There may not be many of them, but prisons should not be overlooked when it comes to branching into new markets. Dimi Kyriakou discovers the potential of automation in a secure environment.

Often a residential custom installer looking to expand their business into a new market will target hotels, schools, or even churches. The thought of working in a correctional facility probably hasn’t crossed their mind – but perhaps it should.

When the financial crisis hit, many installers had to reassess the way they conducted business. The ones that survived branched out into other markets and, interestingly, correctional facilities proved to be a lucrative option.

Prisons in the United States, for example, have shown an escalating demand for television, security and video conferencing facilities – and lately, Australia has followed suit. There are just over 70 prisons across the nation, with the largest concentration in New South Wales. In turn, this provides many opportunities for custom installers to work in local correctional facilities and ultimately add yet another impressive installation to the resumé.

Building services consultancy firm Umow Lai has worked in some of Australia’s most well-known correctional facilities, including Victoria’s Barwon Prison, the Melbourne Assessment Centre and Ararat Prison, as well as the Darwin Prison.

Although correctional facilities form a small market in Australia, Umow Lai security consultant John Avramiotis says it is a unique environment that calls for specialist installations.

“It’s a market where previous experience is highly valued,” he says. “However, a one-size-fits-all approach won’t work as every prison – as well as every State and Territory – performs functions differently with varying required outcomes.

“Therefore, an experienced installer who can create a tailored solution using off-the-shelf products will always be highly regarded.”

John says a lot more time and planning is required for prison installations, particularly as installers can be heavily restricted in their access to certain areas of the facility during a project.

“Contractors working in an operational prison need to be escorted by staff at all times. Arrangements need to be made days in advance to clear an individual’s entry.

“Once onsite, tools are counted and checked – installers need to be aware they cannot simply walk in and out of the prison to get additional material or tools.”

Control systems from AMX have featured in many Australian prisons and watch house projects. Like John, AMX marketing and communications manager Graham Barrett believes prisons are an ideal environment for custom installers to work their magic.

“The value of this area is certainly into the tens of millions and there is a lot of investment going into the justice system overall. For example, technology can allow prisoners to act as remote witnesses. Instead of travelling to the court, they can walk from their cell to a witness room, give their testimony and then be escorted back to the cell,” he says.

“There is an opportunity for integrators to do a proper ‘needs analysis’ on a prison and advise those who run the jail to install a system that can manage the content shown on television and the displays.”

As more technology is driven into prisons, Graham says one of the biggest trends revolves around monitoring inmates not only through the security camera, but also in the availability of television shows.

“We work closely with justice systems all over the country to understand what they need. So far we have found that managing entertainment content and delivering it to prisoners is very important. Historically the focus was to make a television screen robust in case a prisoner threw something at it, but now we see more importance placed on managing the actual content so what the wardens don’t want prisoners to see, can’t be accessed. This means more technology is required at the head end and the reticulation system is different,” he says.

“This has lead to a trend of using structured cabling to deliver content into these prisons. Instead of running a separate coaxial television network, the same UTP cabling that is used for the networking can be used to deliver the entertainment content.”

According to Graham, prisons installations are also breaking out of the mould and sidestepping the traditional approaches to AV installations.

“They go over and above the traditional way of hanging a screen on the wall and wrapping it in steel so no one can damage it. Monitoring the screens with technology like AMX’s Resource Management Suite (RMS) allows wardens to detect in advance if screens are malfunctioning. After all, if the main screen goes blank during a boxing match in the common room when all the prisoners are watching, you could have a riot on your hands.”

Through the use of a twisted pair infrastructure and a commercial-grade distribution system, Graham says a warden can have more control over what is delivered to the screen, even if inmates manage to access and reorganise the cables.

“It’s such a simple concept but the reality is that central management isn’t always applied. The ability to shut off all the television screens from a central location, or switch them to signage in an emergency situation is really quite attractive. With traditional coaxial-based reticulation systems, this is a lot harder to achieve.”

John says maintaining the integrity of the data/cabling system as well as the structural integrity of the walls is paramount, due to the nature of the sensitive material contained within.

“The data/cabling system is provided with a layer of IT security as well as physical security. Ideally, cable runs and locations need to be worked out prior to construction so that the channels can be cast into the concrete.

“However, in retrofit installations this option may not be available, so instead we can secure a cable within a conduit appropriate for the surrounding environment. A wireless option can be used but it is generally avoided as it creates another security risk.”

Instead of running a separate coaxial television network, the same UTP cabling that is used for the networking can be used to deliver the entertainment content.

Like Graham, John has also noticed some promising trends in this line of work.

“With a philosophical change in the attitude towards rehabilitation across the country, we are seeing more educational opportunities in prisons to which AV tools are being provided. Also, new technologies such as biometrics are also being implemented for the identification of staff and prisoners. There is an ever-growing use of electronic systems to replace manual procedures and checks.”

This trend in particular has started creeping into correctional facilities throughout the United States, as custom installation firm Strike Industries recently found out while working in some of the nation’s third-tier County Jails.
Strike vice president Michael Black says correctional facilities have formed a “strong and demanding market” that demonstrates a direct correlation between the technology installed in a prison and reduced operational costs.

“This technology comes in several forms in prisons, including security electronics, CCTV surveillance, access control, alarm management, traffic flow, HVAC and other electronics control.

“Another area is video communications, such as inmate video visitation for the public and consultation with legal personnel, clergy and medical personnel. It also includes inmate video arraignment and first appearance for the courts.”

With over 6,000 correctional facilities in the US, Michael says that new and existing prisons are using technology to improve efficiencies within the jail.

“As inmates in County Jails have family or friends living close by, the visitation demands at these facilities are extremely high, which makes the use of technology such as inmate video visitation extremely effective.

“To date, State and Federal facilities have not been willing to invest in technology to support this capability. However, this trend is changing and we may see more movement towards remote video visitation in the future, especially as it can keep ‘ultra criminals’ in their housing unit and avoid moving them around the facility.”

Strike has also found that software plays a significant role in the successful deployment of any inmate video visitation, arraignment and/or consultation system.

“A simple user interface with logical controls for the connection of stations is a must, while options to support monitoring, call interjection and digital recording must be available to meet the varying demands from site to site.

“For larger facilities, there is an increasing need for automated scheduling and call automation capability, including the ability for visitors to schedule visits from home over the internet. And of course it must be reliable.”

On top of this, Michael says it is important to displace ageing analogue equipment and controls with state-of-the-art digital solutions, although a hybrid solution is optional for a seamless operation.

“Each jail has a slightly different configuration in its campus setup, so each video communications system is unique and involves some form of customisation. With an analogue implementation, connectivity options range from UTP cabling with connections up to 610m from the switching subsystem, to fibre optics with a virtually unlimited distance between stations and switching subsystem,” he says.

“IP base solutions are finally taking hold, as advanced network architectures are able to support the bandwidth, quality of service (QoS) and IP precedence requirements necessary for a successful deployment.

“Basically, technology is not just important to jails. It is critical to ensure they can maintain high standards and accreditations while dealing with reduced staff and reduced operating funds.”

Contact:
Umow Lai
www.umowlai.com.au

AMX Australia
www.amxaustralia.com.au

Strike Industries
www.strikeind.com