Is the InmateAid Discount Number a Collect Call System?

No. The InmateAid discount phone number is not a collect call system and should not be used as one. Accepting collect calls defeats the purpose of the service and will not produce the savings you signed up for.

Here is how it actually works. InmateAid provides you with a local phone number that forwards to your existing phone. Your fiancee dials that number through the facility's phone system the same way he would dial any other approved number on his list. The call goes through the jail's contracted phone carrier, but because he is dialing a local number instead of a long-distance one, the per-minute rate drops significantly.

To make the service work correctly, one of the following needs to happen on the facility's end:

Your fiancee registers the new number with jail staff or the facility's counselor so it gets added to his approved call list. He then dials it using whatever account or calling card system the facility uses for outgoing calls.

Alternatively, if Branch County Jail's phone provider allows it, you can register the number directly with the contracted phone company and set up a prepaid account that your fiancee draws from when he calls.

If commissary calling cards are available at the facility, those can also be used to dial the local number.

The key is that the number needs to be on the approved list and funded through the jail's system, not treated as a collect call.