Colorado Department of Corrections

Call Recording for Policy Compliance and Customer Service

View a printable version of the Colorado Department of Corrections case study.

Overview

The Colorado Department of Corrections (DOC) has a long history beginning with the Colorado Territorial Correctional Facility in Cañon City, which received its first inmate on June 13, 1871. Today, DOC covers 29 facilities throughout the state of Colorado.ⁱ

An important mission of DOC is to meet the diverse educational needs of inmates through the provision of quality academic, vocational, life skills, and transitional services whereby inmates can successfully integrate into society, gain and maintain employment and become responsible, productive individuals.ⁱⁱ

Business Challenge

Provide inmates with vocational opportunities in information technology while meeting strict security and compliance requirements, and maintain high service levels.

The Colorado DOC offers a program to employ appropriate and qualified individuals in first-level help desk positions which support the technology needs of Colorado state offices.

To ensure quality and safety for all parties involved, DOC records and monitors all help desk lines staffed by inmates.

"We need to record and monitor all the help desk phones to comply with Corrections Department policy," says Ron Wiseman, IT Manager at the Colorado Department of Corrections. When it came time to roll out an IP telephony solution, Wiseman was given the task of finding the right call recording solution to support their new phone system.

Solution

Wiseman recommended that DOC select the CallRex™ IP call recording and
monitoring solution from Telrex.

"I recommended CallRex for its ability to record and monitor IP calls and for its affordability," says Wiseman. Key considerations included compatibility with the IP telephony system and ease of use. Wiseman considered alternative solutions but found these to be too costly and complex for DOC needs.

Today, CallRex software is deployed at the Colorado Department of Corrections in conjunction with the ShoreTel IP telephony and call center system. Female inmates staff a technical support help desk as first-level responders to fill out trouble tickets and initiate support activities.

"We like the modular licensing. There is not a large upfront cost, and we can expand on a per seat basis,” notes Wiseman. “With a lot of other solutions the main cost is upfront, and it would have limited our ability to implement call recording."

Telrex worked closely with the DOC team as they transitioned from an initial IP telephony system to the ShoreTel system.

"Overall the system works well," says Wiseman, "and the Telrex guys have been very easy to work with. I would give them a 9.5 on a scale of 1 to 10."

Benefits

Today, DOC reviews help desk calls taken by the support center staff. They review recorded calls and conduct live monitoring for quality assurance and policy compliance, and also to review for complaints. Wiseman points out, "so far the inmates have never been out of line."

DOC’s ability to record phone calls has enabled them to offer the IT help desk role as a vocational opportunity to inmates. In addition, DOC has reduced costs as they have been able to shift existing technical resources to higher value positions within the organization.

Wiseman states that the DOC executive staff is very pleased with the results. Looking to the future as DOC builds and upgrades facilities, Wiseman notes that IP telephony and IP call recording will be an important part of their information technology plans.

ⁱ Colorado Department of Corrections Web Site
ⁱⁱ Colorado Department of Corrections Mission Statement

View a printable version of the Colorado Department of Corrections case study.