RFID-Enabled Phone Geared To Jails

"AGM Telecom plans to offer correctional facilities a radio frequency identification technology application for pre-paid or direct bill telephone service geared toward inmates in Idaho, Oklahoma and Texas, the carrier said Wednesday. AirGATE Technologies Inc. has been working to integrate an RFID application into AGM phones that would automatically identify and bill the caller when a call is placed from a coin-less AGM phone inside the jail. "We have a couple of hundred phones in three states that are used for collect calling," said Brian Dieter, director of partner relations at AGM Telecom, which provides telephone systems for jails. "We're trying to determine the feasibility and how much interest there is at correctional facilities." A ninety-day test is pending at an undisclosed facility. AirGATE would provide RFID-enabled wristbands to inmates. The tags inside bands, similar to plastic hospital wristbands, operate on the 13.5 megahertz frequency. Each waterproof band is assigned to an inmate. " Source: informationweek.com