|
|
| Michigan Delivers Far-Flung Corrections Services |
|
|
|
June 16, 2009
|
|
|
Michigan is a big state with some big economic issues. To help bring services to far-flung facilities, the Michigan Department of Corrections and the Michigan
|
|
A Polycom HD4000 in Michigan
|
|
Department of State Police are using a variety of tools from Polycom to serve facilities scattered across the state.
MDoC links its 48 correctional facilities with a network of Polycom visual conferencing tools, serving about 85 videoconferencing site with a total of 158 endpoints, for services including telemedicine and parole and other hearings.
Courts in 27 of Michigan’s 83 counties have some level of videoconferencing capabilities, but not all are capable of connecting with the Department of Corrections due to network limitations, said Lynette J. Holloway, video conferencing coordinator for MDOC’s Bureau of Fiscal Management.
The Polycom systems range from desktop video conferencing software for PCs to Polycom HDX 8000 room telepresence solutions and use Polycom MGC +50 ReadiConvene conference bridges.
The agency’s telemedicine program lets physicians in Detroit, Lansing and Jackson do evaluations, treatment prescriptions and more for prisoners at any MDOC facility.
In 2007, MDOC conducted more than 1,000 telemedicine visits, reducing the time and danger of transporting prisoners to local health care facilities, reducing the spread of disease and producing an estimated savings of $125,000 in transportation costs alone.
“The savings we’re seeing-both in money and in time-would be impossible to achieve without videoconferencing,” said Holloway. “The parole board in particular has virtually been pulled off the road.”
The Corrections program began with a pilot in 1996 in four locations. The state added 12 more within the first three years and continued to grow. Holloway noted that the system tackles video from a variety of different sources, from top-quality telepresence solutions to basic low-bandwidth desktop units.
“We don’t need a lot of fancy stuff to affect a video arraignment,” she said.
The Michigan State Police Forensic Science Division also uses Polycom gear, delivering video testimony at criminal trials around the state.
|
|
|
|
|
|