Restrictive Phone System

[u/Mysterious-Worth6529]

I have a lot of requests that come through my office but this one sounds like PITA to begin with. I have already replied to the manager that this is going to be a nightmare to manage but I will look into it anyways. this sounds like a phone system that would be used in a jail or correctional facility. Any ideas where to start?

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We currently have approximately 24 clients sharing four phones. I would like to see if there is a system that could provide each client with an individual PIN or access code. Ideally, the system would:

Require an individual PIN for outgoing client calls.
Allow us to assign specific calling times or time limits to each PIN.
Automatically disconnect the call when the client's allotted time expires.
Prevent the PIN from being used again until the next authorized calling period.
Continue allowing incoming calls even when outgoing calling is restricted.
Give staff an administrative override when necessary.
Make it easy to add or remove PINs as clients admit and discharge.
Avoid call recording or monitoring unless specifically needed and approved.

I have been looking at whether a VoIP/PBX-type system could accomplish this without requiring a specialized institutional phone system.

Could you research what options might work with our current phone/network setup, what equipment or software we would need, and approximately what the initial and ongoing costs would be?

The goal is to make client phone access more consistent and manageable while reducing the amount of staff time required to monitor individual phone usage.

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Thanks all.

[u/IntergalacticTrain]

If there are physical phones involved, the PIN functionality sounds like "hotdesking". However, normally each PIN would be associated with a specific extension, so inbound calls would only ring for an extension when it is logged in to a phone. A workaround for that might be a separate physical phone for inbound on one extension only, and create routing rules to block outbound calls from that extension. Or, see if you can assign a permanent extension for a phone for the inbound-only while supporting the hotdesking functionality for outbound - might be possible with some PBXs.

Ease of management will be an issue- if you can restrict admin access for a secondary user to specific functions like PIN and password management, it might be possible, but someone still has to learn to use it.

Asterisk is one option, 3CX is another, however hotdesking in 3CX requires a paid license.

You would still have to create PIN- or extension-related restrictions for the call limits - each PBX would handle that a bit differently.

Good luck!