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.
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Subject: Inmate phone calls
On the free call question, most facilities allow a phone call shortly after booking, typically within the first couple of hours of arrival. Whether that call is actually free varies by facility. Some provide one free call as standard practice. Others allow the call but run it through the facility's phone carrier, which means it comes at the regular rate and someone on the receiving end needs to have an account set up to accept it. Do not assume it...
Read moreSubject: Inmate phone calls
Once the number has been added to the approved call list, the timeline depends on where the inmate is in the facility's intake and orientation process.
For someone who has already completed orientation at Northern State Prison, the number can be active and available for calls within a few days of being submitted. The phone carrier has to process the new number and add it to the approved list in their system, and that typically takes two to four business days...
Read moreSubject: Inmate phone calls
Yes they do for Haywood County Detention in Waynesville NC. Inmate telephone service is provided by Combined Public Communications. InmateAid can reduce the call price from $7.50 to $3.15. If you are paying $7.50 we can help, if you're already paying $3.15 we cannot get it any lower.
Subject: Inmate phone calls
You have to notify the inmate of the new numbe to use. Email us a request for a coupon code, you can use our Postcard or Letter Service to send the number to them.
Subject: Inmate phone calls
County jail and state prison inmates can call as much as they want. As long as there is money on their books they can make calls. In federal prison, the inmates are limited to 300 minutes per month (400 per month in Nov and Dec as a holiday bonus). InmateAid can make the calls less expensive if you talk often. Plans start at $8.95 per month, no contract, no hidden fees.
Subject: Inmate phone calls
You must notify the inmate that you now have a phone number that they are to use to call you only. Using this phone number will make their call to you, less expensive. If you are paying for the call anyway, it might as well be at the lowest possible rate offered.
Subject: Inmate phone calls
This first depends on where yopur inmate is incarcerated. InmateAid has a listing of the correct phone service matched to every facility. Remember, there are no replacements for the services at the prison or jail, the company with the contract is running the phone system with competition. They get to make the rates. That is where InmateAid comes in. We have done the hard work of knowing what phone line gets the lowest price.
It used to be that local lines were...
Read moreSubject: Inmate phone calls
The number is there, it just may not be where you looked first. Here are the two places to check.
The first is your MyAccount area on the InmateAid website. Log in and navigate to your account dashboard. The phone number assigned to your account is listed there and is accessible any time you need to reference it.
The second place is your email inbox. An automated email with your number was sent at the time of signup. If you do not...
Read moreSubject: Inmate phone calls
Yes, and that is exactly how it is supposed to work.
InmateAid does not replace IC Solutions. It never does. Whatever carrier holds the contract at your son's facility, whether that is IC Solutions, Securus, GTL, or any of the others, that carrier stays in place. Every call your son makes still runs through IC Solutions because they are the exclusive provider at that facility. That monopoly does not change.
What InmateAid changes is the number your son dials to reach you....
Read moreSubject: Inmate phone calls
Once your account is set up and the number is active, the next step is simply getting that number into his hands, because he cannot use it until he knows what to dial.
There are two straightforward ways to do that. The first is through InmateAid's letter service. You can send him a letter directly through the platform with the new number included, and it will arrive through regular mail within a few days. The second option is to mail it...
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