Corrections Telecommunication and Technology
F. Warren Benton, Ph.D.
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Free E-mail
E-mail used to be expensive. Online services permitted only one e-mail address per account, and government agencies limited e-mail accounts because of telecommunications and computer equipment costs. Some services charged for e-mail by the message. During the last year, however, the situation has changed. E-mail accounts are now available for free from a range of services, each meeting different personal and organizational circumstances and needs.
Obviously, a critical factor involves access to computers for the staff. Employees cannot be required to buy their own computers, and agency funds are an unlikely source for home purchases. However, probably between 15 and 30 percent of the employees already have computers at home, although the computers may be used primarily by their children. Another 15 to 30 percent may already have access to e-mail from computers at work. For example, personnel and budget staff may use a government-wide computer system that has e-mail built in, and they can continue to use their existing addresses. Providing computer access for the rest of the staff might be accomplished by purchasing a set of computers to be placed in strategic locations throughout the office or facility, with access through a free service like Juno.
If you manage a large facility or program that is part of a major agency, it is likely that e-mail alternatives already exist, or major plans are already underway. However, if you manage a small and independent facility or organization, the free e-mail option may be your fastest track to contemporary communications.
Free Web Page
A web page is a file that can be accessed via the internet. Web pages can be used by correctional agencies for a range of purposes. My July 1996 column was dedicated to this topic. Most correctional agencies do not have web pages. If you are a large facility or program within a major agency, the agency probably is already making plans for your web page. However, if you are a small and independent facility or organization, you should be making plans on your own. Fortunately, web pages can be also be free.
Many states are providing computer space for state and local agencies for their web pages. Before you embark on an independent effort, you should check with the agencies and organizations that provide other computer servies for your agency.
Whether or not you have an official source for your web page, you
should also check out Geocities.
The Geocities web site consists of thousands of individual web pages, provided by Geocities at no charge, clustered into "neighborhoods" based on themes like travel, politics, sports, or the arts. You join by selecting an unoccupied "house" (a web page) in a neighborhood that suits your interests. You are provided with a password to access your web page, so that you can edit and customize it. Geocities has excellent web page editors built into their site, intended for non-technical people.
Geocities is an internet company and a marketing company, and their revenues come from advertising and sales on their site, and recently they have offered upgraded versions of their free web pages for a monthly charge. However, their advertising and sales are unobtrusive, and their free web page service is excellent.
Inexpensive Networks
A local area network connects computers so that they can share drives, printers, and other resources. Co-workers with networked computers can share information beteen computers easily, and can use "work group" applications. "Work group" applications are programs that do the usual functions -- word processing, spreadsheet, database, schedule, presentations, etc. -- but permit a team of co-workers to collaborate on documents, or engage in on-line discussions where messages and replies are stored and made available to members of the work group.
While I cannot point you to a free computer network, I can report that costs have dropped significantly. Windows 95 comes with built-in network software that allows you to share drives and printers. For a small organization, or for a small working group within a large organization, this approach to networking may be appropriate. If you work within a larger agency that already has plans for local area networks, it is very important to coordinate what you do with the general plans for networks.
To install a network, you must purchase and install network cards in each computer, which can be purchased from many mail order catalogs for under $20 each, and you have to connect the computers with network cable. Thus, for a small network, your budget might come to less than $30 per computer for parts, and no additional cost for software as long as you already have Windows 95 installed.
Implementing a network is not for the technically faint-hearted, but, as a relatively nontechnical person, I can report that I personally installed a four computer network in my home, relying on instructions that came with the network cards, and have survived the experience. If you and your staff are handling the everyday challenges of installing and maintaining software and hardware in a Windows 95 environment, you are probably up to the challenge. However, if you and/or your staff have never fiddled with an IRQ or a device driver, you should involve professional technicians in the project.
"Free Lunch" on the Internet
by Ned Benton
Copyright Corrections Managers' Report, February/March 1997
Because resources are usually short, and needs are great, corrections managers stretch resources to the limit, always seeking new ways to do things more effectively and efficiently. Despite our best efforts, we all have items on our budgetary wish-lists that go unfunded. In the area of telecommunications and technology, I can suggest several ideas that are probably on many lists: extending e-mail to all staff, creating an agency web page, and installing a local area network to connect computers within a program or facility. Free lunch in cyberspace!
If you think of such initiatives as expensive projects that will have to await planning and funding, it may be time to reassess the situation. Just as the cost of computing has dropped dramatically during the last fifteen years, recent developments in network and internet computing lower the costs for e-mail, web pages, and small-scale networks.
A prison, jail, probation office, or work release center can set up a staff e-mail network with limited up-front cost, and practically no ongoing operational cost. Such a network could be very useful for broadcasting general announcements, and for communications about work and training schedules. With some advance planning and ongoing support, the network could also be used for other forms of official reporting and communication. Riding the Back Side of the Technology Curve
My general point is that, while it is expensive and sometimes risky
to be first to adopt new technologies, it is important to keep an
eye out for widely adopted technologies that become inexpensive
and cost-effective. Given the pace of innovation in
telecommunications and technology, price reductions and
performance improvements occur quickly.