I received a letter from an inmate telling me he couldn't call me anymore cause there was no money on my account. I called my phone company and they transferred me to a inmate phone company .I am worried now if this will work.

The phone service at a particular correctional center is set up through bid process. Whoever has the contract for all inmate outbound calling and to tape record the calls - has essentially a monopoly. Therefore, you have to use them to receive any calls and they do not have anyone competing . The choice is whether you pay them for a long distance call (to your number) or a local call (to a number that we get you). If you are already local, we cannot save you money. This is pretty standard but in the case of Securus, NCIC or CityTeleCoin the situation is absolutely opposite so check with us before signing up. We get you a phone line matching the rate center of town where the jail is. Your inmate dials this number and it will forward and ring on your current phone (nothing changes on your end). You will need to register the number we provide (just like you would your own number without our service) who will charge you the lowest rate offered by them. If your inmate can buy calling cards from the commissary, you will not need to go online and set this up, they can dial the issued number direct with the card. InmateAid takes care of the long distance portion of the call. In general, their price for an long distance call ranges from $4-15 per call. With the local number, they usually charge less than $1.65 per call - flat rate. The difference in two call prices is why people use the service, the savings from InmateAid pays for itself in 3-6 calls. Send us your number and the facility name to aid@inmateaid.com - we will give you an honest estimate before you sign-up