is the telephone service a scam or for real

It is not a scam. You are asking because you are hoping there is a better way, a cheaper way.  Most times there is a better way.

To understand our service, you have to understand how the prisons and jails do inmate calling. EVERY facility has only ONE service that has the contract to provide calling for inmates. InmateAid does not replace that service. We make it cheaper to use by assessing the call prices by area code. We get you a phone number that matches the phone rate center of the best rates. Depending on where your inmate is incarcerated, having a different phone number might save anywhere from $22.00 per call down to no savings at all. Our service costs $19.95, if the savings are say $5.00 per call, the Service would be paid for from the savings of four calls (in a month). The people that use our service, love it because the savings are real. The people that don't understand the part about having to still pay for the calls think it's a scam. They fail to use the number we provide as the number the inmate dials.   

Email us your inmate's location and their facility and we will give you an honest estimate of whether using InmateAid's Discount Telephone Service will be a benefit to you or not.