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
...figure about a week
Read moreCall the halfway house and ask to speak with a counselor. They can best advise you on the ways that communication with your inmate is permissible
Read morethe only way is to write them a letter... tell them how you feel, remind them of your telephone number and see "if you can help by paying for the phone time".
Read moreYes, absolutely! Simply email us at aid@inmateaid.com to request a "change of inmate facility" and provide us with the details and we are happy to transfer the minutes
Read moreYou might have pushed a number on the keypad that causes the line to be blocked from the inmate. Try calling the counselor on duty and request your line be unblocked, it's a manual override a the prison
Read moreIt works the same way for both. The phone carrier at the prison charges different rates for different phone numbers. We have an algorithm that takes into consideration the rates from the carrier's rate calculator against the phone number of the user to determine if we can save you money with a different phone number (which conveniently forwards to any cell phone) connecting you to your inmate at the lowest published rate.
Read moreHay más de 18.000 prisiones y cárceles y alrededor de 25 compañías telefónicas independientes que contratan instalaciones individuales. En casi todos los casos, existe una amplia variación de precios según su ubicación. En la prisión federal, las tarifas son de seis centavos por minuto para un número local, 21 centavos por minuto para una llamada de larga distancia. Cualquier número local ayudará a un preso federal a ahorrar dinero. Emitimos la línea local, se la dan al interno que tiene
Read moreWe have an algorithm that tells our system what number is the lowest priced. We use all of the carrier's own rate calculators to determine if we issue a line or not. Here is a link to the Securus' Rate Calculator (https://securustech.online/#/rate-quote). This rate calculator allows the customer to see what the rates are... in many cases the savings are 50-75% off.
Read moreThere are over 18,000 prisons and jails and about 25 separate phone carriers that contract with individual facilities. In almost every case, there is a wide price variance depending on your location. In federal prison, the rates are six cents per minute for a local number, 21 cents per minute for a long-distance call. Any local number will help a federal inmate save money. We issue the local line, they give it to the inmate who
Read moreDepends on how the account is set up. If you set up a "one-number only" Service like InmateAid, only the calls you pay for will come to you.
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