Fees for 3rd party retail transactions reduced to $4.95
DALLAS, TEXAS–Aventiv Technologies and its corrections-services subsidiary Securus Technologies today announced that it has renegotiated pricing on third party vendor contracts. Consumers pay processing fees for cash deposits to fund telephone accounts by third party retail vendors such as Western Union and MoneyGram. These new prices result in a combined total cost reduction for consumers of more than 50 percent. The reduction comes amid an expansive and holistic corporate transformation launched in January, with the goal of making products more accountable, affordable, and accessible.
“We are proud to have reduced third-party financial transaction fees by more than 50 percent for our telephone account customers,” said Dave Abel, president and CEO of Aventiv Technologies, parent company of Securus Technologies. “We know there is more work to be done, but we continue to deliver on our promise to make our services as affordable and accessible as possible.”
“We are proud to have reduced third-party financial transaction fees by more than 50 percent for our telephone account customers,” said Dave Abel, president and CEO of Aventiv Technologies, parent company of Securus Technologies.
Aventiv will continue to release progress updates on the organization’s transformation commitments, including making products and services more affordable and accessible. For past progress reports and a detailed overview of the company’s commitments and goals, visit https://transformation.aventiv.com/.
ABOUT SECURUS TECHNOLOGIES
Headquartered in Dallas, Texas, Securus Technologies, a subsidiary of Aventiv Technologies, serves more than 3,450 public safety, law enforcement and corrections agencies and over 1,100,000 incarcerated individuals across North America. The Aventiv organization is committed to providing emergency response, incident management, public information, investigation, biometric analysis, communication, information management, incarcerated self-service, and monitoring products and services in order to make our world a safer place to live. For more information, please visit www.Aventiv.com. Aventiv is a portfolio company of Platinum Equity. Founded in 1995 by Tom Gores, Platinum Equity is a global investment firm with a portfolio of approximately 40 operating companies that serve customers around the world.
DALLAS, Sept. 11, 2020 -- Securus Technologies today released its weekly update detailing the total number of free calls, video connections, and JPay stamps it has provided since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. The offerings are part of an emergency program Securus deployed with its correctional partners on March 13, when the pandemic was declared a national emergency. It was developed to help incarcerated individuals stay connected with loved ones during this challenging time.
To date, those free offerings total more than 40 million free connections:
- 25.5 million free call credits for incarcerated individuals and their families, resulting in 196.6 million free minutes of phone connections;
- 5.1 million free video connections to friends and families of incarcerated individuals;
- 12.7 million free JPay Stamps for electronic messaging;
- Total accommodations for 398 agencies and 739 sites across the United States.
In addition to this ongoing assistance, Securus is offering compassion credits designed to accommodate incarcerated individuals who fall ill with COVID-19. Those credits, which are uploaded onto prepaid cards and distributed by correctional facilities, allow additional free access to Securus phone calls and video connections throughout an individual's medical care. The company is also making free calls available to public defenders at many locations.
For those facilities enabled with Securus tablet technology, the company has introduced select free movie and game titles during the COVID-19 pandemic, which have been downloaded almost 2 million times. This expanded assistance is in addition to the no-cost resources, including educational offerings, free eBooks, podcasts and other self-help tools that are always available free of charge.
"As the pandemic persists, it's critical that incarcerated individuals continue to have the proper tools and opportunities to connect with their loved ones," said Dave Abel, president and CEO of Aventiv Technologies, parent company of Securus Technologies. "Aventiv is proud of the role our technology plays in connecting families and friends, and we are committed to offering free and reduced rates on our services to support vulnerable communities during these uncertain times."
The program is an element of an ongoing transformation effort by Securus Technologies to improve access to its services and provide greater support for those impacted by incarceration. The company continues to work with its partners to garner feedback about the situation on the ground. All support from Securus will be in accordance with the latest public health guidelines to ensure that the support is tailored and responsive to the unique needs of the incarcerated community.
ABOUT SECURUS TECHNOLOGIES
Headquartered in Dallas, Texas, Aventiv Technologies serves more than 3,450 public safety, law enforcement and corrections agencies and over 1,100,000 incarcerated individuals across North America, Aventiv is committed to serve and connect by providing emergency response, incident management, public information, investigation, biometric analysis, communication, information management, incarcerated self-service, and monitoring products and services in order to make our world a safer place to live. For more information, please visit www.Aventiv.com. Aventiv is a portfolio company of Platinum Equity. Founded in 1995 by Tom Gores, Platinum Equity is a global investment firm with a portfolio of approximately 40 operating companies that serve customers around the world.
DALLAS, Sept. 2, 2020 -- Securus Technologies today announces that its Lantern Program has helped 600 incarcerated students earn bachelors and associates degrees from its partner, Ashland University. Created in 2016, Lantern is a first-of-its-kind learning management system built specifically for corrections to provide incarcerated students access to digital education. It has grown to become the largest digital education program for the incarcerated in the U.S.
Lantern is an interactive, cross-functional, and full-service education platform, built to provide incarcerated individuals access to digital college courses so incarcerated individuals can work towards earning their college degree. The program features corrections-grade tablets and draws content from a network of reputable academic providers. In addition to Lantern, incarcerated individuals also have access to GED prep courses, personal development content and thousands of free KA Lite educational videos, which have been downloaded more than 22 million times across subjects ranging from accounting to astronomy.
"Education changes lives and for those working to return home it is a critical step. Six hundred individuals have earned their college degree, either during incarceration or post-release, and there will be many more," said Dave Abel, president and CEO of Aventiv Technologies, parent company of Securus Technologies. "We're extremely proud of this milestone and we look forward to celebrating many more graduations."
"Education changes lives and for those working to return home it is a critical step. Six hundred individuals have earned their college degree, either during incarceration or post-release, and there will be many more," said Dave Abel, president and CEO of Aventiv Technologies, parent company of Securus Technologies. "We're extremely proud of this milestone and we look forward to celebrating many more graduations."
Securus Technologies helps prepare incarcerated individuals for reentry by providing education, self-help, entertainment, and communication resources. Users have the ability to learn important job skills and access education at no cost, not only to improve their lives, but also to better their communities.
"Earning a college degree can change the trajectory of a person's life, whether they're incarcerated or not," said Todd Marshall, Ph.D., Vice President for Correctional Education and Innovation at Ashland University. "We partnered with Securus because we knew the value it would bring; the fact that it has grown to this size gives us great hope for the future of the program."
"Lantern got me back on track, challenging me to improve myself and focus on reentering society with a degree that would open doors," said M.R., former Lantern student. "For many in the incarcerated community, access to technology and access to education are nearly impossible. The fact that Securus provides these education resources at no cost changed my life. I'm now working towards my Master's Degree; ten years ago I would have never even dreamed of earning any kind of degree."
For more information, visit the Lantern program website.
ABOUT SECURUS TECHNOLOGIES:
Headquartered in Dallas, Texas, an Aventiv Technologies company, serving more than 3,450 public safety, law enforcement and corrections agencies and over 1,200,000 incarcerated individuals across North America, Securus Technologies is committed to serve and connect by providing emergency response, incident management, public information, investigation, biometric analysis, communication, information management, incarcerated individual self-service, and monitoring products and services in order to make our world a safer place to live. Securus Technologies connecting what matters®. For more information, please visit SecurusTechnologies.com. Aventiv is a portfolio company of Platinum Equity. Founded in 1995 by Tom Gores, Platinum Equity is a global investment firm with a portfolio of approximately 40 operating companies that serve customers around the world.
Company Has Now Added New Members to Senior Leadership Team From Outside Traditional Corrections Sector
Aventiv Technologies continues to deliver on its promise to transform the company by bringing in individuals from outside of the traditional corrections space to broaden and diversify the perspective of its corporate leadership team. Over the past year, the company has hired seven new individuals to its executive team in addition to new president and CEO Dave Abel. The new leadership brings expertise in the consumer products, technology, financial services and education sectors and will add to the core of experienced executives already in place at Aventiv and its subsidiaries.
Most recently, the company added Cindy Pechal as its Chief Human Resources Officer. Ms. Pechal has over 30 years of experience developing and executing on the strategic human capital blueprint for organizations ranging from startup tech companies to Fortune 50 financial & consulting services firms. She is recognized for transforming the People experience while aligning Human Resources priorities to yield high performing business outcomes.
Ms. Pechal’s hiring is part of a multi-year executive restructuring designed to advance the transformation agenda envisioned by CEO Dave Abel. The transformation will improve affordability, increase accountability, and prioritize continued investment in technology. This includes the creation of two new positions that are focused on executing the company’s new commitments: VP of Strategy & Transformation Alex Dougherty is charged with refining Aventiv’s strategic outlook and executing on necessary transformational activities to see the enterprise achieve its goals, while VP of Corporate Affairs Joanna Acocella is charged with soliciting input from external experts and other key stakeholders and ensuring transparency and public accountability.
Aventiv also announced the hiring of Melanie Sankaran as Chief Information Security Officer. Sankaran brings a background of leading-edge information security in the financial services industry to the role. She will be responsible for advancing the overall enterprise security vision and approach in line with the transformation agenda.
“I was named in January to drive and accelerate a transformation of the organization. Bringing these leaders into the Aventiv family adds a more expansive array of perspectives that will build on the important work being done by our existing leadership team and drive that transformation forward,” said Dave Abel, President and CEO of Aventiv Technologies. “New talent helps bring new energy into any organization, and I look forward to working with our entire executive team to deliver more value for our customers and build an industry-leading culture of accountability.”
Aventiv has already made significant strides toward its transformation commitments. The company has reduced call rates by an average of 30%, renegotiated outlier contracts to further lower rates, implemented quarterly consumer formers with formerly incarcerated individuals, and signed the Getting Back to Work Pledge.
In response to the COVID-19 crisis, the company worked with almost 400 agencies to provide free credits for its services during the pandemic, nearly 20 million free phone calls, 4.7 million free video connections, and 8.9 million free JPay Stamps for digital messaging.
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Organization progresses on transformation with expanded priorities to address immediate needs for incarcerated individuals and their loved ones impacted by COVID-19
DALLAS, Aug. 10, 2020 -- Just six months since launching a transformation agenda under new CEO Dave Abel, Aventiv Technologies and its corrections-services subsidiary, Securus Technologies, today reported significant progress in accelerating an expansive, holistic reform of corporate policies and practices.
Education, reentry and recidivism represent one of the key pillars in the transformation effort. An additional 13,456 incarcerated students gained access to post-secondary educational programming through Securus' digital education platform since March alone, a critical connection to help improve recidivism rates.
In addition to enrolling thousands for free educational programming, Aventiv deepened its commitment to supporting re-entry services and creating opportunities for the formerly incarcerated. For example, so far in 2020, the company has:
- Provided initial seed funding to help launch Freedom Rides, a non-profit that assists formerly incarcerated individuals in purchasing vehicles so they can safely travel to jobs or classes.
- Built upon the existing corporate job application that "bans the box" and broadened hiring practices by defining allowable types of felony convictions and specified roles to which limits apply.
- Signed the Society for Human Resource Management's Getting Talent Back to Work Pledge and 10% of new hires since January have prior records.
In addition to efforts centered around education, the organization also furthered its responsibility to execute against commitments made in January, which include:
- Accessibility and affordability:
- Securus renegotiated contracts with 56 correctional agencies, reducing call rates that had previously exceeded national averages.
- Securus began offering commission-free and agency-paid options for telephone calls to both existing and new institutional customers.
- Technology and Innovation:
- Aventiv has invested more than $2.3 million in new infrastructure and the development of new technology including further strengthening cyber security measures.
- Transparency
- The company initiated a process to develop a terms-of-use policy to memorialize comprehensive data privacy standards for its products. That policy will now be released by the end of 2020 due to COVID-19.
- Aventiv commissioned a cost analysis by an independent third-party, which is on-track to be released by the end of 2020.
- Listening and responsiveness:
- Despite the challenges of COVID-19, Aventiv leadership continued an ongoing series of listening sessions with advocates for the incarcerated, individuals impacted by incarceration, and correctional and communications experts. Stay-at-home orders severely limited in person access, and CEO Dave Abel continued holding virtual sessions continued throughout the second quarter.
"In January we said we were going to change the way this company operates, and make our services more affordable and accessible," said Dave Abel, President and CEO of Aventiv Technologies. "Since then we've made real progress toward that goal while also modifying our 2020 blueprint to heavily focus on providing supplementary support for our customers since the entire nation was jolted by the impact of COVID-19. The need for human connection - particularly during a pandemic - drove a shift in priority and we're proud of the efforts we have made to date. We know there's more work to be done, and we'll continue to work closely with our agency partners to drive positive change in the correctional technology industry."
Against the backdrop of the devastating and wide-spread impact of COVID-19, organizations nationwide rethought operations, accessibility and introduce thoughtful approaches to supporting customer needs; especially those serving vulnerable communities such as the incarcerated. Since the onset of the COVID-19 outbreak, Aventiv has worked with its partners across the United States to provide millions of credits for free e-messages as well as free and reduced rates for video chats and phone calls. To date the company has provided:
- Accommodations for 397 agencies at 737 distinct facilities.
- 22.4 million free call credits for incarcerated individuals and their families, resulting in 170.8 million free minutes of phone connections
- 4.9 million free video connections to friends and families of incarcerated individuals
- 10.6 million free JPay Stamps for electronic messaging
Aventiv Technologies launched in October 2019 as part of a corporate reorganization reflective of the company's progression with distinct business lines for government payments (AllPaid) and corrections services (Securus Technologies and JPay). Since being acquired by Platinum Equity the company has undergone substantial changes with a major emphasis on eliminating certain past practices, enhancing and expanding others, and transforming from a traditional corrections telecommunications service provider into a broad technology innovator.
To see a full list of Aventiv's commitments and ongoing updates on the company's progress, visit http://transformation.aventiv.com/.
ABOUT AVENTIV TECHNOLOGIES
Headquartered in Dallas, Texas, Aventiv Technologies serves more than 3,450 public safety, law enforcement and corrections agencies and over 1,100,000 incarcerated individuals across North America, Aventiv is committed to serve and connect by providing emergency response, incident management, public information, investigation, biometric analysis, communication, information management, inmate self-service, and monitoring products and services in order to make our world a safer place to live. For more information, please visit www.Aventiv.com. Aventiv is a portfolio company of Platinum Equity. Founded in 1995 by Tom Gores, Platinum Equity is a global investment firm with a portfolio of approximately 40 operating companies that serve customers around the world.
Dave Abel was using the phone on Sept. 11, 2001.
Working for PricewaterhouseCoopers, he was discussing a business trip scheduled for the following day.
While looking out his Arlington, Va., office window, he watched in horror as an American Airlines plane flew into the Pentagon.
The evacuation order came, but before leaving, he looked out the window again and turned his glance downward.
He saw a swarm of people walking across the Francis Scott Key Bridge, trying to escape Washington D.C.
The next day, Abel and PwC colleagues went to work, tasked with protecting the United States’ aviation system.
After the unthinkable 9/11 terrorist attacks, which claimed nearly 3,000 victims, Abel worked for teams at PwC and IBM that were integral to the the creation of the Transportation Security Administration, which is charged with protecting the traveling public.
After more than a year with Securus Technologies, Abel can recall a career with many examples of business – along with governing bodies – improving outcomes for the public.
“It cannot be done without the participation between those two,” Abel told Platinum Equity recently.
He called public-private partnerships “absolutely essential.”
That is one reason he was tasked to lead the transformation of Securus, a prison communications firm acquired by Platinum in 2017. In January, he was promoted to CEO of Aventiv Technologies and its subsidiary, Securus.
The goal is to establish Securus, which provides services to approximately 3,500 correctional facilities in all 50 states, as a change agent and industry leader in terms of best practices.
A complex task.
According to the Sentencing Project, a nonprofit working to ensure a fair and just criminal justice system, the U.S. has imprisoned 2.2 million people in prisons and jails, a 500 percent increase over the last 40 years.
By providing needed services to more than 1.2 million incarcerated individuals across North America, Securus has the juggling act of balancing the needs of its customers (local governments) and consumers (the incarcerated).
The company has drawn the ire of activists critical of the prison industrial complex.
Predatory phone rates, faulty technology and privacy concerns are among the issues cited by activists; some are calling for Platinum to divest from its investment.
The company has responded aggressively to address those issues under the leadership of Platinum and Abel.
- According to company officials, the average cost of a call using the company’s secure calling platform has been reduced significantly as of late July.
- The company has developed and deployed new technology to reduce reliance on third-party payment services, eliminating their fees and bringing savings to impacted consumers.
- The company convened consumer forum with formerly incarcerated individuals and their families in Detroit to hear firsthand about their experiences and how to better serve which will be used to inform future development efforts.
- As the country still copes with the COVID-19 pandemic which has severely impacted prison populations, the company has partnered with local governments to provide millions of free calls and more than 80 million free minutes to incarcerated individuals and their families.
- In a nod to changing times centered around criminal justice reform, the company has pivoted to planning for a welcomed future that forecasts falling incarceration numbers.
Over the course of two interviews with Platinum, Abel, 51, eagerly discussed the past and the path forward.
Many topics were addressed. It is clear Abel thinks the company is on the right path.
But he concedes there is still much work to do.
(Questions and answers have been edited for clarity).
Platinum Equity: There is an increased awareness of systemic racism in the wake of the killing of George Floyd. What challenges are presented to a company providing telcom services to prison populations, which disproportionately come from communities of color?
Dave Abel: It's the reason that I came here. I've been primarily focused on the public sector, and I am really attracted to places that have significant change issues. When the opportunity to come here came along, I absolutely jumped at the chance. Platinum and I have seen eye to eye on this since the day that I walked in the door. We are part of an industry that has good as its core mission. Our primary purposes are to connect humans, incarcerated individuals with friends and family, which we believe - and studies show - have the greatest impact on the likelihood of having successful reintroduction to society.
Abel: We take all those missions extremely seriously. In January, we started a conversation, a set of intentions and a set of actions to change the course of the company, to make our products more accessible, and make them higher quality to provide more people the ability to be able to use them and to add on to those products everything that we can that will focus on the post-incarceration environment, and a more successful reintroduction to society.
PE: I'm going to back up a little bit. Why the public sector?
Abel: I grew up in southern Virginia, went to the University of Virginia, and came to Washington D.C. It's the industry. You're in L.A., you go in the entertainment industry. You're in New York, you tend to go into banking and finance, you go into manufacturing in Michigan. In the late 80s, early 90s, it's what you did, and it just stuck with me.
PE: Back to messaging. When I ask about the challenges with the current climate, when people are calling for changes, does it make telling the company’s story more difficult?
Abel: The message becomes more difficult if you're talking to somebody who believes that you should remove investment from a problem. If you are a person that believes that bringing assets, bringing capital, bringing investment, bringing innovation, and bringing technology increases the likelihood of finding good solutions to our problems, then you'd be very interested in the message that we need to be able to send. And when I think about people who are advocating on behalf of incarcerated individuals and us, there is very little difference in what outcomes we are looking for.
PE: There are corporate responsibilities for good outcomes?
Abel: Absolutely. In my first day as CEO of the company, we sent a press release about the ways that we need to be able to change this business, the accountability that we take for making those changes in the business, and the responsibility we take for generating improved outcomes. In Platinum and in Aventiv, we are willing and getting out in front to take responsibility for what those changes need to be. We will not shy away from our commitment, nor from the measures of that commitment.
PE: You said earlier there's very little difference between Securus and prison reform advocates when it comes to outcomes. Less people incarcerated; recidivism rates go down. Can producing good outcomes and making profits be compatible goals?
Abel: They must be compatible goals. The profit is there to be able to provide a return on investment that brings capital in to be able to improve the technologies that are necessary to be able to achieve the goals. But what it requires from us from a corporate standpoint is continued innovation and reinvention of the services that we're providing. Is our profit is always going to be from making phone calls? Absolutely not. That's why we invest in the development of tablets, software to go on tablets. We're hard at work on exciting new technological advancements for training and education. We are hard at work on services focused on post-incarceration things, like job skills, identification acquisition, appointment scheduling.
PE: Diversification is a main strategy?
Abel: We see the value and the balance between our consumers and our customers. We're not just about law enforcement. We're not just about incarcerated individuals and their families. We are about the balance between the two, and the need to provide these tools in a safe and secure manner. You brought up the point about where we are as a society. We're already deeply into discussion and strategy about how average daily population of incarcerated individuals in the United States is a metric that we have to move away from. That's not how you want your business anchored in the 21st century.
PE: Why is that?
Abel: When I look at European models and I look at Latin American models from an incarceration standpoint, but Europe in particular, and the Nordic states in particular, the model is significantly more focused on being able to provide goods and services that focus on rehabilitation vs. punishment. Of the changes that I would like to see coming out of the debate we're having; the debate is to focus on outcomes from our system that are different. We want to be bringing capital and technology to an often-overlooked community.
PE: Discuss the relationship with government.
Abel: It's a local decision. We have a lot of models that we use to be able to work with our government customers. Some government customers require commissions to be able to provide a full suite of services. Some of them budget for those services. There's certainly a lot of criticism in the market. It's an easy target for people to be able to say that commissions are bad. It's really just a matter of how the cost for the services are provided. We've made a very clear demarcation over the course of the last six months. We won't weigh in on whether a commission model is good or bad, or what the responsibilities are of our government customer in using that commission. We will provide our services to any organization or entity that has a mechanism by which we can get appropriately paid for those services. We will respect the choice of local community in how those services should be provided and not engage in politics to sway that determination.
PE: That sounds like you're washing your hands of the situation. Don’t you have more power in that process? It sounds like a cop-out.
Abel: That statement, and I stand behind that statement, is focused on how the government needs to be able to provide the resources for incarceration service.
Abel: Now, there's a broader question to what you asked. Does Securus have a responsibility to be able to address the inherent inequality in our system of criminal justice? And we haven't been public in our statements around that. We must be careful about how we do that. But the answer to that is absolutely. And the way we're going to go about doing that is how we provide tools, capabilities, and opportunities for people to not have them incarcerated in the first place or to get them a better outcome when they are incarcerated.
Abel: And remember, we walked through the strategy of this business, the long-term strategy of this business is in providing post-incarceration services, in providing financial tools for people who can't get them and creating financial literacy for people who will struggle to be able to use those tools, in lowering the cost of our products, creating greater access to our products. It would be our hope and our intention that the people who use our services while they are incarcerated, are never our consumers while incarcerated ever again.
PE: We talked earlier about the diversification, and you mentioned the things that you have in the works. I was drawn to a new tablet you discussed at a recent employee townhall before COVID-19 struck. Better products, lower costs?
Abel: There's not a company around that couldn't benefit from executing that strategy. (It is important) to introduce a new version of our tablet, increase the battery life, and improve the functionality of the software on that product.
Abel: When I first started to look at this, I made the mistake of thinking about our tablets like an iPad. And the difference is that we've got a product that is somewhere between $70 and $90, vs. an iPad that's between $700 and $900. Our ability to be able to put this tablet in the hands of our consumers is highly dependent on our ability to make it the least expensive tablet that we possibly can. It means it's really difficult to refresh that technology. What kind of phone do you use? Do you have an iPhone or an Android?
PE: I have both.
Abel: Let's take the iPhone. It's got a life expectancy to it. I bought a new phone five years ago, and it's like two years beyond its possible life. I'm squeezing every moment of life that I can out of the phone and I finally had to go buy one, because this one just doesn't work anymore, and the battery in particular. And that's a device that has a $600 to $800 price tag associated with it. For us, the challenge of doing this and making sure we're keeping the cost as low as possible is critically important. When we introduce the JP6S tablet (it was released in late July), the battery and the battery management in the software that goes around it, we expect that's going to decrease the number of customer service issues that go into our contact center by almost 30 percent. The introduction of that tablet alone, if we are successful in eliminating the battery issue and some percentage of the software issues, you have a population that's 30 percent more satisfied, and then you take the capacity of the contact center and focus it on all of the other issues that we struggle to be able to get to and you can immediately see the impact.
PE: How do you change perceptions?
Abel: We do it in a lot of different ways. The first way is we start internally. One person goes into a market, one person says something, one person is not aligned with the direction you're going, and it's like the whole company isn't aligned. No. 1 was getting our company clear on our strategy, getting our company clear on our point of view, and increasingly getting our company clear on the culture that we want to be able to project in the market.
Abel: COVID has made that harder because it's impossible for me to go to all of our locations and meet with our people in person, because most people are working remotely. No. 2 is broader and more open communications with our customers and our consumers. I've had the good fortune of going individually to almost a dozen customers before COVID restrictions and talking with them about our changes. Talking with them, I'll get their advice and input on what is important to them in our products and services as we go forward, and what elements of our transformation are encouraged and discouraged from them. And I go into facilities. I encourage my leaders to go into facilities.
Abel: No. 3 is ongoing communications with our community. These are the consumers that we serve, and the people who use and pay for our products on a regular basis.
Abel: And then No. 4 is I regularly try to go out into the market and meet with our toughest critics. People who hate us can absolutely help us by continuing to communicate why they hate us and what they think we need to do better. We may disagree on the mode of implementation about how to be able to make the changes in this industry. We can learn from every single person and every single point of view to make ourselves better and better.
DALLAS, July 22, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Securus Technologies today unveiled the company's next generation tablet for use in correctional facilities, the JP6S. The JP6S is the industry's most evolved tablet specifically constructed to improve quality of life for incarcerated individuals and the device will be available beginning this month as an upgrade option for the more than 300,000 incarcerated individuals who currently access the industry-leading JP5 and SecureView devices. As the pioneers of tablet technology, the Securus organization introduced the first corrections-grade tablet in 2011, revolutionizing how communication, entertainment, reentry and educational resources are deployed in complex corrections environment; the JP6S promises to do even more.
As the first major tablet launch in the corrections industry in more than three years, Securus built the JP6S to meet the needs and preferences of incarcerated individuals. Securus has led tablet development for almost a decade and used the feedback, critique and requests from the direct user-base, such as extended battery life and increased storage concerns, to offer upgraded tablet hardware and deliver a better user-experience. Designed with user-driven features and built to closely mirror technology used by the general public, the JP6S operates up to 13 hours before charging, provides up to 32GB of storage, delivers 140-hours of music play time, performs 2 times faster on a sharp 1280x800 screen resolution and includes more features that create an enjoyable user experience. Additional improvements include a thinner, sleeker design that weighs just 17 ounces, an optional 2 megapixel camera, a new Android 8.1 operating system, rugged protective casing with impact-resistance glass, and built-in secure Wi-Fi with dual band support (2.4GHz and 5GHz).
"We are committed to investing in technology advancements and innovating capabilities so we can provide an affordable tablet program that incarcerated individuals can rely on for their educational and communication needs," said Dave Abel, President and CEO of Aventiv Technologies, parent company of Securus Technologies. "It was important for us that we leverage our customers' sentiments and take actionable steps towards meeting their needs; their feedback was the driving force behind building our next generation of tablets."
The JP6S can accommodate the full suite of Securus applications available on legacy tablets, including movies, music, ebooks, games, and a comprehensive suite of no-cost re-entry, self-help, and education resources. It is also equipped with safety and security features, including additional screws and adhesives to keep the device intact and deter destruction or misuse. This flexibility and security makes it suitable for both short-term jails and long-term prison environments.
"We've seen measurable improvement on the mood and behavior of the people living in our prison when they are provided with access to tablets and communications technology as it is a vital component to our comprehensive education and reentry programs offered in North Dakota," said Colby Braun, Director of Facility Operations for North Dakota Department of Corrections. "Our population and staff are excited for the new, upgraded JP6S tablet design."
The corrections industry continues to work towards a system that is focused on rehabilitation and improving re-entry success, instead of solely incarceration. Tablet technology plays a vital role in the rehabilitation and reentry process, and the JP6S will continue to support the positive impact handheld technology has had on the country's incarcerated population.
About Securus Technologies LLC
Headquartered in Dallas, Texas, an Aventiv Technologies company, serving more than 3,450 public safety, law enforcement and corrections agencies and over 1,200,000 inmates across North America, Securus Technologies is committed to serve and connect by providing emergency response, incident management, public information, investigation, biometric analysis, communication, information management, inmate self-service, and monitoring products and services in order to make our world a safer place to live. Securus Technologies connecting what matters®. For more information, please visit SecurusTechnologies.com. Aventiv is a portfolio company of Platinum Equity. Founded in 1995 by Tom Gores, Platinum Equity is a global investment firm with a portfolio of approximately 40 operating companies that serve customers around the world.
SOURCE Securus Technologies
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Platinum Equity Chairman and CEO Tom Gores sent the following correspondence today in response to a letter dated May 20, 2020 from former FCC Commissioners Mignon Clyburn, Michael Copps, and Gloria Tristani requesting that Securus Technologies, a Platinum Equity portfolio company, take steps to support incarcerated individuals and their families during the COVID-19 pandemic:
June 5, 2020
Dear Commissioners Clyburn, Copps and Tristani:
Thank you for your May 20 correspondence, and for your continued efforts in support of robust and affordable communications services, particularly in the corrections environment. We are pleased to support those same goals both in concept and in action, as change agents who are transforming Securus Technologies and the industry as a whole.
We agree wholeheartedly that access to reasonably priced telephone service is more important than ever for the country’s incarcerated population in the face of restrictions on in-person visitation caused by the coronavirus crisis.
On March 13, the day COVID-19 was declared a national emergency in the United States, Securus began offering free and discounted services to every one of its state and county corrections agency customers.
Since then, the company has provided 16.1 million free phone calls totaling 116.2 million free minutes; 4.5 million free video connections; and 6.6 million free email message stamps to incarcerated individuals (and their families) at more than 731 facilities. In addition to the calls themselves being free, there are no funding or transaction fees associated with them.
The company has also provided additional free calling cards, or “compassion credits,” to connect incarcerated individuals who have fallen ill during the pandemic with their loved ones; provided free phone calls between incarcerated individuals and public defenders in certain locations where permitted; and created an inbound email system by providing printers and supplies at 33 locations in California where incarcerated individuals do not have access to individualized email.
Beyond communications connections, Securus also is providing free access to select games and movies on its tablets in facility locations where permitted. So far, more than 500,000 movie rentals and nearly 1 million games have been downloaded or accessed without charge since April.
Further, the company has signed the FCC’s Keep Americans Connected Pledge, Chairman Pai’s initiative focused on mitigating the pandemic’s impact on telecommunications access.
All of these actions to support individuals impacted by COVID-19 are part of a broader effort to transform the company and make services more accessible and affordable for incarcerated individuals and their loved ones.
In January, CEO Dave Abel announced a number of commitments that include lowering the costs of phone calls and other communications products, increasing transparency, and engaging directly with communities impacted by incarceration.
Those transformation efforts haven’t come in a vacuum. They were mandated by Platinum Equity after acquiring the business in 2017. I am happy to report that since then, prices for Securus calling services have fallen by more than 30 percent.
To cite just one example: In Washtenaw County, where your letter cites information claiming that a 10-minute call “would cost about $11.62,” current rates are actually substantially lower. Under the current contract there, the rates are $0.21 per minute for all calls, or $2.10 for a 10-minute call – even with a substantial commission retained by the corrections agency under its contract.
Well before the COVID crisis, Inmate Calling Service rates at Securus were steadily declining even in the absence of FCC-imposed caps on intrastate rates, falling on average by about 50% since the FCC issued the 2013 Interstate Inmate Rate Order.
All of Securus’ rates for interstate calls are at or below the per-minute rates set by the FCC in the 2013 Interstate Rate Order, and its fees are in compliance with those promulgated in the FCC’s 2015 Inmate Rate Order. On an intrastate level, Securus’ rates are in compliance with the applicable state PUC / PSC rules and regulations.
Platinum Equity appointed CEO Dave Abel to transform Securus; establish a culture of service focused on the needs of incarcerated consumers and their families and not just on corrections agency customers; reduce telecom pricing; and invest in developing new technologies.
Dave and his team are making significant progress on those objectives. With your permission, I’d like to make them available to meet with you and discuss these reforms directly, to listen to your thoughts, and to consider ideas on what we can do better, faster or both.
Thank you again for your long record for public service on these issues, and for your willingness to work with us on these shared objectives.
Best regards,
Tom Gores
About Securus Technologies
Headquartered in Dallas, Texas, and serving more than 3,450 public safety, law enforcement and corrections agencies and over 1,200,000 inmates across North America, Securus Technologies is committed to serve and connect by providing emergency response, incident management, public information, investigation, biometric analysis, communication, information management, inmate self-service, and monitoring products and services in order to make our world a safer place to live. Securus Technologies connecting what matters®. For more information, please visit SecurusTechnologies.tech.
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Accomplishments reflect a positive shift in accessibility and ongoing engagement with key stakeholders
Aventiv Technologies and its corrections-services subsidiary, Securus Technologies, today reported progress on key milestones of the transformation commitments announced in mid-January. Under the direction of President and CEO Dave Abel, the organization is undertaking an expansive and holistic transformation to make its products more accountable, affordable and accessible. The pace of the early progress in the multi-year effort highlights the company’s ability to quickly adapt to the new vision and operating practices.
“While we recognize that this work is just the first step in a long-term process, we are very proud of what we have already achieved,” said Dave Abel, President and CEO of Aventiv Technologies. “I am dedicated to driving meaningful change in the organization, in the sector and in the communities we serve. We are continuing much-needed face-to-face conversations with all stakeholders – we need to work together on this.”
In the first sixty days since Aventiv made these commitments, the company took multiple steps towards full achievement of its goals, including:
- Developed and deployed new technology to reduce reliance on third-party payment services, eliminating their fees and bringing savings to impacted consumers by an average of 30% in the total cost of each call.
- Negotiated new contract with a major county customer lowering the cost of phone calls by more than 60% for over 6,000 incarcerated individuals and their loved ones.
- Integrated commission-free and agency-paid options for telephone calls with both existing institutional customers and potential new institutional customers.
- Convened first quarterly consumer forum with formerly incarcerated individuals and their families in Detroit to hear firsthand about their experiences and how to better serve them which will be used to inform future development efforts.
- Met with leaders and participants of job-training and -placement organizations currently operating inside and outside of correctional facilities to learn about employment best practices and help guide development of re-entry support.
- Signed the Getting Talent Back to Work pledge from the Society for Human Resource Management and committed to give hiring opportunities to deserving individuals with a criminal record.
- Sponsored the Second Annual Correctional Education Reentry Summit hosted by Ashland University and supported the participation of formerly incarcerated students of the University.
“Aventiv’s efforts to expand and invest in correctional education services will lead to more successful re-entry outcomes and reduced rates of recidivism, ultimately saving taxpayers money in the long-term,” said Todd Marshall, Vice President for Correctional Education and Innovation at Ashland University. “We have proudly worked with the organization for years and look forward to their participation in this year’s Re-Entry Summit, leading the charge to building connections to improve the reintegration and reengagement of formerly incarcerated individuals back into their communities.”
Additional initiatives and progress on milestones will be publicly detailed quarterly.
About Securus Technologies
Headquartered in Dallas, Texas, and serving more than 3,450 public safety, law enforcement and corrections agencies and over 1,200,000 inmates across North America, Securus Technologies is committed to serve and connect by providing emergency response, incident management, public information, investigation, biometric analysis, communication, information management, inmate self-service, and monitoring products and services in order to make our world a safer place to live. Securus Technologies connecting what matters®. For more information, please visit SecurusTechnologies.tech.
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Mr. Abel Announces Accelerated Transformation Program Focused On Affordability, Accountability, Innovation and Reform
DALLAS, Jan. 13, 2020 -- Technology and government services executive Dave Abel has been named President and Chief Executive Officer of Aventiv Technologies and its corrections services subsidiary Securus Technologies, effective immediately.
"Dave is an innovative leader who we recruited in April to develop and accelerate an ambitious business transformation program for Securus," said Bryan Kelln, president of portfolio operations at Platinum Equity, which owns the companies.
"We are pleased to take the next step with his appointment as CEO, and excited about his plans for making Aventiv and Securus more accountable, more affordable, more accessible and more attentive to the needs of both customers and consumers," Mr. Kelln said.
As his first order of business, Mr. Abel announced an ambitious multi-year transformation effort that he said will "acknowledge past criticism, pursue present opportunities and lead future innovation."
"The role of technology in government and corrections is evolving, and Aventiv and Securus are at the forefront of that evolution," Mr. Abel said. "The industry is changing, and we intend to embrace it. We will be the change."
Mr. Abel acknowledged that both the company and the industry have faced criticism in the past over pricing, data security, product innovation and other issues.
He said that under his leadership the companies would seek the proper balance between the needs of customers, the corrections agencies that contract for the companies' products and services; consumers, the incarcerated individuals and their families who use those products and services; and public policy officials who oversee corrections facilities, their operations and their vendors.
"We have the opportunity – and the responsibility – to address the financial and social needs of the communities we serve, making our services more affordable and accessible while continuing to innovate and help our government partners keep those communities safe and secure," he said.
Securus has undergone substantial change since being acquired by Platinum Equity, with a major emphasis on eliminating certain past practices, enhancing and expanding others, and transforming from a traditional corrections telecommunications service provider into a broad technology innovator.
"We have the opportunity – and the responsibility – to address the financial and social needs of the communities we serve, making our services more affordable and accessible while continuing to innovate and help our government partners keep those communities safe and secure," said Dave Abel.
Aventiv Technologies launched in October 2019 as part of a corporate reorganization reflective of the company's progression with distinct business lines for government payments (AllPaid) and corrections services (Securus Technologies and JPay).
"Technology at its best is an engine of change," said Mr. Kelln of Platinum. "As the owners of Aventiv, we are keenly aware of the calls for change and steadfast in our determination to forge a new way forward.
"To that end, we have asked Dave to take the reins of the entire organization as we jointly execute on an overhaul of the agenda," he said. "Under his leadership, Aventiv will clearly demonstrate new values, supporting community needs and creating benefit for all stakeholders."
COMMITMENTS
Building on previous reforms that have already been implemented, Mr. Abel committed to accelerating in 2020 an expansive, holistic reform of corporate policies and practices. The full scope of the program will be announced in the weeks ahead, but Mr. Abel today previewed some of the initiatives that will be included:
1. Accessibility and Affordability
- While Securus has reduced the average cost of calls by 30% over the past 3 years, not all consumers felt the same relief. The company pledges to work with all our institutional customers to broaden rate relief for more consumers by targeting the elimination of legacy outlier rates and reinvesting in the development innovations and tools to further reduce costs.
- In 2019 Securus became the only service provider to announce full neutrality on the presence of site commissions and the provision of products regardless of the funding source and model determined by each locality. The organization will build on that in 2020 by working with all interested institutional customers on implementing these lower-cost-to-consumer alternatives.
- Securus will reduce the application of third-party funding fees by investing in technology solutions where possible -- and negotiating lower rates where outside vendors are still required -- to provide savings to consumers of at least 35% on these fees by year end.
2. Transparency
- Securus will provide a clear and simple recitation of call rates to both customers and consumers, ensuring that those call rates are always available online and at the time of each call before they are accepted.
- The Company will commission an annual report of inmate calling costs, produced and published by an independent third party, including a breakdown of what is being charged beyond the specific cost of the call (for example, additional costs necessary for the provision of safety protocols and service).
- Securus will publish by the middle of this year an industry-leading report detailing a terms-of-use policy for its products, and memorializing comprehensive data privacy standards.
3. Education, Reentry and Recidivism
- Securus will immediately sign the Society for Human Resource Management Getting Talent Back to Work Pledge.
- The Company will contribute at least $3 million in 2020 to efforts focused on reducing recidivism rates and improving reentry rates, including support for The Securus Foundation to connect justice agencies more closely to their communities utilizing technology.
- The Company will create a post-incarceration scholarship program to facilitate the completion of post-secondary degrees begun under Securus' existing educational product and service opportunities.
4. Listening and Responsiveness
- Mr. Abel and other company executives will meet each quarter with families and individuals personally impacted by incarceration to hear their recommendations and address their concerns about the company's products and services.
- Company leaders will also meet with corrections facility customers, correctional trade associations and advocates of alternative incarceration approaches to hear their recommendations and hear their concerns.
5. Technology and Innovation
- Securus pledges to invest at least $40 million this year in facility communication infrastructure for the advancement of public safety and community needs.
- The Company will devote at least $30 million to fund innovations in the development of secure products to take on the ever-evolving challenges facing correctional agencies in the new decade.
BIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION
Mr. Abel joined Securus as President in April of 2019, recruited from outside the industry to bring new ideas and urgency with respect to accelerating and expanding the reform agenda and technology transformation mandated by Platinum Equity. Most of his career has been dedicated to helping governments use technology to improve mission effectiveness and lower costs to taxpayers and consumers.
Prior to joining Aventiv, he founded and ran a business focused on performance improvement and software automation. As an executive at IBM and a partner at PwC, Mr. Abel was responsible for turning around and growing service and software businesses worldwide. While applying technology to some of society's greatest challenges, he is known for balancing the often competing needs of security, privacy and consumer value.
About Aventiv Technologies
Headquartered in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex, Aventiv Technologies is the parent company for Securus Technologies, JPay and AllPaid. With nearly 2,000 associates, Aventiv serves the public sector by applying technology solutions to make complex connections more secure and simpler than ever before. For more information, please visit www.Aventiv.com
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