UPDATE (10/22/15): The order passed at the FCC by a vote of 3 to 2. Securus and Global Tel*Link immediately issued statements indicating they would seek a stay of the order and appeal to the United States Court of Appeals, D.C. Circuit, to get the entire decision overturned.

Original Post:

After a year of seeking comments on its Further Notice of Proposed Ruling Making focused on inmate phone call rates and fees, the FCC has released an Order stating it is proposing to cap rates for ALL ICS calls – local, long-distance, and international – while limiting or banning excessive fees on calls. The Order also continues the investigation into the prison inmate communications services industry by announcing a Third Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking focused on video visitation and other advanced inmate communications services.

The Commission will vote on the Order at the Commission’s October 22 Open Meeting.

Key Reforms:

Establishes caps on all inmate calling rates

• These new caps reduce the average rates for the vast majority of inmate calls substantially, from $2.96 to no more than $1.65 for a 15-minute intrastate call, and from $3.15 to no more than $1.65 for a 15-minute interstate call.

• Tiered rate structure accommodates the higher relative costs faced by jails (especially small jails) as opposed to state and federal prisons. The rate caps are as follows:

• 11 cents/minute for debit/prepaid calls, in state or federal prisons.
• 14 cents/minute for debit/prepaid calls in jails with 1,000 or more inmates.
• 16 cents /minute for debit/prepaid calls in jails with 350-999 inmates.
• 22 cents /minute for debit/prepaid calls in jails of up to 349 inmates.

• Rates for collect calls are slightly higher in the first year and will be phased down to these caps after a two-year transition period.

• Approximately 71% of inmates reside in state or federal prisons.

• Approximately 85% of inmates reside in institutions with populations exceeding 1,000.

• With the exception of the rate for small jails, these rates are substantially lower than the current 21 cents/minute interim cap on interstate rates.

• The rate caps permit recovery for robust security measures, as reflected in costs that ICS providers filed with the Commission.

Caps or bans burdensome and needless ancillary service charges, which can add nearly 40% to the cost of a single call

Limit and cap ancillary service charges to the following list of permitted charges:

• Automated payment by phone or website: $3.
• Payment through a live agent: $5.95.
• Paper bill fee: $2.
• Third-party financial transaction fees, such as fees charged by MoneyGram or Western  Union, may be passed through with no mark-up.
• All other ancillary service charges are prohibited.
• Mandatory taxes and regulatory fees may be passed through with no mark-up.

Discourages “site commission” payments by providers to institutions

• Defines the term “site commission” broadly as payments in money or services from inmate calling service providers to correctional institutions or government agencies.

• Excludes the cost of site commissions in establishing the rate caps and strongly discourages the use of site commissions.

• Continues to monitor the effect of site commissions on rates but does not restrict ICS providers’ sharing or profits if such payments fit within the rate caps.

Bans flat-rate calling

• Disallows providers from imposing so-called “flat-rate calling,” that is, a flat rate for a call up to 15 minutes regardless of actual call duration.

• Clarifies that this practice violates statutory mandates requiring that rates be just, reasonable, and fair, and penalizes callers who stay on the phone less than 15 minutes.

Ensures access for people with disabilities

• Requires providers to offer discounted rates for telephone relay service (TRS) calls for inmates with communications disabilities.

• Reminds correctional institutions of their obligation to make TRS available to people with communications disabilities.

• Encourages jails and prisons to allow commonly used forms of TRS and requires them to report service quality issues.

Transition Period

• Requires rate caps, site commission and ancillary service charge reforms to go into effect 90 days from the effective date of the Order.

Ongoing Review and Oversight

• Commits to reevaluate impact of reforms and rates in two years to determine if adjustments need to be made.

• Requires annual reporting and certification by ICS providers, to ensure compliance and enable monitoring of developments

Third Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking

• Seeks further comment on promoting competition in inmate calling services without the need for additional regulation

• Video visitation and other advanced inmate communications services

• Recurring Mandatory Data Collection

The post FCC Proposing Capped Rates On All Prisoner Calls appeared first on meshDETECT® Blog.

This article is a good overview of the revenue generated by prison payphone and prepaid calling cards. This quote from the article, “When you are an inmate, the only connection to the outside world is by phone” highlights the importance of prison telephone services to the inmates. The meshDETECT secure cell phone service is a great way to increase prisoners’ connection to their families by offering more frequent, more convenient and more private conversation with families, while increasing prison phone service revenue.

The phone system available to inmates at the Butler County Jail makes thousands of dollars annually for jail services and the county’s general fund.

Last year, prepaid telephone cards sold to inmates and loved ones along with fees for outgoing collect calls generated $352,000 for the general fund, according to the Butler County Sheriff’s Office.

Fees generated help keep costs down to operate the jail and are partly used for other state-required purchases, county officials said.

Combined Public Communications, a family-owned business based in Northern Kentucky, provides and maintains the system and hardware for the telephones, calling cards and a kiosk in the front lobby.

The county’s cut of the revenue is 50 to 60 percent depending on the type of purchase, with no upkeep costs, said Chief Deputy Anthony Dwyer.

“That is a benefit all the way around,” Dwyer said.

More than $62,000 in revenue from the prepaid calling cards purchased through the jail commissary in 2010 was returned for other inmate services, which is required by law.

The money is used to purchase items to benefit inmates that go beyond the state required basics.

“Books, basketballs, games, television all come from the commissary fund,” said Dwyer, noting keeping inmates occupied with less time to get into mischief is a benefit to everyone.

Several options are available to inmates to make phone calls. Collect calls can be made from the jail pods at a cost of $2.75 to connect and 25 cents a minute for local calls and 50 cents per minute for long distance. Collect calls can not be made to cellphones, so prepaid cards for $10 or $20 can be purchased by the inmate from the commissary or a loved one can purchase a phone card in the sheriff’s office lobby and earmark it for the inmate.

How long the inmate gets to talk with one card purchase depends on if the calls are long distance or local. They are limited to 15 minutes per call.

Dwyer said inmates still get the traditional one free phone call when they are booked into the jail to arrange for bail or to inform family of their whereabouts.

Often that one free call turns into several.

“We assess the circumstances and the inmate’s situation,” Dwyer said. There are also policies for truly indigent inmates that need to make necessary calls, such as to an attorney.

The sheriff’s office got out of the jail phone business in the late 1980s when a private company contractor took over, Dwyer said.

“I can remember what it was like before. We had a desk phone with a 150 foot cord and we would have to go from cell to cell and dial numbers then let them talk,” Dwyer said.

Jim Engle, an owner of CPC, said his company provides phone services in about 70 jails and halfway houses primarily in Kentucky, Indiana and Ohio.

While the venture is a win-win for both the company and the county, Engle said his company is always striving provide “great service to the customer.”

“When you are an inmate, the only connection to the outside world is by phone,” Engle said. “We are dedicated to making sure that connection is available at all times.”

The Warren County Jail has its own phone system, but a private company provides servers and software for inmates to make prepaid calls.

“They get their free call to tell someone to set up a prepaid account,” said Paul Kindell, telecommunications director.

An outside person then places money on the inmate’s account and the inmate is given a pass code and there is a voice recognition system to assure the right person is using the account.

The county’s split of the revenue with provider, Inmate Calling Solutions, is 45 percent. In 2010, the plan generated $58,570.05 for the county, Kindell said.

Source

The post Jail Phones Generate County Revenue appeared first on meshDETECT® Blog.