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
Subject: 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...
Read moreSubject: Inmate phone calls
Depends on the three-way...:) if we are tlking about a 3-way call, then my advice would be to NEVER attempt it. The phone companies provide the prisons with the latest detection technology that sniffs out three-way calling. It is 100% against the rules of all institutions and loss of phone privilege for six months or more is the penalty. The people that get away with it do so for only a few calls before getting caught.
With InmateAid's Discount Calling Service, we...
Read moreSubject: Inmate phone calls
The process is simple. You wait in the parking lot and he comes out to you.
There is no check-in process, no paperwork for you to complete, and no reason to go inside the facility. Release processing happens entirely on the inside. Staff complete the discharge paperwork, return his personal property, issue any remaining account balance, and walk him through the final administrative steps before he is released. When everything is finalized he walks out the door and you are right...
Read moreSubject: Inmate phone calls
There is no limit. It's a privilege, not a right therefore they could restrict phone calls the entire sentence.
Subject: Inmate phone calls
Yes. The Fire Camps are minimum security facilities within the CDCR, the California state prison system. The inmates are absolutely allowed to make phone calls seven days per week. These inmates actually serve the counties that they are in by fighting fires and providing selfless forestry safety. They are trusted to be in the public domain while serving their sentence. Their model behavior is awarded by receiving all the privileges afforded inmates. The phone service is Global*Tel Link-Offender Connect. The calls...
Read moreSubject: Inmate phone calls
Yes, the call still runs through the facility's phone system and the cost comes out of the inmate's account just as it always has. What InmateAid changes is the price of that call.
Here is how the system works. Every jail and prison has a single contract with one phone carrier. Securus, GTL, IC Solutions, Telmate, Paytel, Reliance, CityTeleCoin, and more than twenty others compete to win that contract, and once they have it, they are the only option at that...
Read moreSubject: Inmate phone calls
Phone and commissary accounts remain active and functional right up until the moment of release. There is no early shutdown or wind-down period in the days leading up to a release date.
Whatever balance remains in the account continues to be available for calls, commissary purchases, and other approved uses until the inmate actually walks out. On the day of release, any remaining balance in the trust or commissary account is returned to the inmate in the form of a check...
Read moreSubject: Inmate phone calls
It will take a few days. You wil need to contact the counselor at the facility and explain what you would like them to do. You might have to fax a written and signed letter requesting the block be removed.
Subject: Inmate phone calls
Do not wait. Switch over as soon as possible because the two services work together rather than replacing one another.
InmateAid does not replace your GTL account. Your GTL account stays open and the balance remains available. What InmateAid does is provide a different number for your inmate to dial that triggers a lower rate on the GTL system. The calls still run through GTL and still draw from your GTL balance, but at a significantly reduced per-minute cost because of...
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