Controlled-environment facility message response system
A resident of a controlled-environment facility is provided with a messaging service that includes a capability that provides a message recipient with reply message capabilities. A visitation request system receives requests for communication sessions between residents and non-residents. The visitation system initiates a request for a communication session on behalf of the requesting party and determines that the responding party has not accepted the communication session request. Since the request has not been accepted, a messaging service provides the requesting with an interface for recording a message for delivery to the responding party. If the requesting party records a message, the responding party is notified of the recorded message. Once the responding party plays the recorded message, the responding party is provided an option to record a reply message for delivery to the requesting party. The requesting party is notified of the reply message from the responding party.
1. A system for providing a resident of a controlled-environment facility with messaging, the system comprising:
a visitation request system configured to:
initiate a communications request on behalf of the resident for a communications session with a non-resident; and
determine that the non-resident has not accepted the communications request; and
a message service configured to:
store a message recorded by the resident for the non-resident, in response to determining the communications request has not been accepted by the non-resident;
notify the non-resident that the recorded message from the resident is available from the message service;
in response to a request to access the recorded message from the non-resident, play the recorded message from the message service to the non-resident;
upon completing the playing of the recorded message, immediately prompting the non-resident to record a reply message in a format based on the type of device being used by the non-resident and providing the non-resident an opportunity to directly record the reply message on the message service; and
notify the resident of the recorded reply message from the non-resident;
wherein the recorded reply message is limited to a duration.
2. The system of claim 1 , wherein the recorded reply message includes video content.
3. The system of claim 1 , wherein the duration is determined based on a security classification associated with the resident.
4. The system of claim 1 , wherein the system further includes a monitoring service configured to:
analyze the recorded messages from the resident to identify indicators of unauthorized activity by the resident; and
denote the recorded message as suspicious based on the identification of indicators of unauthorized activity by the resident.
5. The system of claim 4 , wherein the monitoring service is further configured to analyze the reply message for indicators of unauthorized reply activity by the non-resident, if the recorded message is denoted as suspicious.
6. The system of claim 1 , wherein the message service is further configured to:
receive a request from the resident to play the reply message from the non-resident, wherein the request is received from a resident device utilized by the resident; and
convert the reply message from a first format to a second format based on the capabilities of the resident device.
7. The system of claim 1 , wherein the recorded reply message includes audio content.
8. A method for providing a resident of a controlled-environment facility with messaging, the method comprising:
initiating, on behalf of the resident, a communications request for a communications session with a non-resident;
determining that the non-resident has not accepted the communications request;
in response to determining the communications request has not been accepted by the non-resident, storing a message recorded by the resident for the non-resident;
notifying the non-resident that the recorded message from the resident is available from the message service;
in response to a request to access the recorded message from the non-resident, playing the recorded message from the message service to the non-resident;
upon completing the playing of the recorded message, prompting the non-resident to record a reply message and immediately providing the non-resident an opportunity for directly recording the reply message on the message service, wherein the recorded reply message is limited to a duration based on a security classification associated with the resident; and
notifying the resident of the recorded reply message from the non-resident.
9. The method of claim 8 , wherein the recorded reply message includes video content.
10. The method of claim 8 , wherein the duration limit is further based on the resident the format of the reply message.
11. The method of claim 8 , further comprising:
analyzing the recorded messages from the resident to identify indicators of unauthorized activity by the resident; and
denoting the recorded message as suspicious based on the identification of indicators of unauthorized activity by the resident.
12. The method of claim 11 , further comprising:
if the recorded message is denoted as suspicious, analyzing the reply message for indicators of unauthorized reply activity by the non-resident.
13. The method of claim 8 , further comprising:
receiving a request from the resident to play the reply message from the non-resident, wherein the request is received from a resident device utilized by the resident; and
converting the reply message from a first format to a second format based on the capabilities of the resident device.
14. A computer-readable storage device having program instructions stored thereon for providing a resident of a controlled-environment facility with messaging, upon execution by one or more processors, the program instructions cause the one or more processors to:
initiate, on behalf of the resident, a communications request for a communications session with a non-resident;
determine that the non-resident has not accepted the communications request;
in response to determining the communications request has not been accepted by the non-resident, store a message recorded on the message service by the resident for the non-resident;
notify the non-resident that the recorded message from the resident is available from the message service;
in response to a request to access the recorded message from the non-resident, play the recorded message from the message service to the non-resident;
upon completing the playing of the recorded message, prompting the non-resident to record a reply message and immediately providing the non-resident an opportunity to directly record the reply message on the message service; and
notify the resident of the recorded reply message from the non-resident;
wherein the recorded reply message is limited to a duration based on a security classification associated with the resident.
15. The computer-readable storage device of claim 14 , wherein the recorded reply message includes video content.
16. The computer-readable storage device of claim 14 , wherein the duration limit is further based on the format of the reply message.
17. The computer-readable storage device of claim 14 , the program instructions further causing the one or more processors to:
analyze the recorded messages from the resident to identify indicators of unauthorized activity by the resident;
denote the recorded message as suspicious based on the identification of indicators of unauthorized activity by the resident.
18. The computer-readable storage device of claim 17 , the program instructions further causing the one or more processors to: analyze the reply message for indicators of unauthorized reply activity by the non-resident, if the recorded message is denoted as suspicious.
19. The computer-readable storage device of claim 14 , the program instructions further causing the one or more processors to:
receive a request from the resident to play the reply message from the non-resident, wherein the request is received from a resident device utilized by the resident; and
convert the reply message from a first format to a second format based on the capabilities of the resident device.
20. The computer-readable storage device of claim 19 , wherein the first format is a text message format and the second format is an audio message format.