How Can I Lower the Cost of Long Distance Jail Calls?

There is no single cheapest solution that applies to every jail or prison because the phone service at each facility is controlled by a contracted provider that sets its own pricing. Companies like Securus, GTL, and ICSolutions operate under exclusive contracts with individual facilities, which means the rate you pay is largely dictated by whichever company holds the contract at that specific location. Shopping around between providers is not an option the way it would be for a regular phone plan.

What InmateAid does is work around that constraint by providing a local phone number in the area code of the facility. When the inmate dials that local number instead of your long-distance number, the call is treated as a local call and billed at the lower local rate rather than the more expensive interstate or long distance rate. The savings depend entirely on the gap between the local and long-distance rates at that particular facility, which is why the answer varies from location to location.

In some cases, the savings are significant, over $5 per call for facilities where long-distance rates are particularly high. In other cases the gap is small enough that the setup cost does not make financial sense, and InmateAid will tell you that honestly rather than sell you a service that does not deliver real value.

The most straightforward next step is to email aid@inmateaid.com with your phone number and the name of the facility where your inmate is housed. The team will assess the current rates, calculate the potential savings, and give you an honest recommendation on whether the local number service makes sense for your situation. If it does not, they will tell you that too.