Readers: Kiosks, Terminals and PCs

One choice in hardware gaining currency is the adoption of kiosks. Kiosks are simply metal boxes around computers. Some kiosks use touch screens for inmate access, though not all legal content is compatible with touch screens. For unattended, high security environments kiosk enclosures make computers highly tamper-resistant.

Some kiosk vendors reportedly charge $1200 per month per kiosk. But Academy can help you save money. Our kiosk offering has an embedded rugged keyboard and trackball that is compatible with all legal and educational software, unlike touchscreens, and costs just $252 per month. We use a strong, steel enclosure with a faster, gigabit network interface.

In contrast, the Book PC is a minimalist approach, in both size and cost. Rather than armoring a full PC in a kiosk; the Book PC concept consists of shrinking the enclosure to essentials and removing features to limit inmate access inexpensively. Book PCs can save even more space when combined with flat screen displays.

In the past, most inmate networks had PCs. Stock standard PCs are not secure, so the PCs for inmate use should be modified. Many computers for inmates have Fortres Grand™ security software installed on them, to prevent computer misuse by inmates. PCs can be a security risk in other ways; inmates have tried to hide contraband inside computer cases. Physical modification of the case is often necessary to create barriers to make access to the case internal space impossible—a service of Academy. On the plus side, PCs can provide fast access with expandability, since computing capacity is added with every PC.

Thin clients are terminals with a modern name. A thin client’s screen layout looks just like a Windows™ computer, but there is no computer at the inmate’s workstation. Instead, a main computer, called a terminal server, operates the terminal at a distance. One terminal server can operate many thin clients at once. So, adding thin clients divides computing power. In legal research, the practical limit for a thin client network is 30 clients per server. Thin client networks are inherently more secure than PC networks, because of centralized control. They cost approximately 10% less than PCs. However, proper design is necessary to make sure the terminal server is not overloaded.