Great concept, horrible development and follow through
This is a great concept to help inmates stay connected with family and friends. There are also other positive factors to the idea of giving inmates tablets such as they are able to take classes, listen to music, watch movies, and play games offline which I think helps at least with the mental health part of being locked behind a cage. They are also able to send messages and have video visits with whomever is registered and verified through the system and here lies the problem. While my family member can send me messages, I can’t seem to get passed the verification part to respond. My request has been pending with TCCC (Travis County Correctional Complex) for a week now and I’ve received no notification, email, or anything indicating why. It’s just sitting. When I log off the app and log back in, it sends me through the verification process again only for it to just sit their “pending review”. Not sure if this app has been fully thought-out and developed, but it would could be really a positive tool if operating as intended. Hopefully in the future someone will see the benefit of it and do better. In the meantime I am grateful that my relative is able to take classes, listen to music, and watch movies which helps keeps their mind off the obvious, if for a little bit.
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I NEVER KNOW WHEN I HAVE A MESSAGE
Every App that I have EVER used has an option of allowing notifications. It only makes sense that an app designed exclusively for inmates to communicate with their loved ones, would have this issue fixed already. I am not one to have my phone Velcroed to my side, so it becomes extremely frustrating when 30 mins later I pick up my phone just to find 3-4 text messages that have a “GTL GETTING OUT” banner across my screen, BUT MY PHONE DID NOT MAKE A SOUND! This is SO IMPORTANT to every user! I’ve changed my handset device 4 times thinking it was the phone I had just to get the same result! Now I keep getting an “Error message” that’s telling me I’m using invalid characters “please remove them and resend your message”, and on top of that I LOSE THE ENTIRE TEXT MESSAGE which makes it IMPOSSIBLE TO RESEND! On the somewhat positive side, other things with the app have been improved, hence the two stars . PLEASE FIX THIS ASAP! Our loved ones depend on us to be there when they reach out to us. We are all they have and when they get the impression that we are ignoring them, it can do a number on their emotional and mental state. We as a community depend on YOU for these services. So on behalf of everyone utilizing your services, please look into all of this. Thank you
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Save your sanity and call them.
I find the app very confusing and frustrating. Do yourself a favor and write your message to your loved ones in a separate note and copy and paste it within the app. You’re only allowed 2000 characters and it will sometimes delete your message entirely claiming you’ve gone over the allotted character amount, even if you haven’t. Also, directly communicate with the facility that your loved one is in and find out what forms of communication the app will cover at that specific facility. The app operators didn’t know. Your information needs to be validated and confirmed by the app before you can start making contact. I didn’t find out adequate information and direction within the app, so I called them multiple times. The operator was misinformed about what the app was capable of at my loved ones particular facility. just keep calling the facility your loved one is at and keep calling the operators at getting at and you’ll save yourself a lot of time in trouble. I find it disheartening and corrupt that the financial burden is put upon the friends and family of those who we love who’ve been incarcerated to facilitate communication and give them money for their commissary accounts so they can buy basic necessities. It’s so dehumanizing to us all.
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