Under the seven-year contract, Securus and Embarq will provide for installation of 4,000 phones and set up Secure Call Platform (SCP) that provides closely monitored outbound calling on a proprietary platform. According to Securus, 120,000 inmates will have access to the phone privileges by mid 2009. The company portion of the contract is worth up to $100 million.
Embarq offers a suite of communications services including local and long distance phone service, high-speed internet, wireless, and satellite TV from DISH Network.
John Viola, executive vice president of sales for Securus Technologies, said: “We have partnered with Embarq in multiple inmate telecommunications contracts in the past. We are pleased that the Board has chosen our solution.”
Securus has said that the Texas Board of Criminal Justice has approved the contract with Embarq to install a Texas prison-wide uniform telecommunications infrastructure including secure telephones that will digitally record/monitor inmate calls that investigators can also monitor.
Oliver Bell, chairman of the Texas Board of Criminal Justice, said: “It will be the finest inmate telecommunications system in the US. We are the last state to do this. But we have learned from other states what works well and what doesn’t work, and the telecommunications infrastructure that we chose includes all the best features and represents the best value for Texas.”
