How To Save
On Prison Calls ...

... and how to save on sending greeting cards, magazines, books and photos

How It Works - Cheap Phone Calls

How Can I Save On Calls From Prison Inmates?

Sign up for a local phone number to the prison. When the inmate calls you using the local phone number, the call will automatically be routed to your existing home or cell phone. The cost of the call charged by the prison will be reduced to the lower local rate, if a local rate is offered, instead of the high, long-distance rate.

Why Do I Need a Local Number?

Some prisons and jails in the United States and Canada have lower rates for calls placed to local numbers.

U.S. FEDERAL PRISONS
Local Rate - .06 per minute
Long Distance Rate - .12 per minute

CANADA FEDERAL PRISONS
Local Rate .50 per call
Long Distance Rate - .11 per minute 

What Do I Need to Get Started?

Someone in a correctional facility that you want to talk to.

A phone number guaranteed to be a local call from the correctional facility. (Merely having the same area code DOES NOT make it a local call.)

An existing home or cell phone account.

A credit card, debit card, or pre-paid card, or checking account

The inmate's ability to use the inmate phone debit account or phone card to pay for the cost of the calls charged by the prison.

What We Do

Locate a phone number that will be a local call from the prison/jail

Set up your local number to ring to your home or cell phone. Your existing number will not change.

Assist you in setting up a prepaid account with the prison/jail's phone provider, if needed

What You Do

Step 1: Sign up for a local number. The local number will be set to ring to your home phone or cell phone. Your home or cell phone number will not change.

Step 2: Give the inmate the new phone number. For State and Federal Institutions, the inmate will be required to add the new number to their list of approved numbers.

Step 3: Contact the phone provider for the institution and set up a prepaid or advance pay account for the new number. Some phone providers require a separate prepaid account for each phone number. A prepaid account is only necessary if the inmate cannot purchase phone credits from their commissary account (telephone debit account).

Step 4: Start talking for less!

Ready to get started?

Save on the cost of calls from loved ones  by setting up a local phone number

Frequently Asked Questions

No. There is no way to go around the contracted phone provider for the prison. SaveOnPrisonCalls merely provides you with a phone number that will be a local call from the facility, so that the rate charged by the contracted phone provider will be at the lower rate, saving you a considerable amount of money.

No. The inmate will still use the contracted phone provider and prison phone system and the calls are subject to the same monitoring by prison staff as calls to your long-distance number would be. The only difference is you will be paying a cheaper rate for the calls because the call will be a local call.

Federal, State and local prison collect calls can only be directly accepted on a per-call basis when your phone company has a billing arrangement with the prison's phone provider. To be able to accept calls using this service, you need to be able to set up a pre-paid account with the prison's phone provider, OR the inmate must have a pre-paid calling card, or the inmate must have a debit calling account. 

Each state institution has a contract with a phone provider. Usually all state institutions within a state have the same provider. You can call the institution to find out who the phone provider is for that particular institution. Or review our comprehensive list of State DOC information pages for detailed information on each state.  To view information specific to individual state prisons, click here

All Federal Prisons, with the exception of private Federal Prisons, use ICSolutions, as of 2023.  Private federal prisons may use a different provider (ICSolutions).

Contact the phone provider for the institution. When you set up the pre-paid account, you have to use the new local phone number, not your home phone or cell phone. If you have more than one phone number where you want to accept calls, you may need to set up a pre-paid account for each phone number.

If you have a question that is not answered here, please contact us using the support message tool on our support page.