Alcohol Monitoring Systems Launches Handheld, Remote Breath Testing System for Drunk Drivers

DENVER, July 3, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- The company known for making SCRAM^®, the world's first 24/7, transdermal alcohol monitoring system for repeat drunk drivers, has announced the launch of a next-generation handheld breath test device aimed at monitoring offenders deemed lower risk by the courts.

SCRAM Remote Breath™, is a portable, handheld breath test system that includes Automated Facial Intelligence™ (AFI™), a government-grade facial recognition software that snaps an offender's picture during a test and digitally matches it to a baseline photo. Offenders sentenced to monitoring with SCRAM Remote Breath carry the handheld device and complete breath tests either on a set schedule, randomly, or on-demand as needed by the supervising agent.

According to Don White, vice president of Field Operations for Alcohol Monitoring Systems (AMS), the company spent 10 years delivering its flagship 24/7 transdermal product, the Secure Continuous Remote Alcohol Monitor^®, and has monitored more than 300,000 high-risk, hardcore drunk drivers. "But we know that the judicial system needs options when it comes to monitoring alcohol-involved offenders," says White. "Courts and law enforcement need a high-intensity technology, like our transdermal system, but they also need to be able to reliably monitor a whole host of alcohol-involved offenders—such as first-time drunk drivers and minors in possession—who require supervision, but not the intensity or cost of a 24/7 transdermal technology," he says.

The AFI technology is the first of its kind in an industry of remote breath test systems that require corrections officers to manually review and attempt to match hundreds and even thousands of photos daily to determine if the right person is taking the tests. In comparison, the SCRAM AFI technology digitally maps facial structure and ultimately reduces the staff demand on staff time and resources by 90 to 95 percent.

The SCRAM Systems™ Rebrand

The introduction of SCRAM Remote Breath is part of a major brand relaunch for the Denver-based technology company. The company's original product, the Secure Continuous Remote Alcohol Monitor (SCRAM), is now known as SCRAM Continuous Alcohol Monitoring™. According to AMS Chairman and CEO Mike Iiams, the company is leveraging the recognition of the SCRAM name as it positions a continuum of electronic monitoring options to the criminal justice industry. The Continuous Alcohol Monitoring (CAM) system includes an ankle bracelet, worn 24/7, that automatically samples a subject's perspiration every 30 minutes to measure for alcohol consumption.

In addition to SCRAM Remote Breath, AMS is also introducing product options for location monitoring, including SCRAM One-Piece GPS™ and SCRAM House Arrest™. All the monitoring technologies fully integrate into the company's single software platform, SCRAMNET™, with the same customer support, training and reporting tools to streamline daily caseload management.

Iiams says that alcohol testing and monitoring technologies continue to be the company's core focus, and the introduction of location monitoring will help meet the needs of its criminal justice customers. "Community corrections programs are seeing rapidly increasing caseloads as costs shift from incarceration to community-based supervision," says Iiams. "Providing one-stop, integrated, reliable access to multiple electronic monitoring options is more cost-effective for agencies and for taxpayers," he says.

AMS will exhibit and conduct live demonstrations of both SCRAM Remote Breath and the SCRAM Continuous Alcohol Monitoring system at the National Association of Drug Court Professionals conference in Washington, D.C., July 14 through 17, at the Gaylord National Resort and Convention Center.

About Alcohol Monitoring Systems, Inc. (AMS)

Established in 1997, Alcohol Monitoring Systems, Inc. (AMS) is the world's leading provider of alcohol testing technologies for the criminal justice industry. The company's flagship Continuous Alcohol Monitoring (CAM) technology, launched in 2003, revolutionized the way courts, agencies and treatment providers monitor and manage alcohol-involved offenders. In 2013 the company launched the SCRAM Systems suite of electronic monitoring technologies, which includes SCRAM Remote Breath™, SCRAM One-Piece GPS™ and SCRAM House Arrest™. AMS employs 136 people worldwide and is a privately held company headquartered in Littleton, Colorado.

SOURCE Alcohol Monitoring Systems, Inc.