Inmate telephone system
Encyclopedia
Inmate Telephone Systems have been designed to provide a monitored method for inmate and detainees to safely maintain contact with their family and friends, while at the same time providing tools to the jail
Jail
A jail is a short-term detention facility in the United States and Canada.Jail may also refer to:In entertainment:*Jail , a 1966 Malayalam movie*Jail , a 2009 Bollywood movie...

 management staff that permit recording, monitoring and alerts of inmate telephone activities.

Ideally, telephone service for inmates allows for the rehabilitation of inmates by allowing consistent communication with family and legal counsel. This consistent communication prevents the detachment of the inmate from his family during a medium-term to long-term incarceration.

Jail phone service providers traditionally charge higher rates for the phone services than traditional home phone service; in some cases, long-distance calls are charged six times the rate on the outside. In 2007, HR 555 "The Family Telephone Connection Protection Act of 2007" was introduced to begin the discussion of rate regulation for inmate telephone calls. This Bill has brought about the defining of the actual costs of telephone services from jails and may result in a standardization of rates among inmate telephone providers sometime in 2009 or 2010.

Part of the reason for the higher rates charged for inmate telephone calls is that most systems record all of the calls and store the recordings for up to five years. The system also requires constant management of inmate allowed and blocked calling list, maintaining a list of destination number, maintain allowed calling times of each phone and each inmate, interface with the jail commissary system to allow transfer of funds for calling needs, international calling, regular maintenance of phone equipment and customer service to maintain accounts. Most inmate phone systems have advanced features that make it cost-prohibitive for the jails and/or local governments to afford, therefore requiring the systems to be funded by the inmates who use the system to place calls.

Prison systems generally limit the calls to fifteen minutes maximum, and inmates have to wait thirty minutes before being allowed to make another call. In many prisons, phone credits are accessed via an inmate account card. Inmates have to register to be able to use the service, and need to provide a list with names and numbers of people they will be allowed to call.

The future of inmate telephone and communication services will be the implementation of web-based video conferencing, inmate email services and other higher security features such as voice recognition and voice printing.

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