Inmate visitation scheduling and management

• US 8,620,711 B2
• Filed: 11/26/2003
• Issued: 12/31/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 11/26/2003
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Global Tel-Link Corporation
• Original Assignee: Verizon Business Global LLC (Verizon Communications Inc.)
• Inventors: Tor, Daniel K., Gickler, Christopher L. R., Crites, John G.
• Primary Examiner(s): Miller, Alan S
• Application Number:
  US10/721,471
• Publication Number:
  US 20050114192A1
• Time in Patent Office: 3,688 Days
• Field of Search: 705/8, 705 711- 724, 37920201-20701
• US Class Current: 705/7.19
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/109 Time management, e.g. calendars, reminders, meetings or time accounting
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 50/188 Electronic negotiation

Abstract

A computerized visitation registration and scheduling system provides the department of corrections the ability to have inmates and visitors schedule visits through an automated interface, such as a telephone interface, or the internet. The system allows, for example, the ability for potential visitors to perform a registration process with little to no manual overhead requirements of department of corrections employees. Secondly, potential visitors, once approved, are able to schedule inmate visits without necessarily having to burden department of corrections employees.

Claims

1. An inmate visitation system, comprising:

means for determining via a prison interface if the inmate has visitation privileges and, if not, then not allowing any visitation;

means for receiving a visitation request only from an inmate having said visitation privileges for a plurality of potential visitors to attend the same visitation with said inmate at a correctional facility in which said inmate is housed, each of said potential visitors being named in said request by said privileged inmate;

means for sending a registration request to each of the plurality of potential visitors based upon the received visitation request;

means for receiving registration information from said each of said plurality of potential visitors based upon the sent registration request;

means, responsive to operation of said registration information receiving means, for determining whether the visitation request for said each of said plurality of potential visitors from the privileged inmate is approved or disapproved;

means for communicating the approval or disapproval of the visitation request for said each of said plurality of potential visitors; and

means, operative in response to said registration receiving means, for permitting one of said plurality of said potential visitors to schedule said same visitation for all of said plurality of potential visitors if said visitation request is approved for said all of said potential visitors and for permitting said one of said plurality of said potential visitors to make a decision selected from the group of decisions consisting of allowing said visitation and canceling said visitation if said visitation request is not approved for said all of said potential visitors.

2. The system of claim 1, further comprising:

means for recording information associated with one or more of the visitation request, the registration request and the visitation approval or disapproval.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein the means for determining is at least one of a prison official and an analytical process that reviews at least one of historical visitation requests and visitation data.

4. The system of claim 2, wherein the means for recording further maintains a history of potential visitors including the plurality of potential visitors requested by the privileged inmate.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein the visitation request includes at least one of a name, address, telephone number and relationship to the privileged inmate of at least one of the plurality of potential visitors.

6. The system of claim 1, further comprising:

means for scheduling, for approved ones of the potential visitors, an available time to visit the privileged inmate.

7. A method for registering potential visitors of incarcerated inmates, comprising:

determining, via a prison interface, if any of the incarcerated inmates have visitation privileges and, if not, then not allowing any visitation;

receiving, via operational performance of a computer, a visitation request from a privileged inmate for a plurality of potential visitors to attend the same visitation with said privileged inmate within a correctional facility in which said privileged inmate is incarcerated, each of said potential visitors being named in said request by said inmate;

sending, via operational performance of said computer, a registration request to each of the plurality of potential visitors based upon the received visitation request;

receiving, via operational performance of said computer, registration information from said each of said plurality of potential visitors based upon the sent registration request;

determining, as a function of said registration information, whether the visitation request for said each of said plurality of potential visitors from the inmate is approved or disapproved;

communicating, via operational performance of said computer, the approval or disapproval of the visitation request for said each of said plurality of potential visitors; and

permitting, via operational performance of said computer, one of said plurality of said potential visitors to schedule said same visitation for all of said plurality of potential visitors if said visitation request is approved for said all of said potential visitors and for permitting said one of said plurality of said potential visitors to make a decision selected from the group of decisions consisting of allowing said visitation and canceling said visitation if said visitation request is not approved for said all of said potential visitors.

8. The method of claim 7, further comprising:

recording information associated with one or more of the visitation request, the registration request and the visitation approval or disapproval.

9. The method of claim 7, wherein the determining is at least one of a manual and an automated process that reviews at least one of historical visitation requests and visitation data.

10. The method of claim 8, wherein recording further comprises maintaining a history of potential visitors including the plurality of potential visitors requested by the inmate.

11. The method of claim 7, wherein the visitation request includes at least one of a name, address, telephone number and relationship to the inmate of at least one of the plurality of potential visitors.

12. The method of claim 7, further comprising:

scheduling, for approved ones of the potential visitors, an available time to visit the inmate.

13. A tangible computer program product including computer-readable program code for use in a computer, said computer readable program code comprising:

visitation registration program code executable on said computer only for visitation requests made via a prison interface by inmates having visitation privileges and if there are no said privileges then not executing said program code and not allowing any visitation, said visitation registration program code for

receiving a visitation request from a privileged inmate for a plurality of potential visitors to attend the same visitation with said privileged inmate at a prison in which said privileged inmate is incarcerated, each of said potential visitors being named in said request by said inmate;

automatically approving or disapproving a registration request for each of the plurality of potential visitors, the registration request sent to each of the plurality of potential visitors based upon the visitation request; and

recording information associated with at least one of the visitation request and the registration request; and

visitation scheduling program code for permitting an approved one of said plurality of said potential visitors to schedule an available time for all approved ones of said plurality of potential visitors to visit said inmate at said same visitation and for permitting said approved one of said plurality of potential visitors to make a decision selected from the group of decisions consisting of allowing said visitation and canceling said visitation if said all approved ones of said plurality of potential visitors is not equal to said plurality of potential visitors.

14. The computer program product of claim 13, wherein the visitation scheduling program code is accessed by an approved potential visitor.

15. The computer program product of claim 13, wherein the visitation registration program code further comprises communicating disapproval of the registration request in response to the registration request.

16. The computer program product of claim 13, wherein the visitation registration program code further allows the plurality of potential visitors to access a status of the registration request.

17. The computer program product of claim 13, wherein if additional information is needed the visitation registration program code further places the registration request on hold pending the additional information.

18. An automated method to register and schedule a plurality of potential visitors in a given timeslot for a visit with an inmate, the method comprising:

determining, via a prison interface, if the inmate has visitation privileges and, if not, then not allowing any visitation;

receiving, by operational performance of a computer, names of the plurality of potential visitors from a privileged inmate along with a request to provide registration information of all said potential visitors in order to schedule the visit between said all said potential visitors with the privileged inmate at a prison in which said inmate is incarcerated;

forwarding, via operational performance of said computer, said request to each of the plurality of potential visitors;

said each potential visitor, via operational performance of said computer, supplying its own requested registration information to a sender of the request;

receiving, via operational performance of said computer, an approval notification for at least one of the plurality of potential visitors to attend said visit;

one of said at least one of the plurality of potential visitors, via operational performance of said computer, accessing a visitation schedule to enter a proposed visiting time corresponding to the given timeslot to schedule the visit for all said at least one of the plurality of potential visitors with the privileged inmate provided that said all said potential visitors is no fewer than said plurality of said potential visitors and, if not, said one potential visitor making a decision selected from the group of decisions consisting of allowing said accessing and dis-allowing said accessing;

determining, via operational performance of said computer, whether the privileged inmate is available at the proposed visiting time; and

if the privileged inmate is available during the proposed visiting time, receiving, via operational performance of said computer, a schedule and confirmation number provided that said decision is not said disallowing said accessing.

19. The method of claim 18, wherein the request is based upon a visitation request supplied by the privileged inmate.

20. A computer implemented process comprising:

(a) determining, via a prison interface, if an inmate has visitation privileges and, if not, then not allowing any visitation, but if so, continuing with steps (b) through (g);

(b) said privileged inmate providing names and contact information of a plurality of potential visitors to an inmate-visitation, said names and contact information being provided as an input to a computer, thereby obtaining a visitation request;

(c) sending, by operational performance of said computer, a registration request to each of said named potential visitors to obtain information about said each of said named potential visitors;

(d) said each of said named potential visitors responding to said registration request, by operational performance of said computer, by providing said information about itself;

(e) at least one of said named potential visitors receiving, by operational performance of said computer, a registration number uniquely identifying said at least one of said named potential visitors;

(f) one of said at least one of said named potential visitors proposing, by operational performance of said computer, a date and time for said inmate-visitation at a correctional facility in which said inmate is housed for each of said named potential visitors who received a registration number provided that all said each potential visitor receiving a registration number is the same as said plurality of potential visitors and, if not, said one potential visitor making a decision selected from the group of decisions consisting of allowing said visitation and canceling said visitation; and

(g) providing said canceling said visitation is not selected, deciding if any of said named potential visitors who received a registration number shall be disallowed to attend said visitation and communicating, by operational performance of said computer, said decision to all said named potential visitors having registration numbers.