Maintaining contact with loved ones during incarceration can be challenging, particularly when families live far from correctional facilities or face restrictions on traditional visits. Digital communication technology has created additional ways for incarcerated individuals and their approved contacts to communicate.
CIDNET, also known as Cidnet or CID Net, is a correctional technology platform that supports these connections through internet-based services. Encartele, Inc. operates the system, which provides access to voice communication, video visitation, and electronic messaging at participating correctional facilities across the United States.
Unlike an ordinary social messaging service, the platform operates under correctional security requirements. Facilities determine which communication features are available and who can use them.
Understanding how the platform works requires looking beyond its communication tools. CIDNET also incorporates administrative technology, digital services, and security controls designed specifically for correctional environments.
This article explores its development, major features, account registration, payment system, privacy considerations, and role in modern correctional communications.
What Is CIDNET?
CIDNET is an internet-based communication and technology system developed for correctional institutions. Its primary purpose is to enable communication between incarcerated individuals and people outside their facilities while giving correctional authorities control over access and usage.
The platform brings several services into one environment. Depending on the facility, approved contacts may receive phone calls, exchange electronic messages, share photos, or join scheduled video visits.
Its technology extends beyond family communication. Encartele also offers digital applications, devices, and administrative tools intended to support correctional staff and facility operations.
The distinction between a general communication service and a correctional platform matters. Ordinary messaging applications typically allow users to contact each other directly. CIDNET operates within institutional rules, so communication access, scheduling, and available features depend on the participating facility.
For families, the platform provides a structured way to stay in touch. For facilities, it combines communication access with administrative oversight.
History and Background of CIDNET
The Development of Encartele
CIDNET’s history begins with Encartele, a Nebraska-based company founded in 2004 by combining call center technology with inmate communication systems.
The company developed technology intended to address communication and operational requirements within correctional institutions.
As correctional technology evolved, internet connectivity created opportunities to offer services beyond conventional telephone systems. Encartele expanded its approach to include software applications and purpose-built devices.
According to the company’s published history, CID Net was launched in 2017. This marked an important stage in Encartele’s development because the platform brought several correctional communication functions into an integrated digital environment.
Encartele describes CID Net as part of a wider group of technology brands focused on correctional connectivity and related services.
Growth Across Correctional Facilities
Encartele reports that its technology supports more than 450 correctional facilities across the United States.
That figure reflects the company’s publicly stated scale, not an independently audited total.
The platform is used in different correctional settings, with individual institutions determining their own implementation arrangements.
For example, government websites operated by Dallas County in Iowa and other local authorities direct visitors to CIDNET for communication and video visitation services.
Such examples help establish that the system is used by actual correctional institutions rather than existing only as a commercial technology concept.
How Does CIDNET Work?
CIDNET operates through an account-based system connecting approved outside contacts with incarcerated individuals at participating institutions.
Users generally begin by registering through the customer portal. They then identify the relevant correctional facility and add the person they wish to contact.
Communication access depends on institutional approval and the services enabled at that particular location.
The platform uses digital applications to support interactions, and records communication activity in its data management system.
CIDNET calls these interactions Cidnet Utilization Events, commonly abbreviated as CUEs.
A CUE represents an activity involving one of the platform’s communication applications, including voice, video, or mail.
Rather than treating each communication service as a separate system, CIDNET uses an integrated account structure to manage access and data usage.
This approach can simplify account administration, though users must still follow each facility’s rules.
Main Communication Features
Voice Calls Through CIDNET
Voice communication is a central feature of the platform.
At participating facilities, incarcerated individuals can initiate telephone calls to approved outside contacts. Recipients may then accept or decline the incoming call.
One distinction is particularly important: outside contacts generally cannot initiate a direct telephone call to an incarcerated person through CIDNET.
This means family members must wait for the incarcerated individual to place the call.
The facility may also determine when telephone access is permitted. Available communication periods can depend on institutional schedules and security arrangements.
For families, understanding this arrangement helps avoid confusion when an account is active but direct calling is not possible.
Video Visitation Services
CIDNET also provides video visitation, allowing approved contacts to communicate visually with incarcerated individuals.
Depending on the correctional institution, visits may take place remotely or through an on-site video visitation arrangement.
Remote visits reduce the need for travel, which is especially valuable when someone lives far from the facility.
However, video visitation is not an unrestricted video-calling service.
Users normally need to schedule a visit, select an available time, and comply with the facility’s conditions. The incarcerated individual must also be able to participate at the scheduled time.
Available dates, visit lengths, and permitted participants may differ between institutions.
Digital Messaging and Picture Sharing
Another communication feature is digital mail.
The system allows users at participating facilities to exchange written messages electronically. Picture messaging may also be available.
These features provide an alternative to voice or video communication, especially when immediate conversation is not possible.
Messages and images remain subject to facility rules and content screening.
Restricted or inappropriate material may be rejected, and users should understand that a rejected message does not necessarily result in a data credit.
CIDNET’s published guidance explains that data consumed when submitting mail or picture mail is not automatically restored if facility staff decline the content.
This makes it sensible to check the applicable communication rules before sending photographs or messages.
How to Create a CIDNET Account
Registration and Verification
The official CIDNET customer portal lets friends and family members register for an account.
The published registration process begins with entering identifying information, including a name, email address, and time zone.
Users select the relevant state and correctional facility, accept the platform’s terms, and complete email verification.
Additional account security steps include creating a password, establishing a security PIN, and choosing security questions.
Depending on account requirements and facility procedures, users may also need to verify their telephone number and upload a valid government-issued photo ID.
These verification procedures are part of the controlled environment in which correctional communication services operate.
Adding an Incarcerated Contact
After creating an account, users can search for the person they wish to contact.
The process involves selecting the relevant state and facility, searching by name, and identifying the correct individual.
The user must also specify their relationship to that person.
Contact requests may require approval before communication becomes available.
CIDNET guidance indicates that approval typically takes one or two days, though actual processing depends on correctional staff and facility circumstances.
If a person cannot be located in the system, they may not yet be in the facility’s records, may have been transferred, or may no longer be held there.
CIDNET Pricing and Data Usage
Understanding the Data-Based Model
A distinctive feature of CIDNET is its data-oriented communication structure.
The company describes a system called Data Token Access Protocol, or DTAP, which measures usage through data rather than relying exclusively on conventional call-duration billing.
Under this model, purchased data can be used across supported communication applications, subject to the services available and applicable account rules.
Communication activities are tracked through CUEs, allowing the system to identify data consumption associated with individual interactions.
However, families should not assume that a data-based system automatically makes every call or visit cheaper than competing services.
Actual costs depend on the applicable rates, usage, institutional arrangements, and regulatory requirements.
Charges, Regulations and Refunds
United States regulations governing incarcerated people’s communication services have changed substantially.
Federal Communications Commission rules establish requirements covering audio and video communication charges. The applicable regulations require providers to offer per-minute pricing and also permit qualifying alternative pricing plans.
Consequently, the company’s data-based description should not be treated as the complete explanation of every legally available pricing option.
Users should review the current charges displayed through the relevant facility and account before purchasing data.
CIDNET also provides a process for requesting a buyback of eligible unused data. Its published instructions direct customers to submit a support request, and they specify a five-day waiting period after the most recent purchase before requesting a buyback.
Understanding those conditions can help users make more informed purchasing decisions.
Security, Privacy and Communication Restrictions
Communication Monitoring
Privacy works differently in a correctional communication system than in a conventional personal messaging application.
CIDNET informs users that communications are recorded and monitored by correctional personnel for security purposes.
Facilities can restrict contacts, scheduling, and permitted content.
Consequently, ordinary communication through the platform should not be assumed to be confidential.
Attorney-client and other legally protected communications require separate consideration under applicable laws and institutional procedures. Users should not presume that an ordinary account provides privileged legal communication.
Account Security and User Responsibilities
Users should protect account passwords, verification information, and payment details.
Identity verification requirements can also help ensure that the individual registering for communication access is correctly identified.
Content restrictions are another important consideration.
Facilities may refuse messages or images that violate their rules, and inappropriate conduct during video visits can result in communication privileges being restricted.
The safest approach is to review both the platform’s instructions and the facility’s visitation and messaging policies before using the service.
CIDNET’s Role in Correctional Facility Technology
Digital Communication and Administrative Systems
CIDNET is more than a consumer-facing video visitation platform.
Its wider technology offerings include hardware and software systems intended for correctional institutions.
The company’s product information describes handheld devices, wall-mounted units, and communication applications integrated with an administrative platform.
These technologies let correctional personnel manage access permissions and communication within a controlled institutional environment.
Encartele also offers digital signage that distributes announcements, schedules, and facility notices through centrally managed screens.
This reduces reliance on manually distributed paper notices, though results depend on how each institution implements the system.
Educational and Operational Applications
The company’s broader application catalog includes digital books, educational resources, legal information, entertainment, and operational services.
Some applications are designed to allow incarcerated individuals to submit requests or access approved institutional information electronically.
Other features support administrative tasks, including commissary ordering and facility documentation.
These functions illustrate the company’s direction toward integrated correctional technology rather than communication services alone.
Their presence in the wider product catalog does not mean that every correctional facility makes every application available.
Customer Support and Common Problems
Users may have trouble with account approval, finding a contact, processing payments, or joining video visits.
CIDNET provides online support resources covering these situations.
For video connection problems, the company recommends a reliable internet connection and a compatible browser. Its troubleshooting guidance specifically identifies Google Chrome and appropriate camera and microphone permissions.
When an incarcerated individual does not join a scheduled video session, the system may cancel the interaction. According to CIDNET’s guidance, unused data associated with that canceled session is returned to the account.
For account assistance, users can submit a support ticket through the customer portal.
CIDNET also lists 888-984-1903 as its customer support telephone number and instructs users to select the appropriate support prompt.
Issues involving an incarcerated person’s location, eligibility, or facility-specific approval may need to be resolved directly with the correctional institution.
Why Family Communication Matters
Communication with loved ones can help maintain personal relationships during incarceration.
Distance, travel costs, limited visiting hours, and other practical barriers may make regular in-person contact difficult.
A system offering remote video visits and digital messaging can provide additional communication opportunities where those services are permitted.
These practical benefits help explain the demand for correctional communication technology.
Yet digital access also introduces concerns about affordability, privacy, accessibility, and the degree of control institutions exercise over communication.
Service availability does not guarantee that everyone can use it equally. Access to suitable devices, internet connectivity, money and institutional approval can all influence participation.
Evaluating CIDNET therefore requires attention to both its technical capabilities and the experience of the people who depend on them.
Future Development of CIDNET
Encartele continues to present CIDNET as an expanding correctional technology platform.
Its current product catalog includes communication applications, administrative tools, digital learning resources, facility signage and environmental monitoring solutions.
The company also describes artificial intelligence-related functions intended to assist with institutional oversight and selected support tasks.
These developments indicate the types of technology being incorporated into its wider platform, but they should not be interpreted as guarantees of future performance or universal implementation.
Future adoption will depend on correctional institutions, procurement decisions, regulatory requirements and the effectiveness of individual technologies.
Conclusion
CIDNET represents a digital approach to communication within correctional facilities, combining voice calling, video visitation and electronic messaging with the institutional controls required in detention environments.
Developed by Encartele, the platform has grown from its 2017 launch into a wider system supporting correctional communication and operational applications.
For families, its practical value lies in helping them stay connected when ordinary communication is restricted. For correctional institutions, it also helps manage access, administer digital services, and maintain oversight.
Understanding the platform also means recognizing its limitations. Service availability varies, communications are subject to monitoring, payment conditions matter, and institutional approval remains central to access.
The most useful way to approach CIDNET is therefore as a specialized correctional communication service rather than a general-purpose messaging application. Its significance comes from its role in helping approved contacts communicate within a tightly regulated environment.
(FAQs)
1. What is CIDNET used for?
CIDNET provides correctional communication services, including telephone calls, video visitation, and electronic messaging between incarcerated individuals and approved contacts at participating facilities.
2. Who owns CIDNET?
CIDNET is operated by Encartele, Inc., a Nebraska-based correctional technology company founded in 2004. The CIDNET platform was launched in 2017.
3. How do I create a CIDNET account?
Visit the official customer portal, register with the required information, verify your email, complete the security steps, and add the incarcerated individual you wish to contact.
4. Can I call an incarcerated person directly through CIDNET?
No. According to the platform’s published guidance, voice calls must be initiated by the incarcerated individual. Outside contacts can then choose whether to accept the call.
5. Does CIDNET offer video visitation?
Yes. Participating facilities offer video visitation. Visits may be remote or on-site, depending on the institution’s rules and services.
6. How much does CIDNET cost?
Costs depend on current pricing, usage, the communication service, and applicable rules. Users should check the charges displayed for their facility before purchasing communication data.
7. Are CIDNET messages and video visits private?
Ordinary communications are subject to correctional monitoring and recording. Users should review the facility’s rules and use appropriate authorized channels for legally protected communications.
8. How can I contact CIDNET customer support?
Users can submit a request through the official customer portal or call CIDNET support at 888-984-1903.
