High costs of inmate phone service

As a bondsman, we all have to face the sometimes exorbitant expenses related to phone service. Although the "inmate out" service itself is basically automated, the charge reflected is in line with a totally operator handled call of the highest fee chargeable. This is out of line IMHO.

Here is a news post from the website reflected for your general knowledge.... comments welcome. This is an older post but still pertinent I think. Copied from the following website:

http://www.pulp.tc/html/inmate_phones.html

UNIVERSAL SERVICE

Rates and Charges for Telephone Calls from Inmates

For many years, inmates of jails and correctional institutions had extremely limited telephone service to make collect telephone calls to a restricted list of specified friends and relatives. Typically there was occasional access to a specialized payphone. Advances in technology resulted in automation and improved efficiency in accounting for inmate calls, monitoring and recording conversations for security and law enforcement purposes, restricting the list of numbers which any particular inmate may call, and preventing fraudulent or criminal schemes. Jail and prison administrators began to see telephone service as a reward for good behavior and as a source of revenue for their agencies. Also, because most inmates sooner or later return to their communities, the maintenance of communication with family is seen as a generally positive influence for the inmate’s reintegration in the larger society after release.

Inmate telephone service is now a very competitive industry that advertises its services to institutional administrators. Despite competition and reduced costs of service due to automation, the rates and charges that must be paid by persons receiving the calls from inmates remain very high. Much of the inmate population comes from low income families, and thus the high cost of telephone service is a significant burden to many families that would like to maintain regular contact through telephone conversations with an incarcerated spouse, child, sibling, or friend, often at a distant prison. In many instances, the cost is so high that otherwise welcome calls must be blocked or refused; in other cases, persons with limited incomes endure significant financial hardship paying for calls they really can not afford.

A major reason for the high rates for those who pay for the calls is that institutions select winning bids for inmate telephone service on the basis of the vendor’s promise to provide commission revenue to the institution. Commissions from 20% to 60% are common under the contracts. News reports have indicated that in New York, the state earns $20 million per year in commissions on telephone charges to recipients of calls from state prison inmates. In reviewing the reasonableness of rates for calls from inmates, some regulators have allowed rates that are equal to or less than the most expensive operator assisted collect calls from payphones. Those rates, however, are inapplicable to the highly automated inmate telephone systems, and are often avoidable. Recipients of calls from inmates, however, have no alternative choice of telephone service provider.

Jurisdiction over the rates for telephone calls from inmates is split between federal and state jurisdictions. The Federal Communications Commission (“FCC”) in recent years has issued several orders dealing with inter-state aspects of charges to recipients of inmate telephone calls, but has declined to take action to reduce the charges. Efforts to allow the long distance portion of the service be provided by the receiver’s chosen long distance provider (“Billed Party Preference”) failed to gain approval at the FCC in the mid-1990s. The FCC has indicated there is a greater role for state commissions in this area. State public utility commissions may approve contract rates for local and intra-state call service.

To date, court litigation by persons paying the high rates have generally not succeeded. Several legislatures have considered elimination or reduction of the commissions from inmate telephone service. The high cost of collect calls from inmates affects a significant number of people who are now organizing to bring about change. In fact, one of Eliot Spitzer’s first acts as Governor, on January 8, 2007, was to eliminate the commission on collect calls from inmates in facilities run by the State Department of Correctional Services. This came the day before the state was to appear before the state Court of Appeals to defend the commission system.


When contacted to discuss the outlandish charges for thier services... I was told.... quote: "well, Mr. Marx, there's really not a lot you can do about it, huh??"

"They were very helpful and showed major concern as reflected by most gov. agencies" and services awarded by bid contracts involving kickbacks... the higher the kickback, the higher cost, the better chance you have of getting the contract and who pays....................... WE DO.

_________________
Bill Marx, Sr.
"FREE STATE BAIL BONDS"
"FREE STATE INVESTIGATIONS"
DCJS: 99-176979
Cell: 434-294-0222

"Endeavor to Persevere" "Lone Watie"

"Good judgment comes from experience, and a lot of that , comes from bad judgment" "Will Rogers"

What is really ridiculous is that everything in this day and age is automated, so why the high cost? There aren't any operators having to plug wires in here and there, or at least I don't think so.

Great post.

BTW just out of curiosity what companies are contracted in your area for inmate calls? Here it is Evercom and Telecom.

_________________
Joshua P. Woodby
P.I./Surety Agent/Washington Co. TN Appointed Process Server
Owner, A Beagle Investigations and Process Service
TN P.I. License #6232, TN P.I. Company License #1496
Senior Agent, A Bail Away Bonding Company Inc.
T.A.P.B.A. Certification Always Current

Taking collect calls from jail in our county cost us $1.50 per call. I just charge it back to the defendant when I post the bond.

_________________
Steve Faircloth
A Way Out Bail Bonds
(220) 204-9733 Cell
NSIN# SF0105
LIC. #704058

I use to work in the network telecom industry. I can tell you that automation is not cheaper than a live operator. These systems are very expensive to build and maintain. The people who build and maintain these systems are paid exponentially more than operators. There is usually a team of people monitoring the phone calls and another team to run and maintain the Storage systems housing the calls. This is also a very niche market and supply and demand comes into play. These systems are not standard phone systems. So the cost will be higher.

I don't have a clue what a fair price is for this service. I can only tell you that automated does not mean cheaper. It only means more features and usually more reliability and money. ATT for example is still paying for equipment from 25 years ago. They have upgraded their entire system hundreds of times since. They hide all of this from the stock holders through selling the company every 3-5 years to another Bell Carrier. Cell phone companies have even worse profit margins. These days the customer demands the new technology and they have to deliver in order to keep customers. They don't profit off the new technology. Almost always they lose profit on the new technology and can't keep it long enough to make a profit. Most of them only stay in business through growth of their customer base. Jails have a captive customer base so they can probably charge the actual cost of doing business and make a profit.

_________________
4130
Washington Bail Recovery
1-800-519-0468

In Prince George's County, Maryland, the jail makes 1.5 million per year off of jail calls. In my ao, there are 3 different companies: Correctional Billing Services, IC Solutions, and ITI.

My frustration is that they change all of the time and there is no communication to us on pending changes.

Scott

_________________
R.E. "Scott" MacLean III

"Leaders are like Eagles, you never see them in a flock, but one at a time"

Chesapeake Group Investigations, Inc.
Chesapeake Bail Bonds
877-574-0500
301-392-1100 (fax)
301-392-1900 (Office)

Kickbacks to the jails determine much of the fees as described in the "yellow" print in the original post.

In my area the companies are: Correctional Billing/Inmate Telephone; T-Nex and several others that change names almost monthly. I have paid as much as $6 for a 1 minute "local" call from a jail located less than 20 miles from my office. This goes on all the time. I get calls from inside the jails related to bonds and I have toll free numbers inside every jurisdiction but the jails are contracted to use the fee based services because they get a kickback from the servers. It's all about money. Period.... that's all it is ever about.

"Money/power/control"

_________________
Bill Marx, Sr.
"FREE STATE BAIL BONDS"
"FREE STATE INVESTIGATIONS"
DCJS: 99-176979
Cell: 434-294-0222

"Endeavor to Persevere" "Lone Watie"

"Good judgment comes from experience, and a lot of that , comes from bad judgment" "Will Rogers"

Cell phone companies have even worse profit margins. These days the customer demands the new technology and they have to deliver in order to keep customers.

I beg to differ on this statement.

The "demand" for new technology was not customer driven but company driven. Several years ago, the president of Verizon was on Charlie Rose bragging about all the new things that "cellphones" are capable of doing. The on demand video, gps, etc. Things things were not demanded by the general public, they were marketing tools used by the cell phone companies to "one up" the competition.

Now, it is impossble to get just a plain cellphone without all the "apps" inlcuded. Just look at all the I-Phone "me toos."

So, to be competitive, they are selling these features for below actual costs.

As far as the phone calls from the jails go, it is simply show me the money. The phone companies promise large sums of money to the sheriff or warden to use their collect call system.

Neither care as it is the inmate, the family or the bail bondsman that will pay the costs.

I stopped taking collect calls from most jails as it is about one out of ten that actually lead to a bond. Most inmates call trying to get us to make a 3 way call for them. They have no intention of posting bail. Or they can't afford to bail and know it.

ACT1682 of 2001 State of Arkansas all calls (LOCAL) to a Bail Bondsman, Doctor , or Lawyer are FREE . . . .
See AndyL some things that have been enacted for us are not too bad

_________________


Do not consider anything for your interest which makes you break your word, quit your modesty, or inclines you to any practice which will not bear the light, or look the world in the face .... Marcus Antonius

I AM Some Folks "KARMA" and A MODERATOR @ FRN

Depending on who is working, my local jail will sometimes allow a newly arrested person to use the jail phone to call me and/or family. This is only available while they are in a holding cell, not once they are in a pod. Once in a pod, the only available phone is the collect one. The calls start at $2.20 and go to $3.30 depending on how long they last. They are automatically cut off at 15 minutes.

Inmates used to call for 3-ways, but we can't do those anymore. Now they want me to be their secretary and call all their family and friends to get them out. Then they want to know if they can call me back in 30 minutes to find out what happened. I tell them that I will make a call or two, but if I don't know anything, I won't take the call untill or unless I do. Of course they always promise to repay me, but that doesn't happen. Besides, we can't charge more than 15%, so if it is a small bond, and I am charging the max, I can't add on phone calls anyway.

I do sometimes have inmates that call me to talk to their significant others, etc that can't receive collect calls for whatever reason. The person on my end knows to show up in my office with cash in hand. Then I call the jail and ask to have the person call me.

The state prison rates are fairly comparable, just a little more expensive. I know that rates vary state to state, because It cost over $20 to take a collect call from my stepson when he was in county jail in Dallas. It could be because it was from another state, or that could be normal rates there. I know that I wasn't happy when I got my phone bill and saw the charge.

_________________
Kathy Blackshear
Blackshear Investigations
Blackshear Bail Bonds
Sales Associate, Prepaid Legal Services, Inc.
Walsenburg, CO

Proud Member of the AB Reject Club

Having worked for all the major cell phone companies and several Bell carriers I can tell you that it was most certainly not the cell phone companies who wanted this technology. They lose money every time technology increases. I have been in the executive level meetings listening to them whine about Verizon adding tv on the phone now they are losing customers. Yes the companies have to create the technology but they won't build it unless people want it. At least they won't stay in business if there is no demand.

The I-phone is a perfect example. You see it as companies trying to get you to buy things. The average I-phone user can't get enough apps and that is why they are created. The I-phone is the single cause of T-mobile and Sprints loss of millions of customers monthly since it was released. Capitalism does not support companies driving anything unless people demand it. People are willing to pay the fees for collect calls and so they will increase until people stop accepting. They know your making money off them and if you want to make money they do too. I personally find it wrong that our government tries to make a profit of anything unless they lower taxes as a result.

_________________
4130
Washington Bail Recovery
1-800-519-0468