- Date published
efactory member to officially launch OMNI in August.
Staffing shortages: It’s on everyone’s minds. In correctional facilities, though, nothing could be more dangerous.
Nationwide over 33% of correctional positions are currently vacant and unable to be filled.
Meanwhile the list of services a prison or jail is required to provide an incarcerated person is growing much faster than the budget or workforce necessary to do so.
This is causing a severe strain in America’s correctional facilities and ultimately creating a more dangerous environment for all inmates and the staff who manage them.
Enter OMNI Real Time Location System, a promising business venture from startup founders Alison Lamphear, Nic Lamphear and Dusty Klingler. Together with an impressive team, they bring a combined 135 years of correctional experience to this solution.
Developed at Missouri State University’s efactory in Springfield, the OMNI Real Time Location System utilizes tamper-proof Bluetooth low energy bracelets, placed on every inmate, to provide precise location and biometric data.
This data is delivered 5 times a second to the OMNI software platform, allowing correctional staff to oversee the locations, interactions and health of thousands of inmates simultaneously, and more efficiently than currently utilized methods.
“They’re like a fitness tracker, but they’re tamper proof,” Nic said. “If the signal is lost, band gets cut or torn or they lose contact with a heart rate, OMNI alerts you immediately.”
Setting itself apart
Most prisons and jails are constructed of thick concrete and steel, materials that absorb and distort radio signals. Building a reliable and accurate positioning system that works inside a harsh environment like this was a major challenge.
To verify its effectiveness, the team behind OMNI Real Time Location System extensively tested the devices inside a correctional facility in Oklahoma. The results were positive: consistent accuracy to within 10-30 inches of the wearer’s location.
“Many people know someone who’s currently in prison, or who has been in the past. They want their loved ones to stay safe, whether they’re at home or incarcerated,” Alison said. “Prisons can be a dangerous place for inmates and staff. OMNI is here to make it a lot safer for everyone involved.”
The majority of dangerous activities that happen in a correctional environment take place in the blind spots created by conventional security camera systems.
The OMNI system watches every individual and every square inch of a correctional facility, storing the information on secured servers. Correctional workers will then be able to use the accurate positioning, biometric and alerting data supplied by OMNI to respond to all health and safety issues, accurately and immediately.
The OMNI team says there’s been lot of enthusiasm and interest in the implementation of OMNI. They are excited to officially launch at the Missouri Sherriff’s Association Conference in August of this year.
About OMNI
OMNI is a cutting-edge hardware and software solution designed specifically to track and report the locations and interactions of all inmates, staff and assets anywhere in your correctional facility, in real time.
