# US 12,120,160 B1 · Systems and methods for secure, controlled virtual visitation with confinement institution inmates > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 12,120,160 B1 - Document ID: US12120160B1 - Status: Granted - Kind: B1 - Application number: 18/134,200 - Filed: 2023-04-13 - Granted: 2024-10-15 - Earliest claimed: 2015-09-02 - Assignees: Confinement Telephony Technology, LLC - Applicants: Confinement Telephony Technology, LLC - Inventors: Rick Allen Lubbehusen; John Vincent Townsend, III; Edward Eugene Williams, Sr.; Eugene Bernard Joswick, III - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US12120160B1 ## CPC - H04L 65/4038: with floor control - H04L 43/10: Active monitoring, e.g. heartbeat, ping or trace-route - H04L 65/1069: Session establishment or de-establishment - H04L 65/1083: In-session procedures - H04L 65/1089: by adding media; by removing media - H04L 65/403: Arrangements for multi-party communication, e.g. for conferences (data switching systems for conference H04L12/18; arrangements for connecting several subscribers to a common circuit, i.e. affording conference facilities H04M3/56; television conferencing systems H04N7/15) - H04L 67/02: based on web technology, e.g. hypertext transfer protocol [HTTP] - H04L 67/12: specially adapted for proprietary or special-purpose networking environments, e.g. medical networks, sensor networks, networks in vehicles or remote metering networks - H04L 67/125: involving control of end-device applications over a network - H04L 67/14: Session management (for real-time applications in data packet communications networks H04L65/1066) - H04L 67/60: Scheduling or organising the servicing of application requests, e.g. requests for application data transmissions using the analysis and optimisation of the required network resources (admission control or resource allocation H04L47/70) - H04L: TRANSMISSION OF DIGITAL INFORMATION, e.g. TELEGRAPHIC COMMUNICATION (arrangements common to telegraphic and telephonic communication H04M) ## Abstract Secure, controlled, interactive virtual visitation for confinement institution inmates is provided using computing devices connected through a network by managing the scheduling of visitation sessions and use of shared visitation session resources, ensuring the identities of the inmate and the person with whom the inmate is to interact in the virtual visitation session, and by monitoring the interactions and communications during the virtual visitation sessions to detect prohibited activities. Another embodiment of the invention uses a virtual desktop shared from a remote server to ensure that an inmate does not have access to prohibited applications or content during a virtual visitation session. ## Claims ### Claim 1 A method of providing a virtual visitation session involving an inmate of a controlled-access residential institution and a non-inmate on separate devices, the method comprising: sharing audio and video between the inmate and the non-inmate in the virtual visitation session; monitoring the virtual visitation session for prohibited activities; and based on detecting at least one of the prohibited activities, generating a flag identifying a starting time of a time segment during which the at least one of the prohibited activities occurred during the virtual visitation session; and notifying an authority of the at least one of the prohibited activities having occurred during the virtual visitation session; and providing direct access to the authority to a portion of a recording of the virtual visitation session based on the flag. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein the direct access is provided to the authority while the virtual visitation session is ongoing. ### Claim 3 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein the direct access comprises a playback of the portion of the recording with an indicator added to identify an area within a recorded image associated with the at least one of the prohibited activities. ### Claim 4 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein the direct access comprises a playback of the portion of the recording with an indicator added to identify a word, phrase, sentence, or group of sentences within recorded audio content associated with the at least one of the prohibited activities. ### Claim 5 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein the direct access comprises a playback of the portion of the recording with a transcription of words spoken during the portion of the recording, wherein the transcription comprises an indicator identifying a word, phrase, sentence, or group of sentences associated with the at least one of the prohibited activities. ### Claim 6 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein the direct access comprises access to a snippet of less than all of a recording of the virtual visitation session to the authority, wherein the snippet is selected based on the flag. ### Claim 7 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein detecting the at least one of the prohibited activities comprises: monitoring the interactions and communications during the virtual visitation session; tracking input on a keyboard or touch input device; monitoring audio received via a microphone; or monitoring images captured via a camera. ### Claim 8 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein detecting the at least one of the prohibited activities comprises authenticating an identity of the inmate or an identity of the non-inmate during the virtual visitation session. ### Claim 9 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1 further comprising identifying the portion of the recording based on the starting time of the time segment during which the at least one of the prohibited activities occurred during the virtual visitation session.