How it works
How Kite works
An AI assistant they can call from the facility phone or write to from the tablet. Here is what they can do with it, how a call goes, and how you set it up.
What they can do with Kite
They can ask it almost anything, and it answers in plain words, out loud on a call or in writing on the tablet.
Research and homework
Look things up, check facts, and get help with coursework and reading.
Legal questions
How the law and their own process work, what to ask their lawyer, and help drafting letters.
Learning
GED practice, math and reading, or practicing a new language, at their own pace.
News and sports
Today’s headlines, last night’s scores, and the weather back home.
Getting ready for release
Work on a résumé, practice job interviews, and plan what comes next.
Writing help
Letters home, cards, essays and forms. Kite helps them find the words.
Someone to talk to
Any hour they can reach a phone, Kite is there to listen and talk things through.
By phone from any facility phone or tablet that can call a local number. By written message in Washington and California state prisons.
How a call goes
1
They dial
The number you gave them, from a wall phone or a facility tablet, like any other call.
2
The line asks
“Kite here — your passphrase, please.” It says nothing else first.
3
They say the words
3 tries. The line opens the moment the words land.
4
They talk
For as long as the balance holds, up to 30 minutes a call (15 in California).
They can write to it, too
In Washington and California state prisons, Kite also answers messages from the facility tablet. It works like writing home, and on a call they can ask Kite to send what it just said to their tablet.
1
They write
From the tablet’s messaging app, they send Kite a question — the same way they write to family. Starting it with LONGER KITE asks for a longer answer.
2
The facility reads it first
Every message goes through the facility’s review, in both directions. Usually that takes minutes; sometimes it takes a day or more. That wait is the facility’s, not Kite’s.
3
Kite writes back
A written answer costs $0.40 a message in Washington and $0.20 in California, from the same balance as calls. If you support several people, the messages each one writes are paid from their own wallet. A longer answer can use up to 3 messages.
What a written answer looks like
An example, not a real message. Answers arrive as plain text, like a letter.
They wrote
I have a job interview when I get out. How do I explain the time I was away?
Kite wrote back
Be honest and keep it short, then move on to what you did with the time. Something like: I was incarcerated for two years. While I was there I earned my GED and worked in the kitchen five days a week, so I am used to early starts and working as a team. Then say why you want this job in particular. Practice it out loud until it feels natural, and keep it under half a minute. Many employers hire people with records, and some get a tax credit for it, so it is fine to ask about second-chance hiring.
You never see what they write or what Kite writes back. Two messages are free: a welcome that shows them how to use Kite, sent once there is money to pay for its answers, and one with their number and passphrase once their line is ready.
Good to know
It is not a lawyer
It explains how the law and their process work and helps them prepare. Decisions about their case belong with their lawyer.
It is not a crisis line
It can’t see them, call anyone or alert staff. If someone inside is in danger, the facility’s staff are the people who can act.
You never see what they say
Your dashboard shows minutes and money, never what was said on a call or written in a message.
Nothing is remembered after a call
Each call starts fresh. Kite keeps no recording, no transcript and no memory of earlier calls.
What you do, once
1
Create an account
An email and a password. The person inside needs no account, no app and no device of their own.
2
Add the person you support
Their name and their prison ID number, the one you write on their mail.
3
Add money
Top up whenever you like. Calls and messages draw from it, and nothing renews on its own.
4
Get their number and their words
Their own personal phone number, local to their facility, and two easy words that open it. Choose the words, or let Kite pick them.
No app, and nothing to carry
Kite is an ordinary phone call. That means:
- It works from the facility’s own phones and tablets
- Nothing to install, sign into, or keep charged
- Their own personal phone number, local to their facility
Ready to set it up?
$0.10/min, drawn from a balance you top up. A ten-minute call is $1.00 of Kite, on top of whatever the facility charges for the line.