Scaling API-first – The story of a global engineering organization
Ais presentation 9.23.12
1. AIS
TM
Automated Information Services (AIS™)
Routine Jail Calls Handled in the Cloud
Ted Radey
CEO
Telerus, Inc.
Direct: 303.928.1015
Cell: 303.875.2793
www.telerus.com
tradey@telerus.com
2. Today’s Routine Citizen Phone Calls
How do I pay
her/his bond?
What are his What’s her
charges? court date?
Is he there?
How can I talk to
him by phone?
Can I pay the Can I
bond with a drop off
credit card? Where is the jail?
Can you give me How her
directions? much is When will she meds?
his be released?
bond?
How do I send When can I
money? What pick up her
about mail? How do I property?
make a Where is When can
deposit? court held? I visit him?
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3. Today’s U.S. Local Jail Realities
Average of ½ citizen phone call per
inmate per day
100 ADP = 50 calls per day
500 ADP = 250 calls per day
2,000 ADP = 1,000 calls per day
Most facilities answer routine phone calls
manually – one after another
Staff members stressed, overloaded – peak
hours and spikes are problematic
Citizens experience long holds, busy signals, no
answers during ordeals that are already stressful
Multitasking…booking/release errors: bad press
Budget cuts: understaffing typical, headcounts
being reduced or kept static
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4. Are These Necessary Realities?
Times may be tough all over, but NO!
The AIS™ Solution: work WITH citizens, not FOR
citizens
AIS™: IVR platform “in the Cloud” and
specifically designed for local jails
Citizens independently obtain routine inmate
and facility information while staff members are
free for other tasks
Surprisingly affordable - simplifies procurements
so facilities can deploy quickly
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5. Today’s Citizen Call Management
Jail Management Teams are resourceful and
creative with what they have
Human resources: front desk, central control,
booking, civilians, officers, captains, wardens,
sheriffs
Phone Systems: intelligent call routing, queuing,
phone “trees,” voicemails
Operations: business hours, after hours, rollover,
round robin, ring all
Manually answering all calls has clear
limitations: particularly along with responsibilities
for safety, security, accuracy
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6. Citizen Call Management with AISTM
Routine citizen phone calls from friends,
family, bondsmen, attorneys dialing the Off Site Server Farm
same published number(s) as always. “In the Cloud”
80% automation rate
Remaining Citizen Calls
JAIL
AIS
(Non-automated)
PUBLIC TM
FTP – Flat Files FTP – Flat Files
Internet
Jail Mgmt System
(JMS)
Notes: Citizens dial the same number as always, but are routed to the AIS Data Center “in the Cloud,” which automates an average of 80% of all calls.
Citizens hear each facility’s greeting and configured features based on the number dialed. Citizens access inmate specific case information referenced from
import “flat files” or current population reports exported out of the jail’s host JMS and transmitted to the AIS data center via FTP in predetermined intervals
(15 minutes is default). The remaining non-automated calls averaging 20% are routed to a number specified by the jail and can come in just as phone calls do
today… only in much smaller quantities.
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7. AISTM: Smarter Call Management
All calls during peak hours are
answered quickly and AIS
TM
consistently
80% automation – 4 out of 5 calls
vanish!
VERY substantial and measurable
man hour savings
Computers handle “mindless”
questions, expensive staff
members saved for the complex
Less stress, better job satisfaction
Improved focus, accuracy,
safety, security
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8. AISTM: Smarter Call Management
Feature Rich
English and Spanish
Speech Recognition
Inmate Case Info: IE: Charges,
Bond Amount, Bond Type,
Warrants/Holds, Visitation
Times, Court Dates, Projected
Release Dates.
General Facility Info: IE:
Location/Directions, Policies for
Sending Money, Sending Mail,
Visitation, Prescription/Meds,
Inmate Phone Accounts, Court
Information, Commonly
Requested Phone Numbers.
Configurable
Scalable and Robust
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9. Today’s Citizen Service Issues
Fact: Most citizen phone calls are not getting
answered on a timely basis
Citizens get frustrated
– Long holds are bad
– Busy signals are worse
– No answers are the worst
Citizens complain
– “My son is in jail and you won’t even pick up the phone!”
– “I’m a taxpayer and am entitled to information - now.”
– “Who’s running this facility?”
– “The Sheriff doesn’t have my vote in the next election.”
– “This is ridiculous – I’m going to write a letter.”
Citizens argue:
“That bond amount can’t be right.”
Citizens appeal:
“He’s really not a bad kid, it was the crowd…”
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10. Citizen Service with AISTM
AIS
TM
All calls are answered within three rings…
even 100+ in the same minute!
Citizens receive a quick and easy self
service option to simply speak the name
of an inmate or type of facility
information desired in English or Spanish
Citizen stress is relieved with information
during a difficult process
Information from the system sounds
“official” and is less likely to be debated
Fewer long winded appeals for leniency
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11. Today’s Local Budgets
Almost all budgets are tight
Some are in crisis
Detention facilities a large
portion of most budgets and
their expenses are under
particular scrutiny
Adding to current headcounts is
uncertain and challenging – at
best
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12. Local Budgets with AIS
Labor savings from 80% automation is clear
and measurable
Staff members can be redeployed,
circumventing uncertain requests
Voice automation can be cited as a cost
cutting measure to local administrators
and commissioners
Voice automation can be publicized as a
smarter government measure that cuts
agency costs while improving citizen
service
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13. Local Budgets with AIS
Gross Annual Savings Quick Reference Chart
“All-in” Hourly Labor Cost
$12 $14 $16 $18 $20 $22
100 $14,454 $16,863 $19,272 $21,681 $24,090 $26,499
250 $36,135 $42,158 $48,180 $54,203 $60,225 $66,248
Average Daily Population
500 $72,270 $84,315 $96,360 $108,405 $120,450 $132,495
750 $108,405 $126,473 $144,540 $162,608 $180,675 $198,743
1000 $144,540 $168,630 $192,720 $216,810 $240,900 $264,990
1500 $216,810 $252,945 $289,080 $325,215 $361,350 $397,485
2000 $289,080 $337,260 $385,440 $433,620 $481,800 $529,980
2500 $361,350 $421,575 $481,800 $542,025 $602,250 $662,475
3000 $433,620 $505,890 $578,160 $650,430 $722,700 $794,970
Notes: This chart assumes the average incoming call volume of ½ call per day per inmate. Some facilities receive twice that many and some
half.
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14. Today’s Procurements and Implementations
RFP’s take months
and months,
consuming staffing
resources every step
of the way.
Complex software
systems that create
The public, co-workers,
efficiencies, such as
other agencies criticize
JMS, take months,
system expenses,
even years,
transitions, and defects.
to configure.
Software and hardware
systems quickly become
obsolete and the process
starts all over again.
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15. The AIS Procurement
No Long-Term RFP’s Rarely Easy to Get Simple Recourse
Contract or Required Started …If anyone
Setup Fees …the commitment …service can be questions the
…month-to-month is well under the RFP initiated from a procurement, it
service… pay as threshold for most five-page could easily be
you go. facilities… service agreement cancelled, but we
especially given the or P.O. from know that it will not
payoff. Purchasing – your be pried away
choice. once
turned up.
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16. The AIS Implementation
Expert project teams have
Completed 100+ configurations down to a
turn-ups, more than all science, can be completed
competitors combined. in a few weeks.
Hosted “in the Cloud” Software always kept
with no onsite hardware current through centralized,
or software to install. offsite updates.
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17. After AIS
Review usage summary reports during quarterly service reviews
to fine tune call flow and improve performance.
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18. After AIS
Join Established User Community
“Borrow” features from other facilities. Suggest new
features that may benefit other facilities…membership
benefits increase with each new member.
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19. After AIS
“Before AIS™, working at the booking desk was just terrible. The phones never
stopped ringing and it was really hard for callers to get through.”
- Bibb County, GA
“If we had not had AIS™, we most certainly would have had to request additional
staff to answer phone calls. AIS™ also helped reduce booking errors and citizen
complaints.”
- Elkhart County, IN
“AIS™ has drastically reduced the need for staff to handle calls from the public.
The automated system has streamlined inmate information access which has had
a direct effect on our operational efficiency.”
- Jefferson County, CO
“Someone came back from vacation just after AIS was installed and reported that
there was a problem with the phones because they weren’t ringing anymore.”
- Lorain County, OH
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20. Next Steps
Maintain a true win/win private-
public partnership. We provide
outstanding service so to earn
our fee every month. You
Give it two months - if provide feedback and tell other
the differences are facilities that there is an easier
not clear and way to manage citizen phone
obvious, you may calls.
opt to cancel, but
don’t bet on it!
Implement: tell us
about your
AIS
operations and start TM
Sign five-page sending us current
service agreement population reports.
OR have Purchasing
issue a PO.
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