Welcome to Scott Packard's Blog!

User Group - The Sum of All Solutions

Imagine if you will (cue fuzzy vertical lines from a sappy 90's sitcom)...you walk into Big Box Retailer (BBR) wanting to buy a computer for your home. The pimple-faced teenager who's been helping you explains all the widgets and whizbangs of the Sparkle5000. He convinces you that yes, you do need the dual core processor and document suite software that helps you write that next great American novel - now with pictures!

So, after haggling with the kid over extended warranty packages, you get home and fire up your shiny new toy. The system works well and you get to learn the basics of the document suite software. However, you notice that there could be a few improvements made and wish you could sit down with other consumers of the software and see how they're using it. You may even want to sit in on a few classes and see what new releases of the software will be rolled out soon.

What is one to do? Sure, you could probably go online and find the software's forum and speak with other consumers directly, but who knows if they are using it for the same reasons you are? And don't bother asking your IT guy at work, he's far too interested in Counterstrike than answering any questions you may have.

Fortunately, for all of our customers here at DSI/ITI, you do have an option! Every year in September, we invite all of our customers to come up (or down) to Altoona for our annual User Group. For three days, our customers can learn more about the current products they're using and see what will be coming out soon in future releases. Our customers can also personally meet all the people who work for DSI/ITI, from the salesperson who sold the software, to the project manager who implemented the programs, to the support personnel who they may talk to over the phone. They can even meet and speak with the person(s) who built the dang thing. (‘Speak' is of course a relative word here)

This open line of communication between the user and developer allows our customers to express their opinions on current products and future services. There is even a session that allows current users to propose and vote on features they would like to see in the future!

We have always been proud to tell prospective clients that the jail management and inmate phone systems they see today were built from our very own users. There is just no sense in developing a product if it doesn't benefit anyone or help them to run their facilities more efficiently.

This year, our annual User Group will be held from September 14 to 17 at the lovely Blair County Convention Center in Altoona. We hope you will be able to come out and interact with our employees, take a more in depth look at our products' capabilities, and even suggest a change to the workflow. We also look forward to hearing from you to understand how our software and technology is, or isn't, Improving Your Experience. For more information, click on the User Group link on our website.

We hope to see you in September!

Use a Bullhorn (or Tradeshow) to Announce Your RFP

When it's time to prepare and release a request for proposal (RFP) for services and products at your facility, do you have questions and anxieties about the current features and services that are available out in the market? How do you get the word out that you'll soon be releasing an RFP to the appropriate vendors?

It's interesting to see how facilities announce their bids, whether through old fashioned phone calls and emails, to releasing the bid in the local newspaper. I have also seen RFP's that have been distributed on government clearinghouse websites and through a purchasing network, such as ORPIN.

One of the best ways I've seen facilities and sheriff's departments announce that they are going out to bid for a new vendor is through face-to-face conversations at conferences and tradeshows. Here, the officials can speak directly to a company representative and have the chance to discuss exactly how their facility operates. The vendor can then offer up a list of some of the possible solutions or features that could help the facility manage their operations more efficiently. The officials can also pick up some helpful literature and maybe even win a great door prize.

Tradeshows and conferences are also a great way to set up demonstration meetings, keep in touch with representatives from your own current vendors, and, of course, to relax from the stresses of managing a corrections facility for a few days.

After working the tradeshow circuit for the past few years, I've been able to not only show how DSI/ITI can Improve YOUR Experience, I have also been able to create and maintain a lot professional relationships with sheriffs, jail administrators, and other vendors.

So, another question for our readers...

What creative ways have you announced that you are going "out to bid" for services and products at your facility? What is your favorite part of tradeshows and conferences?

Thrifty Spending 101 for Improved Jail Management

I recently attended a show out west and spoke to a lot of sheriffs about the current financial climate and what they are doing to cut spending. Obviously, almost every single county is seeing red right now, both literally and figuratively. Some told me that they are putting major and minor upgrades on hold right now. Others are cutting small amounts across the board.

In this time of dire financial straits, I think it would be ideal if visitors to our blog could share any "outside of the box" ideas that they have implemented to cut costs at their facility. After reading some articles on the web, I found that one jail in Travis County, TX switched to generic Crocs (those plastic clodhoppers). Not only do they last longer, but the county saved $22K in the first year!

http://www.corrections.com/news/article/21015

Another way, and a green one at that, would be to promote energy savings amongst staff and other county departments. It could be framed like the ‘Biggest Loser' - only instead of fat pounds, you can decrease your environmental impact by cutting carbon pounds.

So, get to it. What way are you trying to save money at YOUR facility?

This little piggy went to the hospital…

The news reports these past few weeks have been talking about the impending pandemic (or epidemic, whichever comes first?) of the swine flu. I have got to give credit to the media and The White House, because you literally would have to be living in a cabin deep in the woods not to hear about it by now.  It seems as though this particular strain has no known anecdote at the time of this writing, but fortunately it doesn't seem to be as lethal as the regular influenza.

Let's also give credit to all the corrections officials and officers who work in a jail or prison everyday. The cells and halls of a corrections facility carry the potential to be a living Petri dish of all sorts of diseases and germs.

Over on Corrections.com, one of their writers, Joe Bouchard, has written a nice summary regarding the swine flu and corrections. If you have a moment, you should go over to their site and read the whole story.

I recently attended a trade show a few months back where one company was selling little bottles of antibacterial spray.  They were about 3 ounces and had a top shaped like a pen cap, so corrections officers could carry them in his/her shirt pocket or pants pocket. I think something like this should be in the standard tools of equipment for any law enforcement official.

So, it's another question time for the readers. What precautions have you and your facility taken to prevent the spread of the swine flu and any other illnesses?  Like they say, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.