Yes, InmateAid's discount phone service applies to Alvin S. Glenn Detention Center in Columbia, South Carolina. The savings depend on your specific phone number and what rate the facility's carrier currently charges for it, which is why checking before you sign up is the right move.
The way it works is straightforward. Every correctional facility has a single phone carrier holding the contract, and that carrier charges different rates depending on the number your inmate is dialing. InmateAid identifies the number that triggers the lowest available rate at Alvin S. Glenn and provides that to you. Your inmate dials the InmateAid number, the call runs through the same carrier system at the cheaper rate, and the savings show up on every single call.
In about 70% of cases, InmateAid can deliver meaningful savings. In the remaining 30%, the current number is already at or near the lowest rate the carrier offers for that facility, and InmateAid will tell you that honestly before you spend anything.
On knowing where your money goes, the funds for calls come directly out of your inmate's account at the facility, not from InmateAid. The InmateAid monthly fee covers the line rental that makes the lower rate possible. Every call your inmate makes still runs through the facility's carrier and draws from their trust account at the reduced per-minute rate. Nothing is going to a middleman. The savings are direct and show up on each call.
Email aid@inmateaid.com with your current phone number and Alvin S. Glenn as the facility. The team will run the rate comparison and tell you exactly what the savings would look like before you commit to anything.