At the time of this press release, Cass County Jail will have completed its 1600th video visitation. Since the CIDNET smart jail platform was first installed in Cass County on Dec. 21, 2017, the 110 bed jail has averaged a staggering 10.48 visitations per day. If increasing inmate-to-family contact was the goal, Encartele’s smart jail platform has delivered.
“We used to have to turn away visitors on visiting day, but now since they can video chat from home, that rarely happens anymore,” Jail Administrator Jeff Lickei said.
The smart jail platform has also kept inmate families closer, especially during difficult periods.
“One inmate watched her brother’s last breath. The inmate’s brother was in a motorcycle accident and was in a vegetative state. It was emotional and hard, but she didn’t have to miss it due to being in jail,” Sgt. Amber Gray recalled.
Since the system was installed, Cass County staff have quickly adopted the software. Administrator Nancy Gamache handles updating the facility’s digital signage campaigns, while Jackie McClane and Jeff Lickei handle Commissary and Grievance electronic forms. Additionally, inmate medical requests are completely segregated within the system, so that only the HIPPA-approved medical staff see them.
“I thought that there would be a learning curve for the inmates and staff, but it is so easy to use that the first day went off without a hitch,” said Lickei.
The platform is also changing the way the staff at Cass County work, by cutting down on the paperwork involved in operating a county jail. As mentioned above, CIDNET offers built-in Commissary and Grievance form solutions that cut down on paper circulating in the facility. In addition, visitation scheduling is a nearly automated process.
“The scheduling is awesome. Our lobby is less crowded now, even though inmates receive visits on every day of the week instead of just Mondays and Fridays,” Jail Administrator Jackie McClane said.
These first few months have been an exciting time for both CIDNET and Cass County. In truth, this kind of correctional success would have been impossible without the hard work and dedication of the county’s staff—so from all of us here at Encartele: Happy 1600th Video Visitation, Cass County.
Here’s to 1600 more in the years to come.