Prisoners as relay operator?

Dixie said:
I watched something on a news show once where inmates at a prison where actually working as customer service reps for a major company (but would not disclose the company name). The inmates were males who were convicts serving time for violent and non-violent crimes. None of them were death row inmates.

They had about 20 inmates in a closed windowless room setting two at a desk. They each had what looked like an old telephone base that was squarish in shape and lime green in color. There were two headsets to each base that had a single earphone and microphone. And there were only four buttons and a key hole on the base. The white button was to accept the call, and the red button was to disconnect the call. The inmates are not allowed to have any type of pen or paper with them during this time and they are searched for it several times a shift. The key hole was for the supervisor to press the white and red button simultaneously to place the caller on hold, the supervisor unlocked the phone, placed a supervisor headset into the headphone jack (the inmate has to disconnect their headphones so not to hear the conversation), and the supervisor is an actual supervisor for the company that has contracted this work to the prison. The supervisor then writes down the information on a form that is placed into a locked file outside the room and is taken to the company to be entered into the computer as data and processed off of the prison grounds. The inmates are paid around $1 day to do this work.

I think this is a good idea for inmates, putting them to work instead of just allowing them to laze around all day doing nothing watching cable TV or playing cards. This makes them productive. I believe the prison also receives a large chunk of the wages being paid for the maintenance and upkeep of the prisoners in the work program. The prisoners are thus earning their own keep and are a lesser burden to taxpayers. In return they earn a small amount of money that can be spent at the prison canteen where they can buy sodas, chips, shoes, haircuts, etc.

As long as the inmates are helping us in our transactions while not having any access to our information such as our names, addresses, telephone numbers, email, and credit card information then I am ok with it.

I do know that many poultry processors are turning to inmates to do their work as more civilians are turning this work down. Tyson Foods in Pine Bluff uses inmates from nearby Tucker Correctional Facility. These inmates work in various positions and wear special colored smocks to let supervisors know they are an inmate and cannot be placed in specific positions that requires the use of a knife. Many of their sanitation crew are inmates from the prison. I am not sure what the inmates earn for their work. I got this information from a USDA Inspector that had worked at this facility for a short time.

It is a win-win situation. Tyson is able to keep a full workforce at that facility, inmates are given a job in which they are able to earn their keep at the prison until they are released or transferred to another prison, and the Tyson plant is able to stay open also providing jobs for the community.

You would be surprised at how many companies use prison inmates to fill a portion of their workforce.
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I remember watching the news about inmates serving as customer representatives for a company. They are paid between $10-$15 per hour for the work task.
 
Oddball said:
I remember watching the news about inmates serving as customer representatives for a company. They are paid between $10-$15 per hour for the work task.
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They may be earning that much but I believe the prison keeps a chunk of it for meals, housing, clothes, security, etc for the inmates. There is no way a prison is going to allow an inmate to run around prison grounds with $300 in their pocket every week. That's just asking for trouble. Maybe we can do some googling on this to see what the inmates are making per hour, how much the prison is keeping, and how much the inmate is allowed to keep. I wouldn't be surprised if the inmate owes restitution or fines that they take that out of their wages as well every week so that is getting paid while the inmate is in prison.
 
jillio said:
The fact is, it is illegal for them to refuse relay calls. It is discrimination, and that claim has held up in court. And a relay call is not considered discussing your personal information with a third party.:roll: Any more than having a terp in the room is discussing your information with a third party. They are not part of the discussion. They are simply facilitating the discussion and are bound by the same priviledged communication laws that the doctor is. Your doctor is ignorant.
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You'd be surprised (or maybe not) how many doctors feel the terp is also a "third party." Some of them required me to sign privacy agreements every time.
 
Reba said:
You'd be surprised (or maybe not) how many doctors feel the terp is also a "third party." Some of them required me to sign privacy agreements every time.
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That really surprises me. I guess they are all so scared of violating HIPPA.
 
jillio said:
That really surprises me. I guess they are all so scared of violating HIPPA.
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Yes, they have me sign HIPAA privacy forms PLUS they give me a little lecture about patient privacy.
 
Dixie said:
I watched something on a news show once where inmates at a prison where actually working as customer service reps for a major company (but would not disclose the company name). The inmates were males who were convicts serving time for violent and non-violent crimes. None of them were death row inmates.

They had about 20 inmates in a closed windowless room setting two at a desk. They each had what looked like an old telephone base that was squarish in shape and lime green in color. There were two headsets to each base that had a single earphone and microphone. And there were only four buttons and a key hole on the base. The white button was to accept the call, and the red button was to disconnect the call. The inmates are not allowed to have any type of pen or paper with them during this time and they are searched for it several times a shift. The key hole was for the supervisor to press the white and red button simultaneously to place the caller on hold, the supervisor unlocked the phone, placed a supervisor headset into the headphone jack (the inmate has to disconnect their headphones so not to hear the conversation), and the supervisor is an actual supervisor for the company that has contracted this work to the prison. The supervisor then writes down the information on a form that is placed into a locked file outside the room and is taken to the company to be entered into the computer as data and processed off of the prison grounds. The inmates are paid around $1 day to do this work.

I think this is a good idea for inmates, putting them to work instead of just allowing them to laze around all day doing nothing watching cable TV or playing cards. This makes them productive. I believe the prison also receives a large chunk of the wages being paid for the maintenance and upkeep of the prisoners in the work program. The prisoners are thus earning their own keep and are a lesser burden to taxpayers. In return they earn a small amount of money that can be spent at the prison canteen where they can buy sodas, chips, shoes, haircuts, etc.

As long as the inmates are helping us in our transactions while not having any access to our information such as our names, addresses, telephone numbers, email, and credit card information then I am ok with it.

I do know that many poultry processors are turning to inmates to do their work as more civilians are turning this work down. Tyson Foods in Pine Bluff uses inmates from nearby Tucker Correctional Facility. These inmates work in various positions and wear special colored smocks to let supervisors know they are an inmate and cannot be placed in specific positions that requires the use of a knife. Many of their sanitation crew are inmates from the prison. I am not sure what the inmates earn for their work. I got this information from a USDA Inspector that had worked at this facility for a short time.

It is a win-win situation. Tyson is able to keep a full workforce at that facility, inmates are given a job in which they are able to earn their keep at the prison until they are released or transferred to another prison, and the Tyson plant is able to stay open also providing jobs for the community.

You would be surprised at how many companies use prison inmates to fill a portion of their workforce.
Click to expand...

I know that here in Maryland, the highway dept use prison inmates to keep up with the maintenance of the highways and roads. I think it is a good idea to put them to work and give them skills so if they do get out, they can have skills and hopefully find jobs instead of committing more crimes.

As for them being relay operators, I am on the fence with that one.
 
if you wanted to order pizza do it thru www.. now you can order pizza online... it makes it easier i guess i don't use VP yet.. cuz i don't own one yet but one day soon I hope but i called to get new tty cuz old tty broke recently I was like damnnit lol :D but I know I am on computer all the time why should I bother get VP or tty? but in case of emengergy so I was like what the hell.. :P so people don't think relay service is bad to use but for me I had difficulity to use it thru ain on my blackberry so i basically use text messaging to send to my mom and it works real well.. :)
 
shel90 said:
I know that here in Maryland, the highway dept use prison inmates to keep up with the maintenance of the highways and roads. I think it is a good idea to put them to work and give them skills so if they do get out, they can have skills and hopefully find jobs instead of committing more crimes.

As for them being relay operators, I am on the fence with that one.
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I can understand why you are on the fence about inmates as relay operators but think of this; what if the relay operator you use now is a scam artist that has a knack for remembering information? He can scrawl the information down in-between calls. The only difference between him and the inmate is that the inmate has already been caught. Either way you are still sharing your life with a third party. Not saying that relay isn't safe, but just saying there are those that we come across that haven't been caught yet. We just have to keep watching our bank statements for any unusual charges or transactions and be careful of who we are sharing our information with. Perhaps the best way to order things is via a secure internet connection.
 
Dixie said:
I can understand why you are on the fence about inmates as relay operators but think of this; what if the relay operator you use now is a scam artist that has a knack for remembering information? He can scrawl the information down in-between calls. The only difference between him and the inmate is that the inmate has already been caught. Either way you are still sharing your life with a third party. Not saying that relay isn't safe, but just saying there are those that we come across that haven't been caught yet. We just have to keep watching our bank statements for any unusual charges or transactions and be careful of who we are sharing our information with. Perhaps the best way to order things is via a secure internet connection.
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There is always a risk with any operator. Why increase that risk by using a population that has already demonstrated an inability to set proper boundaries?
 
I have heard about state travel guides phone lines being manned by inmates, among other things.

I am all for putting inmates to work, from the county jail on up. And unpleasant difficult work is even better. Perhaps it would be a deterrent for some to clean up their act...but I really think it would be helpful to have them do the jobs that attract illegal immigrants to the country. However, I do not think they should have ANY access to private and esp financial information, even under circumstances where they get no paper or pencils and are frisked before leaving the room. We are talking about criminals, con men, people who have made a living cheating the system.... I am sure some of them have the time and the means to find ways to memorize information.
 
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