Global Caption's captions for people in custody arrive faster in tests

In the FCC's test lab, Global Caption's automatic captions for incarcerated callers arrived in 1.0 to 1.1 seconds, against 1.8 to 2.4 for other providers. Word error rates were higher but comparable.

  • Not rated a person

    The FCC certified the service on lab tests before it captioned incarcerated users' calls, and its later notice reports no outcome for users.

Depth runs from 1, a convenience or time saved, to 5, a life or a livelihood preserved.

Status
Intended benefit.
Evidence

foundstudiedreportedclaimed

An independent regulatory document supports the benefit.

Compared with

Other IP CTS providers' average caption delay on the same two call scenarios. Measured.

Without the system
1.8 to 2.4 seconds
With it
1.0 to 1.1 seconds
The system’s part
The National Test Lab measured the automatic captions against other providers' results on the same call scenarios, which isolates the recognizer's output. The FCC does not say which captioning mode produced the other providers' results. A competitor's comments refer to Global Caption's use of artificial intelligence. The FCC notes that the vendor may not use conversation data to develop its speech recognition further, so the recognizer is likely built from data.
Later
Persisted, 16 June 2026. The FCC extended Global Caption's conditional certification through 16 June 2027 to keep service in carceral facilities running while it reviews the company's applications.
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LimitsCosts and harmsLearns from data

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Benefit type
Reduced Task Time
System
Global Caption ASR-only Internet Protocol Captioned Telephone Service (IP CTS) for carceral facilities
Made by
Global Caption, Inc., with a speech recognition vendor that the FCC does not name
Used by
Global Caption, Inc., in carceral facilities, through technology firms that work with incarcerated people's calling service providers
Where
United States (carceral facilities)
Stage
In routine use
Date
, when the source was published
Kind
Aggregate result
Broad benefit
Documenting/Recording Information
Collections
Scrutiny and findings
Last revised
1 November 2026

Sources

  1. Regulatory document, by authors with no tie to the system.

    Federal Communications Commission, Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau. Order, DA 24-11, CG Docket No. 03-123 (conditional certification of Global Caption, Inc. to provide IP CTS on a fully automatic basis in carceral facilities). Adopted and released 4 January 2024.

    In performance testing by NTL, Global Caption's average caption delay for two call scenarios ranged from 1.0 to 1.1 seconds, while other IP CTS providers' average caption delay results were longer, ranging from 1.8 to 2.4 seconds.

  2. Regulatory document, by authors with no tie to the system. Context or contrary evidence.

    Federal Communications Commission, Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau. Public Notice, DA 26-593, CG Docket No. 03-123: Extension of Conditional Certification of Global Caption, Inc., to Provide Internet Protocol Captioned Telephone Service. Released 16 June 2026.

    To ensure uninterrupted service to consumers in carceral facilities while the Bureau completes its review of these applications, Global Caption's current conditional certification is extended for one year through June 16, 2027.

Details

AI system

Workflow

Automatic speech recognition captioned every call, with no communications assistant. Calls reached Global Caption's servers after the facility's security review and the called party's acceptance. The platform ran on redundant cloud servers in separate locations.

Follow-up

Conditions for replication

The service must meet the FCC's minimum standards in actual operation. Global Caption may not record calls or keep transcripts.

Entry details

Sector

Telecommunications relay services / accessibility for incarcerated people with hearing loss.

Purpose

Global Caption built its platform to give incarcerated people with hearing loss captions of their phone calls, produced by automatic speech recognition alone.

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Cite this record

Peter H. Vartanian. (2026). Global Caption's captions for people in custody arrive faster in tests (AIBD-1001). Artificial Intelligence Benefits Database, edition of 1 November 2026. https://petervartanian.xyz/aibd/records/AIBD-1001.html (archived at https://doi.org/10.7910/DVN/AADSII, version 7.0)

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