BY: Kelly Lindman, Director of Product Management, Customer Channels at GTL.
January 10, 2018
As a parent, I know there is nothing better than waking up and seeing your children’s smiling faces. Unfortunately, inmates are not able to experience this joy. But with GTL’s Messaging application, it is now possible for inmates to receive on GTL tablet devices messages, photos, and short videos from friends and family members. Family and friends can use their smartphones or tablets to send these messages to their incarcerated loved ones at any time and from any place with the convenience of mobile applications for Android and iOS devices.
We have all seen how technological advancements impact our daily communication, with emails, texts, and new applications sometimes replacing traditional phone calls. At GTL, we continually work on ways of extending these advancement to the corrections environment.
With GTL Tablet devices, inmates can look at their photos and videos anytime, just like we all do on our smartphones. While printed photos may be damaged or stolen, GTL Tablet devices give inmates a safe and private way to view their mementos.
GTL implemented photo and video attachments in the Spring of 2017, and more than 140,000 images have been sent though our system in just seven months. Captain Sean Stewart of the Pima County Sheriff’s Department Corrections Bureau, has seen the value of GTL’s messaging system firsthand. He recently told us, “We have used GTL’s inmate messaging product for several months and have been incredibly impressed with the service.” Captain Stewart said, “We recently added photo attachments and video attachments and have seen a great response from our inmate population. Inmates that are occupied sending messages and communicating with loved ones are inmates who are not causing trouble for corrections officers and other inmates.”
“With that said, I believe it is obvious that electronic messaging is an excellent tool for maintaining a safe and secure facility. Electronic messaging is not an inmate email system. The facility has total control over what communication comes in and what goes out. I can guarantee there isn’t any contraband coming in the facility through the messaging product being provided by GTL,” concluded Captain Stewart. To watch and learn more about how GTL’s Inspire® and offerings such as photo and video messaging have changed the correctional ecosystem for Pima County, watch this Arizona Public Media segment.
About The Author
Kelly Lindman is a Director of Product Management and Customer Channels at GTL. She recently managed the inmate efficiency applications as well as the subscription service applications for the GTL Inspire® tablet program. Kelly has an undergraduate degree from Wright State University.
