The Surge in Video Visits

Headnote

IS THERE A TRADE-OFF? IF SO, WHERE IS THE BALANCE?

USE of video conferencing technology has proven it can pro- vide efficiencies in corrections for applications such as visitation, arraignments, and, to a greater extent recently, justice staff-inmate conferences. It seems by all accounts analog video has gone the way of the pay phone, and IP based systems are now the norm.

The good news is the price continues to drop. According to those well-versed with the industry, video conferencing has become a commodity and as prices continue to drop there will be acquisitions, consolidations and perhaps business failures-a video industry house cleaning.

That said, video conferencing continues to be a tool that is creating efficiencies for staff, saving visitation scheduling time, dramatically reducing contraband, keeping staff safer, and helping judges and attorneys manage conferences with inmates better.

If video is a commodity and numerous systems can do the same thing, then what are the issues that are noteworthy for a corrections agency to check prior to buying? One of the biggest hot buttons, says Ike Newton, president, Black Creek Integrated Systems Corp. in Moody, Ala., is the capacity of the software. Software is a big differentiator. The software should help lower a department's operating costs as i relates to staffing. The more sophisticated the software is the less it's going to cost to staff and operate the system, and the more efficiencies the department will obtain by purchasing a system, he notes.

One of the big issues that Scott Pritchett, managing member of InnoVisit, LLC, in Montgomery, Ala., sees is the blurring of who is paying for the video visits. "What you're seeing," he says, "is a quote 'free system,' but while there is no cost upfront no one is truly giving away a free system." This may leave the burden of paying for visits on family and friends.

InnoVisit's corrections video visitation technology is currently used by more than 90 facilities in 27 states and Canada. In November, InnoVisit's video conferencing technology was acquired by Lattice Incorporated, a provider of advanced information and communications technology solutions to customers globally, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Pritchett says that arraignments and other judicial conferences among court staff and inmates are growing. The...