Do inmates pay too when using discount phone service?

Yes, there are still two parts to the cost, and it can be confusing at first.

Your inmate is responsible for paying for the call on their end using their facility phone account or calling card. That part never goes away because the prison phone provider controls all outgoing calls and charges for the connection.

What you are paying for through InmateAid is the setup that reduces the cost of the call overall. We provide a local number that your inmate can dial instead of a long distance number. Since prison phone systems charge much more for long distance calls, this setup brings the cost down significantly.

Here is how it works in simple terms. Your inmate pays the facility’s lower local call rate to connect to the number we provide. From there, the system routes the call to you, even if you are actually far away. That is where the savings come in. You avoid the higher long distance charges that the prison phone company would normally apply.

So yes, your inmate is still paying for the call on their side, but it is at a much lower rate than if they were dialing you directly without the service. The fee you paid is what makes that lower cost possible by handling the long distance portion behind the scenes.

This setup is the only way to reduce costs because the prison phone provider has exclusive control over outbound calls. There is no way to bypass their charges completely, but using a local number strategy is the most effective way to keep those costs down.