I have sbc/att and when i called to find out about collect calls they said that they no longer accept collect calls from facilities due to clients not paying their bill. The collect calls go through mci. I called mci and they gave a 1800# and it is automated, well it is telling that there have been no calls attempted to my phone #. If I am knew I have to let the inmate know to attempt to call and then wait 24 hours before calling back. That is ridicalous. He just got to main line he is short to the gate. I just want to get the block of my phone so I can finally talk to him. I got a letter stating that I have a block form mci well there was an attempt made and yet they are telling that there wasn't. If anyone has any answers please let me know I am desperate. Thanks a bunch.

I had the same exact problem! I didn't even have a house phone before my boyfriend went to prison, I set one up specifially so he could call me because my cell phone is with Sprint and they say they don't allow Evercom to set up the collect calls through them. When he got mainlined he sent me a letter telling me to expect a call. I rushed home every day after work and sat in the house all weekend for the next two weeks! Then I got another letter from him that said he tried to call and it was blocked. I was fuming!!! I went through everything with SBC/ATT, just like you have, and called MCI @ 866-770-4896, I don't know if that's the number you have or not, but I did get to talk to an actual person during "normal business hours". They told me that I needed to fax them a copy of my SBC/ATT bill to verify that I had service and then the "block" would be lifted. . .10-14 days later!!! He's only been able to call twice since then, but he got through both times and the charges were just added to my regular bill. I hope this was helpful, good luck!!!

MCI WILL call you when it is time for you to set up an account. There will be a message left on your answering machine if you missed the call. Even though you do not have MCI you can call them and have the block taken off. Explain this situation and tell them that if it is not time for you to open an account, then they need to take the block off of your phone.

MCI- 1-800-231-0193

Laura, William'sBaby:heart:

MCI is starting to not bill you thru your regular phone company. They will bill you seperatly and only give a $100 limit. Too many peole racking up huge bills and not paying then setting up a new line with someone elses name. I just had this happen too. I set up a ghost line with the same area code as the prison so that the calls would be cheaper. Since it was a new account SBC had a block and MCI told me to have them Fax a letter saying that it is my account, The block was taken off the next day. There is too much Fraud going on so they are being more careful Thanks all.

If you need to find out MCI rates for collect calls, etc. from MCI BEFORE you receive any collect calls. Be PERSISTENT. It took me numerous calls today, but I had success. Tell the person you've had issues and need to explain your ENTIRE situation, etc. and THEN see if they can help you. (This seems to get the operator to be QUIET and listen.)
Here's what I finally did and said:
1.) Called a "general mci customer service" number.
2.) Explained: "Hi, I've been trying to speak to an ACTUAL person in your inmate services or department of corrections, but all I've gotten is a number to an automated system which doesn't work for me. When I punch in my phone number, all it says is that I haven't received any collect calls yet, wait until that happens, and THEN call back 24 hours later. The PROBLEM is that what I want to find out is what the COST of the calls is going to be because I live in SEVERAL different areas and need to know how much it is going to cost to receive calls to different cities/states BEFORE the inmate tries to call. I've spoken to you guys before and was told that there is no way to speak to an actual person in that department but that I could go online to http://corrections.mci.com and find out this information. I asked ahead of time, are you SURE I don't have to have an account already set up with you. The previous operator told me that she was sure but when I hung up and got online, you DO have to have an account set up which I obviously do not have. SO........bottom LINE, I NEED to find out the rates for these calls....Can you give them to me? Can you give me a different website? Are you SURE there's no way to talk to someone in that department, etc.?

It WORKED. He took a few minutes...I made sure to insist that he give me accurate information for the SPECIFIC facility (that I forced upon him which is VSPW) and specific areas where I might receive phone calls. He was able to give me the information within 3 minutes! DON'T BACK DOWN with them!

I don't know if it "applies" for each MCI facility in CA....but the rates that I was quoted for VSPW (and I think would apply to the rest and more than likely CCWF) is:

Calls made from a CA prison with MCI is a $2.00 connection charge and .22cents/minute

Calls made from a CA prsion with MCI to another state is a $3.95 connection charge and .89cents/minute.

It does not matter WHERE in the state you are or how far away from the facility you are as far as miles. (I asked this specifically because this was an issue when my friend was in county.)

SO.....if you live out of state and can set up a "virtual" line aka a "ghost" line aka an RCF, etc. etc. IN CA...its a LOT cheaper.
Also, if you can set it up yourself at least in CA it will be cheaper than going through PCO......They were GREAT for me when my friend was in county, but if I set up my own line IN CA (I live in OR half the time) and forward the calls to my other number.....a 15 min. call from PCO was going to cost $7.40 plus the $26.00 month...but on my own a 15 min call will cost $5.30 plus $26.00/month for the line.

Basically, call a general customer service line and be "pushy" with MCI until you get results is my advice.

I don't know if it "applies" for each MCI facility in CA....but the rates that I was quoted for VSPW (and I think would apply to the rest and more than likely CCWF) is:

Calls made from a CA prison with MCI is a $2.00 connection charge and .22cents/minute

Calls made from a CA prsion with MCI to another state is a $3.95 connection charge and .89cents/minute.

It does not matter WHERE in the state you are or how far away from the facility you are as far as miles. (I asked this specifically because this was an issue when my friend was in county.)

SO.....if you live out of state and can set up a "virtual" line aka a "ghost" line aka an RCF, etc. etc. IN CA...its a LOT cheaper.
Also, if you can set it up yourself at least in CA it will be cheaper than going through PCO......They were GREAT for me when my friend was in county, but if I set up my own line IN CA (I live in OR half the time) and forward the calls to my other number.....a 15 min. call from PCO was going to cost $7.40 plus the $26.00 month...but on my own a 15 min call will cost $5.30 plus $26.00/month for the line.




Well I got a virtual line that cost me $17 a month and $30 a month for unlimited long distance since I do live out of state.
My connection cost is $1.50 and 0.15 cents a minute. He's in CIM.
It used to cost me $19.19 for 15 minutes. And thru PCO it was $8.00 for 15 minutes. It does pay to have a virtual line.

If you need to find out MCI rates for collect calls, etc. from MCI BEFORE you receive any collect calls. Be PERSISTENT. It took me numerous calls today, but I had success. Tell the person you've had issues and need to explain your ENTIRE situation, etc. and THEN see if they can help you. (This seems to get the operator to be QUIET and listen.)
Here's what I finally did and said:
1.) Called a "general mci customer service" number.
2.) Explained: "Hi, I've been trying to speak to an ACTUAL person in your inmate services or department of corrections, but all I've gotten is a number to an automated system which doesn't work for me. When I punch in my phone number, all it says is that I haven't received any collect calls yet, wait until that happens, and THEN call back 24 hours later. The PROBLEM is that what I want to find out is what the COST of the calls is going to be because I live in SEVERAL different areas and need to know how much it is going to cost to receive calls to different cities/states BEFORE the inmate tries to call. I've spoken to you guys before and was told that there is no way to speak to an actual person in that department but that I could go online to http://corrections.mci.com and find out this information. I asked ahead of time, are you SURE I don't have to have an account already set up with you. The previous operator told me that she was sure but when I hung up and got online, you DO have to have an account set up which I obviously do not have. SO........bottom LINE, I NEED to find out the rates for these calls....Can you give them to me? Can you give me a different website? Are you SURE there's no way to talk to someone in that department, etc.?

It WORKED. He took a few minutes...I made sure to insist that he give me accurate information for the SPECIFIC facility (that I forced upon him which is VSPW) and specific areas where I might receive phone calls. He was able to give me the information within 3 minutes! DON'T BACK DOWN with them!

I don't know if it "applies" for each MCI facility in CA....but the rates that I was quoted for VSPW (and I think would apply to the rest and more than likely CCWF) is:

Calls made from a CA prison with MCI is a $2.00 connection charge and .22cents/minute

Calls made from a CA prsion with MCI to another state is a $3.95 connection charge and .89cents/minute.

It does not matter WHERE in the state you are or how far away from the facility you are as far as miles. (I asked this specifically because this was an issue when my friend was in county.)

SO.....if you live out of state and can set up a "virtual" line aka a "ghost" line aka an RCF, etc. etc. IN CA...its a LOT cheaper.
Also, if you can set it up yourself at least in CA it will be cheaper than going through PCO......They were GREAT for me when my friend was in county, but if I set up my own line IN CA (I live in OR half the time) and forward the calls to my other number.....a 15 min. call from PCO was going to cost $7.40 plus the $26.00 month...but on my own a 15 min call will cost $5.30 plus $26.00/month for the line.

Basically, call a general customer service line and be "pushy" with MCI until you get results is my advice.Wow:D that was awesome information. The thing is i swithched to mci not only for the calls but because my mom gets to pay about $30 less than sbc. It is under my moms name. The part that I don't understand is that they keep telling me that there were no attempts made. I know one attempt has been made because my friend wrote me a letter but he is not in wasco, his letters came from jamestown I forgot what prison is there, anyway that is what I don't understand. How are they gonna tell me that there were attempts made. When i switched to mci this customer service guy Brian was so helpfull. He called me back to make sure everything was okay and if my husband tried to call. The sucky part is that when is used to live in cali and i send a letter to wasco it takes the same amount of time as it takes from Illinois to wasco. I am just so confused. He said since I am a mci customer they should make it priority. how do you set a so called ghost line? Were you able to unblock the block without him trying to attempt? I just want to thank you in advance, I really appreciate it and I will try and use your scenario. Thanks

I don't know if it "applies" for each MCI facility in CA....but the rates that I was quoted for VSPW (and I think would apply to the rest and more than likely CCWF) is:

Calls made from a CA prison with MCI is a $2.00 connection charge and .22cents/minute

Calls made from a CA prsion with MCI to another state is a $3.95 connection charge and .89cents/minute.

It does not matter WHERE in the state you are or how far away from the facility you are as far as miles. (I asked this specifically because this was an issue when my friend was in county.)

SO.....if you live out of state and can set up a "virtual" line aka a "ghost" line aka an RCF, etc. etc. IN CA...its a LOT cheaper.
Also, if you can set it up yourself at least in CA it will be cheaper than going through PCO......They were GREAT for me when my friend was in county, but if I set up my own line IN CA (I live in OR half the time) and forward the calls to my other number.....a 15 min. call from PCO was going to cost $7.40 plus the $26.00 month...but on my own a 15 min call will cost $5.30 plus $26.00/month for the line.




Well I got a virtual line that cost me $17 a month and $30 a month for unlimited long distance since I do live out of state.
My connection cost is $1.50 and 0.15 cents a minute. He's in CIM.
It used to cost me $19.19 for 15 minutes. And thru PCO it was $8.00 for 15 minutes. It does pay to have a virtual line. what is vspw? what is pco? gosh I feel like out of date. How do you go about to set up a ghost line?

VSPW -- Valley State Prison for women. PCO--- Prison Calls Online.
be going to, then find out who is the local telephone provider( just call 411 in that area) and call them up and ask to set up a " Remote Call Fowarding Line" They will ask you what number you want the calls to be sent to. This will be cheaper because the calls are LOCAL. Make sure to get long distance too.

I had that problem too when I set up my ghost line. They said that no attemps where made but there were. What happends is that it takes ALL OTHER PHONE COMPANIES to recognize that this is a new phone line. All phone companies DO NOT update everyday. This happend to me and after about 3 days it was ok. The calls are coming thru and till this day MCI still hasn't called me to set up an account with the $100 limit ( as they are starting to do with everyone now)

VSPW -- Valley State Prison for women. PCO--- Prison Calls Online.
be going to, then find out who is the local telephone provider( just call 411 in that area) and call them up and ask to set up a " Remote Call Fowarding Line" They will ask you what number you want the calls to be sent to. This will be cheaper because the calls are LOCAL. Make sure to get long distance too.

I had that problem too when I set up my ghost line. They said that no attemps where made but there were. What happends is that it takes ALL OTHER PHONE COMPANIES to recognize that this is a new phone line. All phone companies DO NOT update everyday. This happend to me and after about 3 days it was ok. The calls are coming thru and till this day MCI still hasn't called me to set up an account with the $100 limit ( as they are starting to do with everyone now) So I switched to mci, shoudn't that mean then that they recognize the attempts ? You know it is so frustrating with these collect calls, it used to be so easy and it seems like everything is getting harder. Could it also mean that he is not trying to attempt to call me at all? I am just so confused. Thank you by the way for your information I really appreciate it.:thumbsup:

Most of the time you don't need inmate services, you need the "high toll" department. They seem to be able to find blocks that inmates services say aren't there. I've never had a problem since getting in touch with the high toll department.

i have been with pco now for 5 months and i have had no problems with them untill saturday mci has blocked my phone im going to call pco today but how does this mci work with people who live in different countries

i have been with pco now for 5 months and i have had no problems with them untill saturday mci has blocked my phone im going to call pco today but how does this mci work with people who live in different countries

you have to call PCO because the phone line is under their name.

I don't live in California, so my collect calls cost about $22.00. I was thinking about joining PCO, but I was wondering how you set up a "ghost" line? He is at Avenal State. Any advice would be appreciated! Thanks

Man for 2 weeks I have been trying to set up a account with MCI and they keep telling me I have a block for frogalent ussage. But what they are talking about is back when Pitches were rioting I would call 1800 collect to see if we had a block cause Comcast would slap a block on when ever and you wouldn't even know it. So I would check by calling 1800 collect from my cell to the house and they called that fraudulent usageand put a block for 6 months. Now if I would of know this was a big deal I would of found another way. So how do you do the on line phone calls?

You can use Prisoncallsonline.com . They are cheap and the customer service is real good. Its tends to be expensive sometimes.... but at least u can communicate with ur loved ones!

Wow. This is a huge issue for a lot of people. As far as a know a "ghost line" or a "virtual line" are the same thing. IF you are having tons of blocking issues and you would get a lot of phone calls, I would HIGHLY recommend using http://www.prisoncallsonline.com You can pre-pay with your credit card, check your balance online, and your number shouldn't be "blocked" because the number they give you is not associated with you personally. Also, they will CREDIT your credit card if you have to end service for some reason. (Personal experience with this so I know it's true.)

To the person who was trying to communicate ABOUT calls with their loved one that's from Illinois......just to make mail go faster (not really important about calls but...) have you tried sending postcards? They seem to get through to my sister at least 4x faster. Just a thought?

That was interesting info about the "high toll." I didn't know about that.

Prison calls online sets you up with a "ghost line or Virtual Line"' so why pay extra if you can do it yourself. I had them and was paying $8 a call then I got smart and set one up in my name and now pay $3.75 a call. I live in Vegas and he's in Cali. I called the local phone company asked them for a REMOTE CALL FOWARDING LINE and got a package for unlimited long distance. and saved myself a whole lot of money. And that's exactly waht you are paying PRISONCALLSONLINE.COM to do for you. Then you can call MCI and ask them to set up an account if you want or eventually they will call you with an automated call telling you to call to set up an account for a limit of $100.

She's Back!! HI Cubana!! I was just asking about you today.