Government Agencies Turning to VIA3 for Secure Telework, Conferencing, and Colla

boration
US Government agencies have all got the memo. Teleworking and web conferencing a
re mandatory, and they had better be secure.
Scottsdale, AZ, January 06, 2010 -- With the stroke of a pen, President Obama si
gned into law the Telework Enhancement Act, which requires federal agencies to d
evelop more robust and secure telework plans. This means agencies wanting to ful
ly comply need to turn to FIPS 140-2 secure conferencing solutions, which means
either a hardware intensive fixed point solution, or VIA3. VIA3 is a software ba
sed FIPS 140-2 solution on the market today, and is quickly drawing attention fr
om federal agencies for secure video conferencing, online presentations, meeting
s of any size, document collaboration, and web-based communications.
Already in use on Capitol Hill for Telework and Continuity of Work initiatives,
VIA3 is gaining popularity among state governments as well for a variety of conf
erencing, communication, and collaboration needs.
Virginia saves 27,124 hours of travel a year using VIA3:
In Virginia, the Department of Juvenile Justice (DJJ) has been using VIA3 to pro
cess after-hours intakes since the fall of 2009. VIA3 allows DJJ to complete int
akes across the Commonwealth of Virginia with the ability to sign documents back
and forth. The After-hours Video Intake program is based in the 9th District Co
urt Service Unit and it currently processes delinquent intakes for 23 out of 35
Court Service Units, which covers 10493 localities weeknights, weekends and holi
days.
After-hours Video Intake was created as a way to save probation officers from ha
ving to go out in the middle of the night to complete an intake after working th
eir normal business hours. During the year 2009, After-hours Video Intake saved
probation officers 27,124 roundtrip miles and 1,534.6 hours of processing and tr
avel time to complete an intake. VIA3 provides Court Service Units, which covers
multiple jurisdictions, the ability to provide intake coverage to their branch
offices when needed. Parole officers are utilizing VIA3 to save travel time when
visiting their clients at Juvenile Correctional Centers (JCC) and Halfway House
s. VIA3 also allows family members, who may have transportation difficulties, to
continue to have contact with their child, who is committed to a JCC.
On September 7, 2010 The Honorable Bill Bolling, Lieutenant Governor, Commonweal
th of Virginia, and Jim Duffey, Secretary of Technology, presented the award win
ning projects and business solutions of the 30 honorees of the 2010 Governorâ s Techn
ology Awards at a special ceremony which convened COVITS (www.covits.org). DJJ r
eceived Honorable Mention in the category, â IT as Efficiency Driverâ for its Web-based
fter-hours Video Intake program using VIA3.
Utah saves $500,000 per year using VIA3
The Justice Court system, which presides over county and municipal affairs, impl
emented the VIA3 secure communications solution from VIA3 Corp. more than a year
ago to perform video arraignments. The software solution provides flexible, hig
hly secure, real-time audio/video capabilities via a standard broadband Internet
connection. In Utah, VIA3 dramatically improves the safety of peace officers an
d citizens, slashes time and budget expenditures, and moves suspects through the
criminal justice system more quickly -- all at zero cost to taxpayers.
The new system was financed through fees assessed to criminal fines, so criminal
offenders pay the costs. The arrangement will save Utah taxpayers approximately
$500,000 per year, according to state officials.
Large court and correctional systems may transfer hundreds of arrestees and inma
tes between jail and court facilities each day. But transporting prisoners is ex
pensive, time-consuming and -- above all -- risky to citizens, peace officers an
d the prisoners themselves.
Only a handful of the state's Justice Courts used closed-circuit television to c
onduct video arraignments because of cost constraints, said John Sandberg, Davis
County Justice Court Judge. For close to a decade, he used another Internet-bas
ed system, which reduced travel, but lacked functionality and confidentiality.
"I had been using a video system to avoid prisoner transport for about 10 years,
but it was with a marginal system and I was concerned about security and the im
age quality," Sandberg said. "VIA3 met our needs because it had the functionalit
y we needed as well as the security, as it is encrypted end-to-end."
VI A3 was launched to deliver secure, confidential collaborations in real time o
ver the Internet. Though not specifically designed for video arraignments, Sandb
erg believed VI A3 was the perfect solution.
"The functionality is just excellent. It's truly a two-way conversation," Sandbe
rg said. "You can see each other; you can talk back and forth. This is secure en
d-to-end, both the video and audio. You can also transmit instant messages and d
ocuments, and all of that is encrypted end-to-end."
With the older systems, we were using speaker phones. You had to wait for respon
ses and the volume wasn't good," he added. "This is almost like being in the sam
e room. Plus, it's secure."
VIA3 allows judges to process defendants more quickly, which they and the jailer
s prefer. Video arraignment also means that if someone from southern Utah commit
s a crime in northern Utah, the state doesn't have to pay to transport the priso
ner to his or her home jurisdiction. Instead, offenders meet with the judge and
their attorneys, if need be, in the jail through VIA3.
"Instead of housing people here in jail for an extended stay, we can have people
seen on video, and the judge can make a determination on whether he wants to ke
ep them incarcerated or let them go," explained Sgt. Gene Redford, who works for
the Washington County Sheriff's Office in Utah. "It costs us so much money per
day to keep them housed here. So if we can get them out versus having them stay
for 10 days, we're saving money. It's decreased our transportation of inmates. I
t's decreased the number of people we have to move. It's safer and I think overa
ll, it's an excellent system."
VIA3 lowers the cost and risk associated with transporting criminals. It reduces
the number of inmates housed in jails. It gets those who committed nonviolent m
isdemeanor crimes through the system quickly and back to their lives. It stifles
the infiltration of contraband since prisoners are kept in one place, and it is
all at no charge to taxpayers.
"Everybody wins," said Sandberg. "The jails win. The prisoners win. The court wi
ns. And the public wins because it saves money."
Sandberg's vision has paid off big for Utah courts, and he's developed a loyal f
ollowing of judges across the state who are thrilled that VIA3 saves so much tim
e and expense. Washington County Justice Court Judge Douglas Whitlock said that
not only does VIA3 save time, labor and money -- for the public and for defendan
ts -- it also lets him be more flexible.
"If I'm home and the clerk calls me and tells me I have someone in the jail who
needs to be seen, I can do that from home," he said. "Whatever document the cour
t orders that the defendant needs to see, the clerk can take that right off her
computer and send it to the jail's electronic file cabinet. The jail can have th
e defendant sign it with an electronic signature pad, put in back in the file ca
binet and we have it instantly. There are a lot of benefits for defendants." Lik
e Judge Sandberg and Sgt. Redford, Whitlock is very happy with VIA3.
"The system is designed very well, I'm really pleased with it and the technical
support on it," said Whitlock. "VIA3 has been very helpful and it's a good produ
ct. Judge Sandberg should be very highly commended for coming up with this."
In Summary: Send Your Employees Home so they can get some work done!
In 2007, 21 percent of corporations surveyed by the Alexandria-Virginia based So
ciety for Human Resource Management let their workers telecommute full time, up
from 19 percent in 2006. Part-time telecommuting grew faster â 33 percent in 2007 fr
om 26 percent in 2006. Sending employees home to work can produce impressive res
ults. Most notably increased job production & satisfaction rose because they can
work without disruption. In a year where Continuing Resolutions and deficit spe
nding plague the government VIA3 can offer an economical secure web conferencing
alternative.
Fulfilling the Telework mandate with one solution:
Government agencies or corporations wanting to try VIA3 can visit www.VIA3.com ,
or email TLockard@Viack.com for more information.
Contact:
Leslie Carter
VIACK Corporation
6929 N Hayden Rd
Suite C4, Box 606
Scottsdale, AZ 85250
1-866-265-8060
CarterMedia@Hotmail.com
http://www.via3.com