GTL 1015
`IPR of U.S. Pat. No. 8,135,115
`
`0001
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`

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`U.S. Patent
`
`Aug. 5, 1997
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`Sheet 1 of 5
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`5,655,013
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`

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`U.S. Patent
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`Aug. 5, 1997
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`Sheet 2 of 5
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`5,655,013
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` SOL FORMS
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`ORACLE DBMS
` UNIX OPERATING SYSTEM
`
`F/6.2
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`0003
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`0003
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`

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`U.S. Patent
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`Sheet 3 of 5
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`5,655,013
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`U.S. Patent
`
`Aug. 5, 1997
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`Sheet 4 of 5
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`5,655,013
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`

`
`U.S. Patent
`
`Aug. 5, 1997
`
`Sheet 5 of 5
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`5,655,013
`
`TRUNK
`MANAGEMENT UNIT
`
`T DESTINA ION
`ALER
`NUMBER
`
`_ A
`
`XJANXX IXXXIXXXXXXX
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`EIIEoRcERosIIsIEII PERFORMS IIs
`STANDARD IIIMAIE ACCOUNT
`PARAMETER CHECKS AND IF
`VALIDATED coIIIIEcI$ CALL TO
`PRE-APPRCVED DESTINATION PARTY
`THE RI’; —ARFIRAIIsRI"IIE "
`5? ‘IRA PHONE LINES AND RECEIVED I
`' 0SR\’c$ETRmSYNITEEN%TS'
`IIIIE DIGITS AS AN ACTION T0=
`I
`I1) IDENTIFY IRE ORIGINAL
`I
`APPROVED PHONE NUIIBER IN |
`THE INMATE'S ACCOUNT TO
`WHICH THE CALL WAS MADE
`DESTINATION PARTYIAT
`I
`IZIASSIGN AN ALERT CODE T0
`PRE-APPROVED PHONE NUMBER)
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`I
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`MAKING FURTHER CALL
`I
`ATTEMPTS
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`,3IREI=oRI IRE NUMBER As
`,
`BEING BLOCKED ASAN
`IRE PARTY DETERMINES IRAI
`THEY Do NOT WANT Io RE CALLED I
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`BY THAT PIN NUMBER AcAIR,
`I _______ _ _
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`DESTINATION PARTY FORWARDS
`THE CALL USING 3-WAY
`CALLING OR CONFERENCE
`“EIINRIER IIIRIEI“
`“E
`
`
`
`NEW PARTY RECEIVES CALL
`AND DETERMINES THAT THEY
`WANT T0=
`IIDISCONTINUE THE CURRENT
`CALL, AND/0R
`ZIPREVENT CALLER FROM
`
`THE PARTY ENTER COTU DIGIT
`CODE INTO TELEPHONE KEY PAD,
`THEN HANGS UP
`
`CALLING THEM AGAIN
`
`0006
`
`INMATEICALLERIGOES OFF
`HOOK AND ENTERS DIGITS
`REPRESENTING A
`PRE-APPROVED DESTINATION
`PHONE IIIIMRER II PIN
`
`0006
`
`

`
`1
`COMPUTER-BASED METHOD AND
`APPARATUS FOR CONTROLLING,
`MONITORING, RECORDING AND
`REPORTING TELEPHONE ACCESS
`
`5,655,013
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`2
`
`This application is a continuation of U.S. Ser. No.
`08/229,517. filed Apr. 19, 1994. now abandoned.
`
`FIELD OF THE INVENTION
`
`The present invention relates generally to the fields of
`telecommunications and penal
`institution management.
`More particularly, the invention relates to a computer-based
`method and apparatus for controlling, monitoring, recording
`and reporting access to outside telephone lines in a
`controlled, institutional environment. such as a prison, mili-
`tary base, hospital. school, business or government organi-
`zation.
`
`BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
`
`Generally, the need to control access to outside telephone
`lines in an institutional environment is well recognized. In
`order to prevent individuals from incurring large, unac-
`countable telephone costs which the institution ultimately
`bears, one must either restrict access to outside telephone
`lines or institute accounting controls whereby the costs of
`unauthorized calls can be billed to the responsible individu-
`als.
`
`Telephone systems in correctional environments require
`additional security considerations. Without appropriate con-
`trols on telephone access, inmates have been known to use
`the telephones to harass outside parties (such as witnesses
`who testified against them. attorneys who prosecuted their
`case. employees of the courts, etc.), to perpetrate fraudulent
`schemes. and to participate in criminal conspiracies (such as
`arranging the smuggling of contraband into the prison.
`directing an outside criminal enterprise, plotting escape
`attempts or credit card fraud). Therefore. it is critically
`important for correctional management officials to carefully
`plan, control, monitor and record inmate access to outside
`telephone lines.
`One of the most fundamental problems—which exists
`both in correctional and other business-oriented
`institutions—-is cost control. To achieve cost control, it is
`critical that there be individual accountability for each call
`that incurs a charge to the institution. Such accountability is
`typically achieved through use of personal identification
`numbers (“pins”). Before making a call from an institution
`telephone. an individual must enter his PIN. The telephone
`service provider is then able to deliver to the institution an
`end-of-the-month telephone bill which lists, in addition to
`the cost of each call, the PIN or name of the individual who
`made the call. From this information, the institution can then
`collect reimbursement from individuals for the costs of
`certain calls.
`
`While this system of end-of-the-month call accounting
`functions reasonably effectively in a business like
`environment, it does not work well in a penal institution. The
`reason is that inmates show little concern for phone bills
`they can’t afiord to pay. Thus, the institution is often forced
`to absorb the costs of phone calls by its delinquent inmates.
`Moreover. the fact that account balances are only computed
`periodically—i.e., every month, week, or even every day-
`permits the inmate to accrue large, uncollectible phone bills
`before his access to the phones can be terminated.
`Traditionally, penal institutions have addressed this problem
`by restricting inmates to collect calls only. This, however,
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`still provides the imnates with relatively unlimited access to
`the outside world, leaving open numerous opportunities for
`fraudulent and criminal activity. as explained below.
`Therefore, in a penal environment, it is highly desirable to
`regulate phone access on an individual, pay-in-advance
`basis, and to immediately and automatically terminate an
`individual’s phone access when his/her paid-up account
`reaches a zero balance.
`
`Another problem in penal institutions is the inmates’
`desire to make threatening or harassing phone calls to
`witnesses. prosecutors, police oflicers, parol oflicers,
`psychologists, judges, and the relatives and family of such
`persons. Limiting the inmates’ access to collect calls only
`does not effectively address this problem, since an imnate
`can easily identify himself (to an operator) as someone from
`whom the recipient would likely accept a collect call.
`Rather, one should, at a minimum, provide a means that
`permits a potential call recipient to identify the caller as an
`inmate before accepting the call. whether that call is placed
`on a prepaid or collect basis. Conventionally. this is done by
`initially placing the inmate on hold and playing a prere-
`corded message telling the recipient that a call has been
`placed from a correctional facility and that, if the recipient
`wishes not to receive the call, he/she should hang up before
`the call is connected. This approach mitigates, but does not
`fully solve, the harassment problem. In particular, it is still
`possible for an inmate to repetitively call an outside party;
`even if the recipient hangs up after hearing the pre-recorded
`message, the harassing effect of receiving repetitive calls
`from inside the correctional institution remains. Therefore, it
`would be highly desirable to provide an institutional tele-
`phone system that automatically prohibits inmates from
`attempting to call certain outside persons. Moreover, it
`would also be highly desirable to provide a method and
`apparatus for allowing a recipient of an undesired call from
`an inmate to easily and automatically prohibit all future calls
`from that particular inmate, or from all inmates generally.
`Still another concern in correctional institutions is the
`regulation of access to telephone systems. For various
`security and management reasons,
`it often desirable to
`restrict a given inmate’s telephone access to particular
`phones, calling times, and to limit the length of calls,
`number of calls, and number of calls to the same number.
`Also, to enhance security and discipline, it should be pos-
`sible to instantaneously revoke an inmate’s calling
`privileges, or to otherwise modify the extent of a particular
`inmate’s calling privileges.
`Correctional institutions also typically wish to monitor
`and/or record outgoing calls. Inmate-to-attorney calls,
`however, cannot
`legally be monitored or recorded.
`Moreover, certain inrnates—those who represent particular
`security risks—deserve live monitoring, as opposed to mere
`recording. Thus, it would be highly desirable to have a
`system which automatically initiates the appropriate moni-
`toring and/or recording depending upon the identity of the
`inmate placing a call and the recipient of the call (i.e.,
`attorney or non-attorney). Likewise, it may be desirable that
`calls to certain numbers are to be monitored live, while
`others need only be recorded.
`Because the message content of inrnate-to-attomey calls
`cannot be legally recorded or monitored, such calls can serve
`as a conduit for the inrnate’s illegal telephone activity.
`Therefore, it would be highly desirable to have a system
`which could passively—that is, without in any way moni-
`toring or recording what is actually being said—monitor
`inrnate-to—attorney calls to ensure that: (1) the only two
`people speaking on the line are the inmate and attorney,
`
`0007
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`3
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`5,655,013
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`and/or (2) no DTMF tones. rapid line impedance changes.
`ofl’-hook conditions or voltage spikes appear on the line.
`Techniques for voice identification are known—i.e. U.S.
`Pat. Nos. 4.993,068, entitled UNFORGEABLE PER-
`SONAL JDENTIFICATION SYSTEM and 5,150,357,
`entitled IN'TEGRATED COMMUNICATIONS SYSTEM,
`both incorporated herein by reference-—but have not been
`previously used in penal telecommunications applications.
`
`SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
`
`In light of the above, one object of the invention is a
`method of managing telephone activity in an institutional
`environment to achieve improved security and reduced cost.
`Another object of the invention is a system adapted to
`perform such improved institutional telephone management.
`Still another object of the invention is a method and
`apparatus for allowing outside recipients of calls from an
`institution to decide. in advance of connecting the call,
`whether to accept the given call and whether to block calls
`from that person and/or others within the institution or
`related institutions in the future, and optionally, whether to
`indicate to the inmate that the call has been either tempo-
`rarily or permanently blocked by a particular party. includ-
`ing the prison administration, or the actual party called by
`the inmate, or that the number called by the inmate can not
`be reached for any number of reasons. as established by the
`prison administration, or the actual party called by the
`inmate.
`
`Yet another object of the invention is a method and
`apparatus for passively monitoring a telephone connection
`to detect security breaches.
`A still further object of the invention is an institutional
`telephone management system wherein the parameters that
`control the operation of the system as well as the records of
`system activity are stored in a central database. thereby
`permitting simple customization of system operation. gen-
`eration of reports and monitoring of status.
`In accordance with one aspect of the invention, a method
`of managing telephone activity in an institution includes the
`steps of: (1) identifying an institutional caller (the “calling
`party”) who wishes to place an outside call to an outside
`recipient (the “called party”); (2) blocking the institutional
`caller and-—while the institutional caller’s line (earpiece
`and/or mouthpiece) remains b1ocked—(a) calling said out-
`side recipient (called party), (b) providing the identity of
`said institutional caller to said outside recipient and (c)
`receiving a control code from said outside recipient; and (3)
`determining, in response to said control code, whether to
`connect the institutional caller to the outside recipient, and
`optionally, whether to indicate any of a plurality of mes sages
`to the calling party, e.g., an inmate. The control code
`preferably comprises a series of DTMF tones, for example
`the sequence 4688, which spells the pneumonic “GOTU”. In
`response to the recognition of a control code, the outside
`recipient is provided with the option (via a voice prompt
`menu) of prohibiting any future calls from the particular
`institutional caller or, if desired, prohibiting calls from any
`person within the institution and/or related institutions.
`Alternatively, if voice prompting or voice menus are not
`available or not desired, then the public-at-large can be
`informed that the “GOTU” feature is available in their area,
`and with respect to certain institutions in their area, and then,
`upon receipt of undesired calls from such institutions, the
`called party can enter the “GOTU” touchtone or keypad
`sequence. Any multitude of call prohibitions can be estab-
`lished as to any particular inmate by the prison administra-
`
`tion or the called party, including total blocking based on the
`called party’s telephone number, blocking during particular
`time periods, blocking based on the class of the crime
`associated with a particular inmate, etc.
`In accordance with another aspect of the invention. an
`apparatus for managing telephone activity in an institution
`includes: a plurality of institutional
`telephones located
`within the institution; a trunk management unit (TMU) for
`selectively connecting the institutional telephones to one or
`more outside telephone lines, wherein the TMU includes
`means for decoding DTMF tones generated by the institu-
`tional telephones or received from the outside telephone
`lines; and a computer control unit (CCU), coupled to the
`TMU, for controlling the connection of the institutional
`telephones to the outside telephone lines based upon DTMF
`tone(s) received from the outside telephone lines. A database
`associated with the CCU contains information regarding the
`calling privileges of each person within the institution. In a
`preferred embodiment, the TMU—prior to connecting the
`call—plays an announcement to the called party identifying
`the institution and caller, along with the options available to
`the called party. In response, the called party may enter the
`announced DTMF tone sequence (preferably GOTU), which
`modifies a record in the database, thereby prohibiting the
`caller (and/or other similarly situated prospective callers)
`from calling the called party in the future.
`Other features of the TMU provide security and monitor-
`ing functions. The invention provides three levels of
`monitoring, any or all of which may be active for any given
`call. The first level is “live” call (voice) monitoring, where
`the prison oflicials actively listen to a live call. The second
`level is call recording. The TMU can be programmed to
`enable associated recording equipment to record telephone
`calls. The third level is “passive” line monitoring, where the
`TMU detects, for example, DTMF tones, off-hook
`conditions, voltage spikes and/or sudden line impedance
`changes, in order to thwart attempts at unauthorized three-
`way calling, call conferencing, call transferring, call for-
`warding or re-dialing via various alternate common carriers,
`many of whom now offer “1-800” or local telephone number
`(e.g., “950”) access numbers. Also, care is taken to avoid
`disrupting calls that do not represent security breaches, by
`preventing false triggering of the above “passive” line
`monitoring features. For example, with respect to DTMF
`tone blocking, the TMU will look for any additional digits
`entered by an institutional caller, such as an inmate,
`to
`prevent the inmate from redialing to other telephone num-
`bers that may not be authorized. However,
`to prevent
`“talkoft”, whereby the normal telephone conversation can
`falsely trigger a disconnect signal (because the TMU may
`interpret the conversation as DTMF dialing), the TMU can
`be set to look at the number of digits dialed within a
`specified time period (e.g., six (6) digits within a fifteen (15)
`second time period. or any variation of the two parameters)
`and thereby, determine whether the audio information is
`indicative of unauthorized DTMF redialing or just a normal
`speech or voice pattern.
`In accordance with the preferred embodiment of the
`invention, all calls are passively monitored and all calls that
`can be legally recorded—i.e., all but inmate-to-attorney
`calls—are recorded. At any time, prison oificials can selec-
`tively invoke live monitoring to listen in on any call in
`progress, except an imnate-to-attomey call. System alarms,
`which trigger any time a particular inmate places a call or
`calls a certain person, allow oflicials to determine when live
`call monitoring is appropriate. Likewise, the telephone sys-
`tem of the present invention can be programmed to default
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`5,655,013
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`5
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`in any manner. For example, the system can be set to place
`only those telephone calls that are among a preapproved list
`of telephone numbers. Conversely. the system can be set to
`place all telephone calls except those that are among a list of
`restricted telephone numbers. Optionally, the telephone sys-
`tem of the present invention can include speed-dialing,
`whereby upon entering a PIN, for example, an imnate can
`enter “ll” followed by the “#” key. In that case, the prison
`administrator may have established that “ll” is the speed-
`dialing sequence for that inmate’s mother. Of course, the
`system could be configured so that the inmates themselves
`can program the telephone system with speed-dialing digits,
`however. a principal objective of speed-dialing is to save
`time at the telephone, thus making the telephones available
`to the largest number of inmates in the shortest possible time
`period.
`In addition, the invention may include biometric voice
`verification features. The TMU, for example, may digitize a
`sample of the caller’s voice. The CCU then compares the
`digitized sample with a stored voice print. to verify the
`identity of the caller. Such biometric monitoring may also be
`used in a passive call monitoring mode, wherein periodic
`samples of the caller’s voice are provided to the CCU—and
`checked against a list of authorized voice prints——to ensure
`that no unauthorized callers are participating in a call. and to
`ensure that imnates are not sharing or selling relatively
`liberal calling privileges associated with a particular PIN or
`inmate account to other imnates that are subject to more
`limited calling privileges. The use of biometric voice veri-
`fication (or “voice prints”) can prevent PIN abuse in general.
`For example. if a particular inmate with restricted calling
`privileges. or no available funds, attempted to force (e.g., by
`threatening physical attack) another imnate with relatively
`non-restricted calling privileges (or available funds) to turn
`over his PIN. biometric voice verification would obviate this
`problem. as the voice would be used to validate entry into
`any inmate account.
`
`BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
`
`The detailed description below describes the preferred
`embodiments of the invention and is intended to be read in
`conjunction with the set of drawings, in which:
`FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the major components
`of a preferred apparatus, including a plurality of institutional
`telephones, a computer control unit (CCU) and a trunk
`management unit (TMU);
`FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the software and
`firmware architecture of the apparatus;
`FIG. 3 is an exemplary screen showing an institutional
`user’s calling privileges and activity;
`FIG. 4 is a block diagram of a TMU; and
`FIG. 5 is a flow diagram depicting the operation of the call
`qualification process, including the invention’s prospective
`call screening (or “GOTU”) feature.
`
`DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE
`PREFERRED EIVDBODIMENTS
`
`The preferred embodiment(s) will be described with ref-
`erence to prison based call management. This, however,
`should not be viewed as limiting, since the invention is also
`applicable in other institutional settings such as military
`bases, schools, mental institutions and business organiza-
`tions.
`
`Referring now to FIG. 1, a call management system
`manages calls from a plurality of inmate telephones 1. A
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`TMU 2 controls the connection of individual inmate tele-
`phones (for example la) to outside telephone lines 8, and
`electronically monitors connected calls. A TMU 2 can
`optionally contain (and/or be connected to external) voice
`messaging or voice synthesis equipment, to facilitate fea-
`tures such as over-the-phone voice prompting, voice mail, or
`any voice activated, responsive or interactive telephone
`feature. For example, an imnate could enter his/her PIN into
`a telephone 1 keypad, and then, access his/her account. In
`turn, voice equipment associated with or contained within
`the TMU could inform the imnate of the exact balance
`available in his/her account for future telephone calls.
`Additionally, the inmate could ascertain how much any prior
`telephone call has cost, and further, could dial an intended
`telephone call, and ascertain how much that call will cost for
`the first time period (e.g., the first minute), or, find out how
`many minutes the imnate can be connected to that telephone
`number, given the cost of that call and the amount remaining
`in the inmate’s account, all prior to actually completing the
`call and becoming obligated to pay for it. Obviously, for
`debit-based systems. inmate calls will not be placed in the
`event
`that sufficient funds are not available. Further, if
`during a call connection,
`inmate funds become nearly
`exhausted, a warning tone could inform the inmate of that
`condition, so that the inmate can terminate the conversation,
`and take appropriate steps to replenish his/her account. Such
`warning tones could be made possible by a real time call cost
`monitoring system, that compares imnate call costs and
`imnate account balances while each call is in progress.
`A serial interface card 4 digitally interfaces TMU 2 to: a
`CCU 3, one or more administrative terminals 5a—b and, via
`data modems 6a—b, to a remote terminal 7. Of course,
`remote terminals 7, administrative terminals 5 and CCUs 3
`can be connected via so-called dedicated data/telephone line
`services, obviating the need for actual modems 6.
`TMU 2 communicates bi-directionally with CCU 3. In
`one direction, CCU 3 directs TMU 2 to connect, record,
`passively monitor and terminate calls, and to download
`and/or play prerecorded messages to an inmate or outside
`call recipient. In the other direction, TMU 2. monitors the
`real-time status-—i.e. oif-hook, DTMF tones, voltage spikes
`and rapid impedance changes—of institutional and outside
`telephone lines. In addition, TMU 2 can provide digitized
`voice samples to CCU 3 in order to record messages (such
`as the inmate’s name) and to support biometric voice
`verification or monitoring functions. Optionally, TMU 2 (or
`other comparable apparatus) could be configured to provide
`digitized voice samples to, for example, CCU 3, for each call
`made, whereby such samples are sufiicient in length to
`provide verification that the inmate indeed participated in a
`conversation with a particular called party on a particular
`date and at a particular time. Because prison administrators
`may not wish to charge inmates (or in the case of collect
`calls, called parties) for certain calls (for example, calls the
`administrator deems incomplete), it is critical that adminis-
`trators have the ability to verify actual telephone commu-
`nications. Incomplete telephone calls may include, for
`example, busy signals, calls that do not “go throug ”. calls
`that are not answered (as distinct from calls that reach
`answering machines, which may be deemed complete), etc.
`Thus, if an inmate or a called party subsequently claims that
`a particular telephone communication never occurred (e.g.,
`a busy signal was reached, the called party never answered,
`or no voices were spoken at all), the prison administer can
`retrieve the voice verification record to evaluate whether,
`e.g._. a credit is due, telephone system repair is required, or
`whether claims that certain calls were incomplete are false.
`
`0009
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`5,655,013
`
`7
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`(i.e. paid-in-advance)
`
`Referring now to FIG. 2, CCU 3 is preferably a “486”
`personal computer or larger “super-mini” type computer
`configured to operate under a suitable operating system,
`such as UNDUM System V. Of course, any number of
`operating systems will be suitable for the purpose of the
`present invention. In addition to the operating system, a
`database management system (DBMS),
`such as
`ORACLETM, which includes a structured query language
`(SQL) interface, is used to store system configuration and
`status information. An SQL forms generator provides access
`to the stored configuration and status information. An SQL
`menu program allows users to easily navigate the database
`system. An SQL report writer is used to generate reports of
`calling activity or other system usage.
`TMU firmware controls the operation of TMU 2. TMU
`interface software in CCU 3 is configured to manage com-
`munication between TMU 2 and CCU 3. ORACLE interface
`software provides a simple, menu based interface to field
`users such as correctional olficers and management officials.
`Real-time control software manages the real-time activity of
`the system and responds to communications from TMU 2
`and user inputs from CCU 3 or terminals 5a—b and 7.
`From an administrator/user perspective, the CCU soft-
`ware supports the following general functions:
`(1) establishment and configuration of individual inmate
`data and monetary accounts;
`(2) checking of imnate debit
`accounts;
`(3) setting of global (i.e. institution wide) and individual
`restrictions on telephone access;
`(4) real-time monitoring of inmate telephone calls and
`alerts (based on call content, security breaches, etc.),
`along with the ability to cut off inmate calls individu-
`ally or globally;
`(5) storing and reporting of detailed inmate call details
`and account information; and
`(6) storing and reporting of telephone usage data.
`Referring now to FIG. 3, an exemplary form 30 provides
`easy access to various information regarding an inrnate’s
`debit account, calling privileges and calling activity. The
`FIG. 3 form includes a title segment 31, which displays the
`current date, title of the form and form code. Below the title
`segment is a header segment 32, which typically displays
`such information as the inmate’s name, registration number,
`preferred language selection, prisoner account code (“PAC”,
`or PIN), certain calling privilege information and account
`balance. Below the header are a plurality of data blocks 33,
`which show the inrnate’s transactions (both accounting
`transactions and phone calls) as well as his/her calling
`privileges and restrictions—i.e., numbers the inmate is
`allowed to call, the inmate’s attorney’s number, numbers the
`inmate is prohibited from calling, and numbers which
`should trigger an alert on the system terminals when a call
`is attempted. The system allows the user to scroll through the
`data blocks in order to bring any particular transaction or
`restriction into view. A help line 34 lists the commands
`available to the user. A bottom positioned status line 35
`completes the form.
`Referring now to FIG. 4, a block diagram of one channel
`of a multichannel TMU 2 is shown. Generally, TMU 2
`includes circuitry to selectively connect inmate phones with
`outside lines,
`to selectively monitor and record the
`connection, and to generate appropriate voice instructions or
`prompts to the inmate and/or the outside call recipient.
`As depicted in FIG. 4, a channel of TMU 2 connects to an
`inmate telephone 1 at a station input line 40. A record
`
`5
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`10
`
`15
`
`20
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`25
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`30
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`35
`
`45
`
`50
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`55
`
`65
`
`8
`blocking circuit 41 connects station input line 40 to record-
`ing equipment (not depicted) via line 41a (which line can
`also be used for “live” call monitoring). CCU 3 automati-
`cally controls an attorney relay 41b and, in the case of an
`inrnate-to-attorney call, switches line 41a to a tone generator
`41c, thereby blocking improper attempts to record or moni-
`tor inmate-to-attorney calls.
`A split relay 42 switches the inmate telephone between a
`local line 42a and an outside line 42b. Initially (i.e. before
`the inmate initiates a call), split relay 42 connects station
`input line 40 (via local line 42a) to a monitor circuit 43,
`which monitors the inrnate’s telephone. Monitor circuit 43
`supplies a battery feed to the imnate’s telephone, and
`performs pulse digit recognition and current detection as
`well. A dial tone generator 43a (which is preferably common
`to all channels of the TMU) supplies a dial tone to the
`inrnate’s phone. A relay 44a switches a D'I‘MF receiver 44
`to decode tones on the local line 42a or the outside line 42b.
`A Voice-out-station line 45a supplies voice messages to the
`inrnate’s telephone. CCU 3 controls the decoder portion of
`an integrated coder/decoder (CODEC) circuit to generate the
`messages fed to line 45a. (The decoder portion of a second
`CODEC also drives a voice out central oflice line 45c to play
`messages to outside line 42b.) A central ofiice voice input
`line 47b connects to the coder portion of the CODEC circuit
`to support message recording, voice monitoring and/or
`verification functions. Optionally, voice-in-station 42c is
`used to record the name of an inmate. Also optional, answer
`board line 47g is used to detect called party answer
`conditions, by detecting the presence or loss of call progress
`tones (e.g., ringing, busy, special-information—tones (S1Ts)_.
`etc.).
`A hold circuit 46 is used to interact with the outside caller
`
`during the call qualification process, during which the sta-
`tion input line 40 is switched to local line 42a. A hold relay
`46d selectively connects hold circuit 46 to outside line 42b.
`A DTlVIF generator 46c (preferably common to all channels
`of the TMU) is controlled by CCU 3 to, for example, place
`an outside call
`to a requested number. Hold circuit 46
`interfaces with D'I‘MF receiver 44 to detect tones generated
`by the outside caller during the call qualification process.
`The hold circuit 46 (with its associated relay 46d) can also
`pass audio information directly to the monitor circuit 43 as
`desired via audio feed through line 46b. The hold circuit 46
`can also be used for dial-pulse dialing to the central office.
`Line current detector 47a (preferably implemented using an
`opto-isolator), ring detector 47e, and tip/ground detector 47d
`monitor the status of outside line 42b. Ground start relay 47f
`connects a ground start circuit to the ring wire of outside
`lines 48a and 48b, to start “ground-start” type lines. A line
`relay 48 switches outside line 42b between a central oflice
`main line 48a and a central oflice auxiliary line 48b. Also
`shown are voice out (45c) and voice in (47b) ports, and a
`ground start (47c).
`In addition to the channel circuitry described above, TMU
`2 is controlled by a microprocessor 4911, which interfaces
`with a watchdog timer 49b and with a memory 49c, channel
`I/O 49d, miscellaneous I/O 49e and dual serial ports 49fvia
`data, or so-called “glue” logic 49g. TMU 2 also includes a
`jack tester circuit 49h and connectors 491' and 49j to answer
`and voice boards, respectively. The voice board contains a
`plurality of integrated CODECs (preferably two per TMU
`channel) as well as circuitry needed to permit CCU control
`of the CODECs, including I/O circuitry and voice data
`buffers.
`
`Referring now to FIG. 5, the method of connecting an
`inmate call can now be discussed. TMU 2 continuously
`
`0010
`
`0010
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`

`
`9
`
`10
`
`5,655,013
`
`monitors the inmate telephones 1. To place a call, in step 50,
`an inmate picks up a phone and enters two numbers (in any
`order established by the facility): (1) his/her personal iden-
`tification number (PIN); and (2) the number to be called.
`TMU 2 forwards both numbers to CCU 3, which, in step 51,
`queries the inrnate’s account to check whether:
`(1) there are suflicient funds in the inmate’s debit account
`to make the call (unless the call is a collect call);
`(2) the particular inmate is allowed to: (a) use the par-
`ticular telephone extension; (b) place calls at the given
`time-of-day; or (c) has exceeded a maximum number of
`calls or calling minutes within a given period of time;
`and
`
`(3)