While hardened kiosks certainly have a place in the correctional environment, as more and more inmate touch points (electronic grievances, requests, etc.) are offloaded onto the kiosks, greater availability is required to satisfy inmate demand. This can mean adding expensive kiosks at lower and lower inmate to kiosk ratios. With wiring and infrastructure considerations, this option is cost prohibitive and reaches a point of diminishing returns. We at Stellar Services believe the solution to this challenge is inmate tablets.
By having over five years of experience in the pod kiosk industry, Stellar Services was able to easily port this proven technology to tablets. The tablets are extremely easy to deploy and no training is required as inmates learn to use them in minutes. These units offer all the functionality of a kiosk along with premium entertainment and educational options.
During the development of our tablet product, we wanted to ensure 2 key features: Protecting the tablet and Reducing inmate access to all interface ports. Our mold injected customized tablet covers have accomplished both. Our customized tablet covers also allow our tablets to be locked into our five-bay charging stations.
Stellar Services offers a patent-pending wireless charging station. While other wireless charging stations can take up to 6 hours, our five-bay docking station provides a complete charge in less than 2.5 hours.
One of the major challenges with a mobile device in a corrections environment is access control. How will you know which inmates currently have a tablet? Can an inmate be restricted from tablet use? These are important questions and Stellar Services has an answer. Our docking base incorporates secure locking of the tablet with a keypad that requires the inmate to enter his or her inmate ID and pin to check out a tablet. If the inmate is restricted from tablet access, he or she will be denied access. If an inmate already has a tablet, they must return it before checking out another tablet.
Our system allows all inmates access to our tablets at no cost for 15 minutes every 2 hours. In addition, if an inmate wishes to remove the 2-hour cooldown period, he or she may do so by upgrading to the “Gold Pass” option in a one hour or twenty-four hour option. The “Gold Pass” option can be funded directly by the inmate or may be requested that a family member fund the purchase.
The security on these units is second to none. As part of the tablet rollout, Stellar Services provides a 2-prong approach in our table security.
App Functions
Gold Pass – All inmates receive some free time on the tablets each day. Purchasing a Gold Pass allows inmates access to the tablet for an extended period of time without interruption. The current fee for a 24-hour rental is $4.99. The tablet should last 5-7 hours on a single charge. An inmate with a Gold Pass, may return the discharged tablet and take another one provided there is still time remaining on the Gold Pass.
Games – Play tested and approved games.
Radio – Stream approved radio stations.
Law Library – If your facility has online access to a law library, this can be displayed on the tablet for easy access by the inmates.
Library – A large listing of books is found in the online library.
Secure Browser – Sites included are up to the discretion of the facility and include options in categories such as Education, Music, Video, Sports, News, as well as Religious and Spiritual sites. Keyboard function is disabled to prevent unauthorized communication via dialogue or comment fields.
Email and Messaging – For less than the price of a stamp, inmates can send and receive secure email from friends and family. All messages are archived for future reference and key words may be flagged for investigation.
