools
increasingly influences the
communication behavior of the
population. It expects more news
messages and the possibility to be
able to participate in different ways.
Child abduction alert is a good
thing. It is open to optimization, it is
also open to public feedback today
and as a result the alert action will be
even better tomorrow.
Acquisition of the whole study
The master thesis: „Potentialstudie
elektronischer Kommunikationskanäle
zur Alarmierung der Bevölkerung beim
Kindsentführungsalarm“ (potential
study of electronic communication
channels to alert the population in the
child abduction alert) can be obtained
from the author (josss1@bluewin.ch)
or at the Bern University of Applied
Sciences Faculty of Business
(wirtschaft@bfh.ch).
Source
1
zhaw Zürcher Hochschule für
Angewandte Wissenschaft /
swisscom (2011): JAMESfocus,
Mediennutzung bei Schweizer
Jugendlichen. (01.01.2013).