Add to del.icio.us     Digg this

Apr. 29, 2008

Crime Stoppers, messaging aggregator firm mBlox and software provider Anderson Software have joined together to provide an anonymous crime-fighting tip service.

Kevin Anderson, CEO of Anderson Software said "anonymity is the key to it all."

How it works
Anderson’s service encrypts text messages and routes them though several secure servers. Tipster information is given an alias and unique ID before being sent onward.

There are times when law enforcement personnel would like to find out the identity of a tipster, but that would compromise the whole principle of Crime Stoppers.

"Instead, our software system has all of the legal and technical protections in place to ensure that the tipster’s identity isn’t revealed," Anderson said.

The text messaging solution was created after crime fighters expressed a strong interest in adding it to their set of currently available tools. Anderson Software has worked for many years with Crime Stoppers and also created its wired Web tools.

Working within their own set parameters for cell phone usage, schools are interested in deploying the technology to improve safety as well, Anderson said. The text message system also enables anonymous 2-way communications in case investigators want to follow up with the tipster.

Called TipSoft, Anderson’s service is launching in thirty-two cities in the U.S. and soon will be available in the U.K.

Overall, already 16 cities in Canada have launched the program since January 31st. Local entities will be marketing information about their various SMS programs.

For its part, mBlox has direct relationships with nationwide carriers in the U.S. and has about a 93 percent reach into the U.S. cell phone subscriber population, according to Steve Livingston, CMO at mBlox.

The remaining 7 percent who are not within its reach are mainly tied to smaller rural carriers with whom mBlox doesn’t yet have direct relationships.

The advantages that Anderson Software and mBlox bring to the table include low latency and reliability, said.

Add to del.icio.us     Digg this

    This article was featured on Business 5.0.

Source: Anderson Software and mBlox Inc.