How Do I Know if My Phone Number Is Local to the Prison?

Whether a call from a prison is billed as local or long distance has nothing to do with where you physically live. It is determined by whether your phone number falls within the same rate center as the facility. A rate center is a geographic designation used by phone carriers to calculate call pricing, and it does not always align with city or state boundaries.

If you already have a Philadelphia area code number and your husband's facility is in the Philadelphia rate center, that number may already qualify as a local call. The only way to know for certain is to verify whether your number is in the same rate center as the facility.

InmateAid verifies this when setting up a discount line. If the number assigned to your account is confirmed to be within the same rate center as the facility, your husband will be calling at the absolute lowest possible local rate when he dials it.

Regardless of which number you use, the process for getting it to work is the same. Your husband needs to submit the number to the prison's phone system for approval. The contracted phone provider at the facility manages the approved calling list, records all calls, and works in conjunction with prison staff to authorize contacts. Your number needs to go through that approval process before your husband can dial it.

If you have an existing Philadelphia number and an InmateAid number and are unsure which to use, contact InmateAid with both numbers and we can confirm which one falls closer to the facility's rate center and will produce the lower per-minute rate.