Skip to main content
All case studies Justice case study

More than one million secure video calls across the UK prison estate

When the pandemic stopped face-to-face visits, Purple Visits was deployed across the entire UK prison estate, keeping families connected through more than one million secure, monitored video calls.

1M+

Secure video calls facilitated

130+

Prisons and secure hospitals deployed

4.8

Average rating across 10,000+ app ratings

The Challenge

When the pandemic stopped face-to-face visits in 2020, every prison in the UK lost its main channel for family contact overnight. Contact with family supports wellbeing and rehabilitation. Losing it at national scale carried real risk for people in custody and for the stability of establishments.

The estate needed a secure alternative that could be deployed everywhere, quickly, without compromising the standards that custodial communication demands.

What We Did

Purple Visits was deployed across the entire UK prison estate, more than 130 prisons and secure hospitals. Families booked and joined calls from a smartphone app. Every call ran through secure, monitored video calling designed specifically for custodial environments.

The rollout was delivered while the estate was in lockdown and was the fastest rollout of any prisoner facing technology the MoJ had ever deployed. The platform carried families through the period when video calling was the only way to see a loved one in custody.

The Results

  • More than one million secure, monitored video calls facilitated
  • Deployed across the entire UK prison estate, more than 130 prisons and secure hospitals
  • Purple Visits is available today in all private sector prisons in England and Wales plus the Isle of Man and Jersey, as well as in a secure NHS hospital setting
  • Our prison related apps hold over 10,000 ratings across the App Store and Google Play with an average of 4.8

Products Behind This Deployment

Want to Know More About This Deployment?

We're happy to share more detail, arrange a reference call or show you the products in action.