1. An interactive voice response interface for accepting orders from an inmate population in a correctional facility for a group of items, the items being approved by the correctional facility and offered to the inmate population by a commissary service; the interface comprising:
at least one computer configured to receive incoming communications from an inmate to the commissary service, and in response to the incoming communications the computer being adapted to provide voice prompts to the inmate for ordering commissary items;
wherein the commissary is subject to applicable inmate restrictions determined by the correctional facility, wherein selected inmates are prohibited from purchasing certain items from the commissary that are otherwise available for purchase by the inmate population; and
wherein the applicable inmate restrictions are applied at a first point in time during each incoming communication as the inmate submits an order for an item from the commissary, and wherein the restrictions are also applied at a second point in time, the second point in time being subsequent to the first point in time but prior to delivery of an ordered item to the inmate.
2. The interface of claim 1, wherein the computer is responsive to dual tone multifrequency signals to accept input selections from the inmate and, in response to the input selections, provides voice prompts to the inmate.
3. The interface of claim 1, wherein the computer is adapted to review each submitted order and determine a status of each submitted order as valid or invalid per the applicable inmate restrictions in existence at the first point in time.
4. The interface of claim 3, wherein the computer is adapted to report an invalid submitted order to the inmate with explanation.
5. The interface of claim 3, wherein valid submitted orders for commissary items are stored and accumulated until a predetermined time wherein the accumulated orders are each processed for acceptance, the second point in time corresponding to the predetermined time.
6. The interface of claim 5, wherein the computer is adapted to review each of the accumulated orders and determine a status of each order as valid or invalid per the applicable inmate restrictions in existence at the second point in time.
7. The interface of claim 6, wherein the computer is adapted to accept orders that are determined to be valid at the second point in time and to reject orders that are determined to be invalid at the second point in time.
8. The interface of claim 7, wherein the computer is adapted to initiate delivery of accepted orders to the inmate.
9. The interface of claim 1, wherein in response to each incoming communication from an inmate the computer is programmed to notify the inmate of an existence of a previous and pending order placed by the inmate.
10. The interface of claim 1, wherein the computer is programmed to report to the inmate a current balance of an inmate spending account for purchasing of items from the commissary service.
11. The interface of claim 1, wherein the computer is programmed to permit the inmate to edit a submitted order for an item without cancelling the order.
12. An interface for accepting orders from an inmate population in a correctional facility to a commissary offering approved items for purchase by the inmate population; the system comprising:
at least one interactive voice response system configured to accept an incoming communication from an inmate for ordering of an item from the commissary, the interactive voice response system adapted to provide voice prompts to the inmate for ordering the item; and
a database adapted to store completed orders from the inmate through the interactive voice response system until a predetermined time wherein submitted orders are processed for acceptance, the completed order being deemed pending until the predetermined time;
wherein in response to each incoming communication from an inmate, the interactive voice response system is programmed to search the database for a pending order submitted by the inmate associated with the incoming communication, and to notify the inmate of a pending order located in the database.
13. The interface of claim 12, wherein the interactive voice response system is further programmed to:
provide a prompt to the inmate to review the pending order; and
when the inmate elects to review the pending order, to report the contents of the pending order for the inmate.
14. The interface of claim 13, wherein the interactive voice response system is further programmed to:
provide a prompt to the inmate to edit the pending order.
15. The interface of claim 12, wherein the interactive voice response system is responsive to dual tone multifrequency signals to provide voice prompts to the inmate.
16. The interface of claim 12, wherein the interactive voice response system is programmed to:
provide a prompt to the inmate to enter an item selection;
provide a prompt to the user to enter a quantity for the selected item; and
provide a prompt to the inmate to edit one of the item selection and the item quantity without cancelling the order.
17. The interface of claim 16, wherein the interactive voice response system is programmed to notify an inmate when an item selection corresponding to a restricted item is entered by the inmate.
18. The interface of claim 12, wherein the commissary is subject to restrictions determined by the correctional facility for purchasing of certain items by selected inmates, the database including data and information corresponding to restrictions for each inmate that is eligible to order an item from the commissary; and
wherein the restrictions are applied by the interactive voice response system at a first point in time as orders for items of the commissary are completed by an inmate using the interactive voice response system, and wherein the restrictions are also applied at second point in time by the interactive voice response system, the second point in time being prior to providing an ordered item to the inmate.
19. The interface of claim 12, wherein the interactive voice response system is responsive to dual tone multifrequency signals to accept input selections from the inmate and to provide voice prompts to the inmate in response to the input selections.
20. The interface of claim 12, wherein the interactive voice response system is programmed to report to the inmate a current balance of an inmate spending account for purchasing of available items from the commissary service.
21. An interactive voice response system for accepting orders from an inmate population in a correctional facility from a commissary offering items for purchase to the inmate population, wherein the commissary service is subject to restrictions determined by the correctional facility on purchasing of certain items by selected inmates, the system comprising:
a processor based device;
an interactive voice response module coupled to the processor based device and configured to accept an incoming communication from an inmate for submitting an order for an item from the commissary, the interactive voice response module adapted to provide voice prompts to the inmate for an item selection and an item quantity;
a database coupled to the processor based device and to the interactive voice response module, the database containing data and information corresponding to the restrictions for purchasing of certain items by selected inmates and the database including inmate identifier data for each inmate that is eligible to order items from the commissary;
wherein the processor based device is programmed to compare an inmate identifier collected via the interactive voice response module to data and information in the database corresponding to restrictions for the inmate corresponding to the collected inmate identifier; and
when a collected item is subject to a restriction, to notify the inmate, via the interactive voice response module, of the restriction.
22. The system of claim 21 wherein the processor based device is programmed to, at a first point in time and also at a second point in time subsequent to the first point in time, compare an inmate identifier collected via the interactive voice response module to data and information in the database corresponding to restrictions for the inmate corresponding to the collected inmate identifier, wherein the second point in time coincides with acceptance of the order for delivery of the item to the inmate.
23. The system of claim 21, wherein the interactive voice response module is responsive to dual tone multifrequency signals to accept input selections from the inmate and to provide voice prompts to the inmate corresponding to the input selections.
24. The system of claim 21, wherein the system is programmed to permit the inmate to edit an order for an item without cancelling the order.
25. The system of claim 21, wherein submitted orders for item selections and item quantities collected from the interactive voice response module are stored in the database as pending orders until a predetermined time selected by the correctional facility to process pending orders for acceptance and delivery of ordered items.
26. The system of claim 21, wherein the processor based device is programmed to compare, with each incoming communication from an inmate, an inmate identifier collected via the interactive voice response module with pending orders stored in the database, and if the inmate identifier matches one of the pending orders, to notify the inmate via the interactive voice response module of the pending order.
27. The system of claim 21, wherein the processor based device is further programmed to prompt the inmate via the interactive voice response to review the pending order.
28. The system of claim 27, wherein the processor based device is programmed to prompt the user via the interactive voice response module whether to add an item to the stored order.
29. The system of claim 27, wherein the processor based device is programmed to prompt the user via the interactive voice response module whether to edit the pending order without canceling the order.
30. A method of processing orders received from an inmate population in a correctional facility for items offered by a commissary using an interactive voice response interface and a database, the purchase of items from the commissary being subject to restrictions determined by the correctional facility to prevent selected inmates from ordering certain items, the restrictions being subject to change over time, the method comprising:
collecting orders for items from inmates using the interactive voice response interface;
applying the restrictions as the orders are collected to determine whether the collected orders are valid or invalid;
storing the collected orders that are determined to be valid as pending orders in the database until a predetermined time selected by the facility for reviewing the pending orders;
applying the restrictions to the pending orders at the predetermined time to determine whether the pending orders are valid or invalid;
accepting the pending orders that are determined to be valid; and
processing the accepted orders for delivery of ordered items to the inmate.
31. The method of claim 30, further comprising:
prompting each inmate to enter an identifier as each order is collected;
comparing the identifier to the pending orders;
if a pending order is found that matches the identifier, notifying the inmate of a pending order; and
permitting the inmate to modify the pending order if desired.
32. The method of claim 31 wherein modifying the pending order comprises one of:
deleting an item from the pending order;
adding a new item to the pending order; and
changing an item quantity in the pending order.
33. The method of claim 32, further comprising:
applying the restrictions when an item quantity is changed in a pending order; and
notifying the inmate when a restriction prohibits the changed item quantity.
34. The method of claim 30, further comprising:
permitting the inmate to edit a collected order without cancelling the collected order.
35. A computer program embodied on a computer readable medium for processing orders for items from a commissary by inmates in a correctional facility, the program comprising:
at least one code segment that:
receives user provided selections for items offered by the commissary, and;
in response to the received selections, evaluates the received selections in light of correctional facility restrictions on purchases of certain items from the commissary by selected inmates at the time that orders are received;
accumulates orders that are received that do not violate the restrictions until a designated time that orders are processed for acceptance and delivery; and
evaluates, at the designated time, the stored orders in light of the correctional facility restrictions.
36. The program of claim 35, further comprising at least one code segment that permits modification of a stored order.
37. The program of claim 35, further comprising at least one code segment that reports an accumulated order to the inmate.
38. The program of claim 35, further comprising at least one code segment that allows editing of an order without cancelling the order.
39. The program of claim 35, further comprising at least one code segment that explains a restriction violation to an inmate.
40. The program of claim 35, further comprising at least one code segment that reports a current spending account balance to an inmate.
41. The program of claim 35, wherein the code implements an interactive voice response interface.
42. The program of claim 41, wherein the code is responsive to dual tone multifrequency signals.
43. An interactive voice response interface for accepting orders from an inmate population in a correctional facility for a group of items, the items being approved by the correctional facility and offered to the inmate population by a commissary service; the interface comprising:
at least one computer configured to receive incoming communications from an inmate to the commissary service, and in response to the incoming communications the computer being adapted to provide voice prompts to the inmate for ordering commissary items;
wherein orders for commissary items are held from a time of submission until a predetermined time when the orders are processed for final acceptance and delivery;
wherein the commissary is subject to applicable inmate restrictions determined by the correctional facility, wherein selected inmates are prohibited from purchasing certain items from the commissary that are otherwise available for purchase by the inmate population; and
wherein the applicable inmate restrictions are applied at the predetermined time and the orders are determined to be valid or invalid.
44. The system of claim 43, wherein the applicable inmate restrictions are also applied to the orders at the time of submission.
45. The system of claim 43, wherein the computer is responsive to dual tone multifrequency signals.
46. The interface of claim 1, wherein the computer is responsive to voice commands to accept input selections from the inmate and, in response to the input selections, provides voice prompts to the inmate.
47. The interface of claim 3, wherein valid submitted orders for commissary items are stored and accumulated until a selection is made to process accumulated orders for acceptance, the second point in time corresponding to the time the selection is made.
48. The interface of claim 12, wherein the interactive voice response system is responsive to voice commands to provide voice prompts to the inmate.
49. The system of claim 21, wherein the interactive voice response module is responsive to voice commands to accept input selections from the inmate and to provide voice prompts to the inmate corresponding to the input selections.
50. The system of claim 21, wherein submitted orders for item selections and item quantities collected from the interactive voice response module are stored in the database as pending orders until the correctional facility initiates processing pending orders for acceptance and delivery of ordered items.
51. The program of claim 41, wherein the code is responsive to voice commands.
52. The system of claim 43, wherein the computer is responsive to voice commands.
The claims below are in addition to those above.
All refrences to claim(s) which appear below refer to the numbering after this setence.
1. A kit for cleaning a surface to be cleaned comprising:
a cleaning solution that is adapted to remove soil from the surface to be cleaned and
an extraction cleaner having:
a housing;
a cleaning solution dispensing system mounted to the housing and comprising a cleaning solution tank for storing a quantity of the cleaning solution, a fluid delivery nozzle and a fluid conduit between the cleaning solution tank and the fluid delivery nozzle to dispense the cleaning solution to the surface to be cleaned;
a fluid recovery system mounted to the housing for recovering soiled cleaning solution from the surface to be cleaned and including a suction nozzle, a recovery tank and a suction source in communication with the suction nozzle and the recovery tank for drawing dirty liquid from the surface to be cleaned and for depositing it in the recovery tank; and
an exothermic heating system adapted to be placed in heat exchange relationship with the cleaning solution dispensing system to heat the cleaning solution to a temperature above room temperature for application to the surface to be cleaned;
wherein the exothermic heating system comprises at least one reagent that is adapted to generate an exothermic reaction, and
wherein, when the cleaning solution is added to the cleaning solution dispensing system, the exothermic heating system is placed in heat exchange relationship with the cleaning solution dispensing system and the exothermic heating system is activated to generate an exothermic reaction, the cleaning solution is heated, whereby the cleaning solution thus heated can be applied to a surface to be cleaned for enhanced cleaning.
2. The kit for cleaning a surface according to claim 1 wherein the heater further comprises a heat exchanger in heat exchange relationship with the cleaning solution in the fluid conduit between the cleaning solution tank and the fluid delivery nozzle when the cleaning solution is added to the cleaning solution dispensing system.
3. The kit for cleaning a surface according to claim 1 wherein the exothermic heating system comprises at least one of a compound and a composition that generates heat when transforming from one phase to another.
4. The kit for cleaning a surface according to claim 3 wherein the phase change is from a liquid to a solid.
5. The kit for cleaning a surface according to claim 4 wherein the exothermic heating system comprises a sodium acetate solution.
6. The kit for cleaning a surface according to claim 5 wherein the exothermic heating system comprises an activator that can be introduced into the sodium acetate solution.
7. The kit for cleaning a surface according to claim 6 wherein the activator includes a metal that can be introduced into the liquid.
8. The kit for cleaning a surface according to claim 7 wherein the activator includes at least one of aluminum and an alloy thereof.
9. The kit for cleaning a surface according to claim 3 wherein the phase change is from one solid phase to another.
10. The kit for cleaning a surface according to claim 1 wherein the exothermic heating system comprises two or more reagents that, when combined, undergo an exothermic reaction.
11. The kit for cleaning a surface according to claim 10 wherein the two or more reagents include a base and an acid that undergo an exothermic reaction when combined.
12. The kit for cleaning a surface according to claim 10 wherein the two or more reagents are aluminum and a reactant caustic compound.
13. The kit for cleaning a surface according to claim 10 wherein the two or more reagents include a supercorroding metal alloy.
14. The kit for cleaning a surface according to claim 11 wherein the acid is selected from the group consisting of stearic acid, citric acid and phosphoric acids.
15. The kit for cleaning a surface according to claim 11 wherein the base is selected from the group consisting of diethanolamine, triethanolamine, sodium hydroxide and potassium hydroxide.
16. The kit for cleaning a surface according to claim 1 wherein the exothermic heating system comprises a mild acid in the cleaning solution tank and the cleaning solution has a pH of less than 7.
17. The kit for cleaning a surface according to claim 16 wherein the mild acid is a stearic acid.
18. The kit for cleaning a surface according to claim 17 wherein the pH of the cleaning solution in the cleaning solution tank is in the range of 4-5.
19. The kit for cleaning a surface according to claim 16 wherein a reaction product of the mild acid and the base is a surfactant that becomes part of the cleaning solution.
20. The kit for cleaning a surface according to claim 17 wherein the base is triethanolamine and forms an activator for the exothermic reaction when added to the stearic acid-containing cleaning solution.
21. The kit for cleaning a surface according to claim 20 wherein the triethanolamine is in a solution that has a pH in the range of 8-9 prior to adding it to the stearic acid-containing cleaning solution.
22. The kit for cleaning a surface according to claim 1 wherein the exothermic heating system is within the cleaning solution tank whereby the heat of the exothermic reaction is transferred directly to the cleaning solution.
23. The kit for cleaning a surface according to claim 1 wherein the heater comprises a cavity adjacent the cleaning solution tank in heat exchange relationship with cleaning solution in the cleaning solution tank.
24. The kit for cleaning a surface according to claim 23 wherein the exothermic reaction occurs within the heater cavity adjacent the cleaning solution tank whereby the heat of the exothermic reaction is transferred to the cleaning solution through the cleaning solution tank.
25. The kit for cleaning a surface according to claim 23 wherein an activator is integral with a wall of the heater cavity.
26. An extraction cleaner comprising:
a housing;
a cleaning solution dispensing system mounted to the housing and comprising a cleaning solution tank for storing a quantity of cleaning solution, a fluid delivery nozzle and a fluid conduit between the cleaning solution tank and the fluid delivery nozzle to dispense cleaning fluid to a surface to be cleaned;
a fluid recovery system mounted to the housing for recovering soiled cleaning fluid from the surface to be cleaned;
a heater in heat exchange relationship with the cleaning solution dispensing system to heat the cleaning solution to a temperature above room temperature, the heater including a double wall receptacle having an outer wall and an inner wall, the inner wall defining the cleaning solution tank for storing the cleaning solution, the inner and outer wall defining a reagent cavity, and an exothermic heating system comprising at least one reagent and at least one activator, the at least one activator being integral with the outer wall of the reagent cavity, for generating heat through an exothermic reaction in the reagent cavity;
wherein, when heat is generated in the reagent cavity by the exothermic heating system, the heat is transferred from the reagent cavity to the cleaning solution in the cleaning solution tank through the inner wall of the heater.
27. The extraction cleaner according to claim 26 wherein the activator initiates an exothermic phase change in the reagent that generates heat.
28. The extraction cleaner according to claim 26 wherein the reagent comprises a sodium acetate solution.
29. The extraction cleaner according to claim 26 wherein the activator comprises a metal.
30. The extraction cleaner according to claim 29 wherein the activator is selected from at least one of aluminum and an aluminum alloy.
31. The extraction cleaner according to claim 26 wherein the exothermic heating system can be regenerated by applying heat to induce a phase change.
32. The extraction cleaner according to claim 26 wherein the exothermic heating system comprises two or more reagents that, when combined, undergo an exothermic reaction.
33. An extraction cleaner comprising:
a housing;
a cleaning solution dispensing system mounted to the housing and comprising a cleaning solution tank for storing a quantity of cleaning solution, a fluid delivery nozzle and a fluid conduit between the cleaning solution tank and the fluid delivery nozzle to dispense cleaning fluid to a surface to be cleaned;
a fluid recovery system mounted to the housing for recovering soiled cleaning fluid from the surface to be cleaned;
a heater in heat exchange relationship with the cleaning solution dispensing system to heat the cleaning solution to a temperature above room temperature, the heater including a double wall receptacle having an outer wall and an inner wall, the inner wall defining the cleaning solution tank for storing the cleaning solution, the inner and outer wall defining a reagent cavity, an exothermic heating system comprising at least one reagent for generating heat through an exothermic reaction in the reagent cavity, and at least one anode and at least one cathode located within the reagent cavity;
wherein, when heat is generated in the reagent cavity by the exothermic heating system, the heat is transferred from the reagent cavity to the cleaning solution in the cleaning solution tank through the inner wall of the heater and wherein the exothermic heating system can be regenerated by applying an electric potential across the at least one anode and the at least one cathode.
34. The extraction cleaner according to claim 33 wherein the exothermic heating system comprises two or more reagents that, when combined, undergo an exothermic reaction.