Inmate Phone Calls — Ask the Inmate
Prison phone calls are one of the most important lifelines between an incarcerated person and their family, and one of the most expensive. The prison phone industry has historically operated as a near-monopoly charging rates that few other consumer services would get away with. This section covers how the prison phone system works, why rates are so high and what has changed in recent years, how debit calling accounts function, how to get a number approved on an inmate's call list, how InmateAid's local number service reduces call costs by up to 70 percent, and what international callers need to know about reaching a US facility from another country. The questions answered here come from families who are paying too much for calls and from inmates trying to navigate phone access from inside. Understanding how the system works is the first step toward getting the most contact for the least cost. See also our sections on Money Transfer and Commissary.
Related InmateAid Services
The Discount Telephone Service is easy to use - we get you a local land line which allows your inmate's call to you become a local call (from your inmate's facility location - area code) instead of long distance. But there are other steps involved besides simply getting a local land line from us. There is always a prison phone company that you'll have to deal with. When you register with them, you'll use the local land line number we
Read moreWhen money is deposited onto an inmate's phone account or commissary, the facility's system typically updates within a few hours. In most cases the inmate can check their account balance directly at a phone kiosk or through the facility's commissary system. They do not need to be notified by anyone on the outside because the balance appears in their account automatically once the deposit processes. The fastest way to let your boyfriend know funds are available, especially if he
Read morePhone access varies by facility type, but most prisons and jails allow calls during waking hours, generally from 6:00 AM to 9:30 PM. Breaks throughout the day are common, and access can be restricted at any time at the facility's discretion. County jails operate a little differently. Some have phones directly in the cells or housing units, which means calling can happen around the clock without a set schedule. Others follow the same structured hours as larger facilities. If
Read moreUnfortunately, if Global Tel Link has the contract at your inmate’s facility, there is no way to completely avoid them. These companies operate as exclusive providers, which means all inmate calls must go through their system. That said, there are ways to reduce the cost significantly, even if you cannot eliminate them entirely. What you are already doing with Google Voice is a good start. The most effective additional step is: Use a local number setup (like InmateAid) that matches the facility’s
Read moreYou can call our offices 866-966-7100 or go to the Discount Telephone button on your Account Dashboard. Select the state and facility of your inmate, enter the telephone number that you want the new LOCAL line to ring on and which plan best suits your calling pattern - monthly or quarterly. The payment process is like any website you've used before, it's fast and easy. We will email you your new number within an hour or so.
Read moreStewart County Jail in Tennessee uses Securus as their phone carrier. Securus does not publish a universal rate schedule that applies identically across every facility they service, and jail personnel are often unable to give exact per-call costs over the phone. Based on what we know about Securus local call rates, you can expect to pay in the range of $2.00 per call, give or take about $0.25 depending on the specific rate structure at that facility. For families
Read moreInmateAid solo cobra la tarifa mensual del servicio. No hay cargos adicionales de nuestra parte. Sin embargo, es importante entender cómo funciona el servicio completo. InmateAid le proporciona un número de teléfono local que reemplaza el número de larga distancia que su familiar marca desde la prisión. Usted todavía tiene que pagar a la compañía telefónica de la prisión por cada llamada, pero la diferencia es enorme: en lugar de pagar alrededor de $15.00 por llamada a larga distancia,
Read moreAt $17.00 for 15 minutes, the case for finding a cheaper solution is obvious. That works out to over $1.13 per minute, and for families trying to stay connected through a long sentence, those costs become a serious burden fast. InmateAid's discount phone service does work with Securus in the majority of cases. That said, we will be straight with you: Securus is not 100% seamless across every facility the way some other carriers are. In states like Arizona
Read moreYes we do, the current carrier for Southwestern VA Regional Jail - Duffield is IC Solutions - our service fits perfectly with their prepaid plan
Read moreNo. CityTeleCoin cannot tell you what phone services you can or cannot have. They have no authority over your personal phone accounts, and they cannot require you to disconnect a number that has nothing to do with their system. What InmateAid provides is a local phone number that forwards to your existing phone. That number lives entirely outside of CityTeleCoin's platform. It is your number, on your phone, and it is none of their business. What is actually
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