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.
Subject: Inmate phone calls
There 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 has to initiate the...
Read moreSubject: Inmate phone calls
When a letter feels too slow, you have a few options worth trying.
The fastest is to call the facility directly and ask nicely. This works about half the time and depends entirely on who picks up the phone and how the conversation goes. Be polite, be brief, and be straightforward about what you need. Something simple like explaining that your number changed and you just need someone to pass it along to your fiancé goes further than a complicated story....
Read moreSubject: Inmate phone calls
Depends 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.
Subject: Inmate phone calls
just send an email to aid@inmateaid.com and we will send you a new number immediately.
Subject: Inmate phone calls
Para nuestro Servicio, el preso usa el número que le proporcionamos. Este número se corresponde con el servicio de la instalación para obtener la tarifa más baja que ofrecen. El cargo por llamada es normalmente un 50% más bajo con el mejor número de teléfono
Subject: Inmate phone calls
First, we are sorry about your son's sentence. Twenty-five years is a long road and the first days after sentencing are among the hardest for everyone involved.
Here is what to expect in terms of communication. Kirkland Correctional Institution is South Carolina's reception and evaluation center, which means your son will go through an orientation period of about a week or so before full privileges open up. During that window phone access is limited while he gets processed, classified, and assigned...
Read moreSubject: Inmate phone calls
Unfortunately no. Inmates initiate all outgoing calls and there is no way to call them directly. That is standard policy at every correctional facility in the country regardless of the circumstances, including a phone number change on your end.
This means the burden of getting your new number to him falls entirely on you through other channels before he can reach you. If he dials your old number and gets a disconnected message or no answer, he has no way of...
Read moreSubject: Inmate phone calls
YES, Amtell's service is priced best for a local number (save 50%). We can get them for you anytime for any period of time.
Subject: Inmate phone calls
probably not, but we don't know enough about your inmate's situation to comment further
Subject: Inmate phone calls
Yes, your inmate must dial the new InmateAid number. That is not a technicality, it is the entire mechanism behind how the discount works.
The price difference on inmate phone calls is determined by the number being dialed, not by the account or any setting on your end. Phone carriers at correctional facilities charge different rates based on the destination number, specifically whether it is a local call or a long distance call. InmateAid assigns you a number in a local...
Read more