Choosing a Prison Intercom System

A prison intercom or jail intercom is used for two-way communication inside prison or holding cells at correctional facilities. The intercoms are simple stainless steel panels with an embedded speaker and a stainless steel button to minimize the damage an inmate could do to it.

The intercom you need depends on the complexity of your application. A prison with hundreds of cells needs a more sophisticated system than an intercom for a single holding cell. For either application, a prison intercom typically calls only a single point like a detention facility guard command center.  Wardens often need a way to listen to in-cell conversations so some of these systems offer a way to do that as well.

A jail intercom system not only needs to be impact resistant, it also needs to be fluid-resistant. It should be able to withstand a glass of water or corrosive fluids thrown at it. If it is outside, it also needs to withstand weather.

If you have noisy location you may want a system that has really good audio quality along with features like active noise filtering, and acoustic echo cancellation.

Connection between intercoms is done either via two wires, or via CAT-5 Ethernet depending on the system. If you need fewer than 10 stations that call a master station, we have a two-wire system that has a vandal-resistant stainless-steel intercom. If you need more stations than that, we have a CAT-5 system can integrate with a VoIP telephone system. We also have a CAT-5 intercom that has its own built-in webserver so it can act independently without a telephone system or Internet access.

Mounting can be done in a couple of ways. The intercom can be mounted flush mount into the wall, or it can be surface mounted in a housing. We recommend the flush-mount installation with security screws because that will be the most damage-proof for obvious reasons.

Intercoms in jails can also have a switch for a door lock control or a strobe light. If you have an electric door strike the switch can be used to remotely unlock the door. Or you could turn a strobe light to visually identify where assistance is needed.

If you need help in choosing a prison intercom system then call us at 888-298-9489.