Can someone please explain the Canadian prison phone systems and the costs involved?

Questions:

1) Are all prisons the same cost system regardless of the province or the facility?

2) Does it make a difference if the Prisoner is calling you at a local number vs. a long distance number?

3) Is there a 'connection' fee as well as a per minute?

4) Do Prisoners have phone lists - do they have to gain approval to call a number or can they call any number?

This is JUST Canadian information please....

these are good questions and I will do my best to answer you though you will have to give me a bit of time to get the facts for you. I believe there are members here who could answer many of your quesions.

I can answer some of those questions. Inmates in Canada have a PIN number. They can only call those who are approved on that PIN number. When they call, they have to dial that PIN number as well as the phone number to make a collect call. I receive local collect calls which are 75 cents plus tax. (one charge no minute charges) There is no discount anywhere with the phone companies concerning these calls because they have to go through an operator(or machine) to connect with the PIN number.
Long distance is that same only there are long distance charges. Bell calling cards cannot be applied as again it is a "collect" call going through an operator. I dont' know what the rates are.
It is not totally impossible to call someone off of your PIN list. The inmate can call someone on his list and have them do a "three way call" I have done this from time to time when someone has just come to the prison and doesn't have their PIN list connected yet.
Some phonecalls are automatic on the PIN list such as the correctional investigator, crimestoppers (beleive it or not) and the police. There may be a few others too.
Kassiesgma

When my boyfriend was in county the only charge I got was $2.00 per call since it was a local call. All institutions charge something I'm sure.

Once in the federal system, yes all inmates are given a pin number which travels with them as long as they are in the federal system. Any number that is approved to that pin also travels with them.

Depending on who your phone provider is (mine is aliant, which I believe is part of Bell) you may be able to get either a calling card or a family contact card aka a call me card. I have had both and I now use the family contact card since it saves me the most money!

Family Contact Card is a card that can only be used to dial your number (unlike a calling card which you can use for any number). It has a pin number associated with it and in order to save you must purchase a minutes package that is applied to your regular phone bill. (i.e. 1200 minutes,3000 minutes...I think the 1200 minutes is around $40.00) The major bonus with the family contact card as opposed to the calling card is that if you use the family contact card it eliminates the institution charge (per call), which can add up quickly.

To use the card all you do is when the recording says "you can press "1" now to accept the charges", you hit "0" wqhich will connect you with an operator after a minute or two. Then just tell them you want to put the call on your family contact card and give them your pin and off you go!

A calling card does exactly the same thing and is used exactly the same way except it does not eliminate theinstitution charge.

Hope this helps...
Feel free to PM me if I can help at all

Questions:

1) Are all prisons the same cost system regardless of the province or the facility? Yes, they are regulated through bell canada

2) Does it make a difference if the Prisoner is calling you at a local number vs. a long distance number? When my man was local it only cost .75 per call.... once he was out of town it was 1.75 per call plus long distance. A 45 minute call from kingston on a weekend was $20....

3) Is there a 'connection' fee as well as a per minute? answered that in the last one...lol

4) Do Prisoners have phone lists - do they have to gain approval to call a number or can they call any number? In ontario provinical jails the inmate can call whoever they want collect. In federal institutions they are on a PIN List. THe inmate has to request his PO to call u and verify it is okay to call you collect. There are a few numbers that are automatically on there pin as kassiegamma explained. I do know that the bridge house in kingston is automatically added.

Thank you for your answers... it would seem in general that the Canadian phone system is more affordable than the US system. I needed to know the basics of the system - I will probably be back with more questions.

I'm waiting for my first phone bill to see how I've been charged. I'll post again when I get it.

Here's a link to the info on what collect calls cost using Telus in B.C. There is a connection fee and the rates are mileage based. The site gives prices on collect calls within BC, to Alberta, areas served by Northwest Tel, all areas in Canada and the US.
http://about.telus.com/publicpolicy/basic_ld_canada_us_bc.html#bc

U can not get teleus in ontario and i know with kingston u could only use bell canada long distance to cal collect if u had att or sprint long ditance plans they couldnt call....

Jill, The info I posted is what it costs us here in BC for collect calls FROM those places. :)

I'm still waiting for my first phone bill too .... eep :P

I got my first phone bill and it wasn't "as bad" as I thought. I was cringing at first. We have money put aside though and we are using it to cover the phone costs.

For Jay to call me from Maple Ridge to the Okanagan, is 11.00 for a 30 minute call in the middle of the day. On a weekend or after 6 pm it is about 9.00 for a 30 minute call. If he calls before 8am (even if he calls at 7:59) it is 1/2 price so it is only about 6.00 for a 30 minute conversation. I don't have a "per call" fee at all.

Its still expensive but I think of it like this... if I drove down to visit him every weekend, we would get 1 hour to visit and it would cost me well over 100 in gas, hotel, food etc. This was 100 was half of my phone bill for the month.

T

My bill was $135 for 30 phone calls! Saved $33 by him calling after prime time. A 30 minute call is $10.20 without discount, 7.16 after 6.
I think maybe you'll find you do have a per call fee hon - it's included in the cost of each call. It's not shown separate. Ex. my rate is 29 cents per minute. 30 minute call is 8.70 plus 1.50 charge works out to the 10.20. It cost me 45.00 in transaction fees! We talked a total of 409 minutes and it was so worth it!!

Are any of you getting a recording prior to being connected to your call and if so what does it say ? Does it mention another billing party or other fees ?

For me, it's just the usual "You have a collect call from .... press 1 to accept the charges.... Thank you from Telus.

Tebkrg - I forgot to answer #4 - yes ringo did have to add me to a phone list.

whenever aaron calls, i get the beep! "you have a collect call from...." and it doesnt mention any fees. it connects after u press 1 to accept. ooh.. one more day and aaron will be calling LOL (yay me!):thumbsup:

I am in the Okanagan and my husband is in Matsqui right now, and a 45 minute phone call is costing us $20. It is starting to really stretch my wallet a bit, but I love talking to him, so that is what I have to do:)