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Must read Terms of Service & Privacy Policy and be at least 18

 
Northernyank

Has anyone's pen-pals or loved ones received phone tablets yet in their institutions? If so, pros and cons? Ohio State Penitientiary gets phone tablets sometime in June. My husband and I are very excited because he believes we will have 4 hours a day to speak, 7 days a week, versus 5 days a week for 1 hour. 

 
Cleopatraaaa

Does anyone know of Colorado is going to roll out tablets to all the prisons? My pen pal told me that some prisoners had got them, but he’s at the state penitentiary and they haven’t received any official word yet he says. 

 
KateAndrews

Tablets are usually just for gaming/messaging/video visits. Not normally used for phone calls so I am not sure where that information came from. Which company is the facility choosing? And if thier are restrictions on phone calls then these won't necessarily be lifted because of the tablet.
Would like to hear more and what's available? Good luck.

 
Northernyank

Thank you everyone! I'll send an update once he gets the tablet. He says they've started installing the wi-fi!!! We can't wait. 

 
Anne marie HH

AZ should be getting jpay in soon. Rumor has it july 1st but we'll see.

 
ST4s

How cool is that?!? My friend in Colorado had a GTL/ConnectNetwork phone tablet for a while. They had them for less than a year though, and word is they’re currently negotiating with another vendor. Anyway, to your question:

Pros:

It was pretty cool getting phone calls during a lockdown.

No waiting in line for a phone - it’s always there.

Tablets also worked for email, books, games, and music (depending on whatever functionality the facility and vendor enabled).

Cons:

The call connection (WiFi on their end) was always spotty and required a lot of trial and error on my friend’s part to find the best in-cell tablet position for a clear signal, and then DO NOT MOVE AN INCH once you’ve found it!

Be careful with the books. My friend downloaded a title he’d always wanted, but it was in Dutch (he doesn’t speak Dutch, and getting a refund practically required an act of Congress).

They’re not just tablets, they’re personal vending machines. Usage of every type costs.

Neutral:

The music was like other app-based streaming services, e.g. all the music in the world for a weekly or monthly fee, but you can’t “own” it or “keep” it like an MP3 player.

Thanks for the heads up. I’ll have to ask my Ohio friend about this. June, huh? That’s right around the corner...

 
Been_on_the_inside

I’m sure the fact that you could speak for that long as an option is gonna be a nice change, it will be cool to get that extra time if you need it? Good luck with it I had a jpay tablet but you couldn’t make calls on it, my brother as 5 that they all share to make calls and get video calls. 

 
Anne marie HH

Wow thats a lot of talking time lol..how much that gonna cost?