Hey, I'm new to St. Clair and I'm having a hard time finding out info concerning a collect calling service so my husband can call me. I've tried CBS and MCI to no avail. Are there other providers, and if so how can I find their contact #? Thankyou for any help you can give me. Linda:)

Hi!
Try this: outsideconnectioninc.net

I receive calls from canada and pay $10 per call so i'm sure it would be even cheaper for you. I have heard many negative reviews about the owner of the company and although he is not the nicest person, the service is very good and the company has completely restructured. All the new employees are very curtious and professional. This company also charges a $23 monthly fee but if you plan of recieving several calls then it is VERY worth it. Also, id you are blocked for any reason, they fix the problem quite fast. Saves you a headache call to TNetix.

Hope this helps. :)

St Clair is and most ADOC facilities are contracted with Correctional Billing (which bought TNetix). He will be able to call you once you are approved on his phone list no matter what you have. CBS may either require you to set up a direct billed account with them, or it may be billed through the telephone company that services your home. If he can't get thru to you when he tries to call the first time, then you need to call CBS and set up a direct bill account with them.

Companies such as Outside Connection and Prison Calls Online are used IN ADDITION, they are not something you can use INSTEAD of CBS. You have no choice but to be billed whichever way by CBS because that's what the facility's calls use. You would use something OC or PCO to offset the high cost of the CBS bill. They would set up a number local to the facility that he can call and you would be billed for a local collect call instead of a long distance collect call. You would still be charged by CBS for the local collect call, either thru their direct bill system or billed on your montly telephone bill.

Needless to say the DOCs and phone companies do not care for the phone services that bring down the costs of calls like OC and PCO so if you sign up with them you do not need to tell CBS or the facility you have an account with OC or PCO or any discount prison calling company.

Again, you will still have to pay CBS for the calls even if you sign up with OC or PCO or another discount prison calling company, it's just that you would be paying local collect call costs to CBS instead of long distance collect call charges, as well as paying OC/PCO/etc's fee.

Hi, I talked to CBS and they told me that MCI probably serviced St. Clair. I called MCI and a machine answered "saying no one had attempted to call me collect." It also prompted me to have the inmate "attempt" to call me so service could be set up. My husband did try to call me.

How can I get OC or PCO phone numbers to check them out. I have a prepaid phone,(no land line). When he was in the local jail I got service through CBS. I am just running around in circles.

Thankyou for your help. Linda

You can get the prepaid service from CBS (Correctional Billing Services) 1-800-844-6591 (that is who services all alabama prisons as lysbeth said above)..the number to PCO (prison calls online) is 888-925-1400 or you can go online to www.prisoncallsonline.com

Hi, I talked to CBS and they told me that MCI probably serviced St. Clair. I called MCI and a machine answered "saying no one had attempted to call me collect." It also prompted me to have the inmate "attempt" to call me so service could be set up. My husband did try to call me.

How can I get OC or PCO phone numbers to check them out. I have a prepaid phone,(no land line). When he was in the local jail I got service through CBS. I am just running around in circles.

Thankyou for your help. Linda


Whoever you talked to at CBS didn't know what they were talking about. CBS (who bought T-Netix which did service all ADOC facilities) services St. Clair and almost all the ADOC facilities.

I know this for a fact because my guy is at St. Clair and I pay a CBS bill every month. :rolleyes:

You need to call them back and have them set up your account. Try 1-888-221-5671 (which was T-Netix's Direct Bill number) or 1-888-610-7079 (which was T-Netix's main number). One of the two should get you to whoever you need to talk to set up your account.

Now that would be for the number you have right now that he's trying to call. Don't tell them it's a prepaid phone, act like it's a land line number, just give them the same address and contact info that you have on your prepaid phone account.

Setting up an account with Prison Calls Online, if you use them (you will be using them IN ADDITION to CBS), will be a different thing. They will give you a new number local to the facility (and it will be six months after he turned in phone list to the prison before he can make changes to it). If he's already turned in a phone list to the prison you might as well wait until it gets closer to that six months being up because there's no point in paying for the additional PCO line for six months when he can't call you yet anyway.

But anyhow the number for PCO is 1-888-925-1400 and their website is here:

http://www.prisoncallsonline.com/

Like I said, PCO is used IN ADDITION to CBS to bring down the cost of the calls. Richard at PCO will let you know whether he can really save you any money by setting up a PCO account or not.

But again, if your man has already turned in his phone list to the prison of numbers he wants to call, you might as well wait til closer to the six months being up to call PCO, OC, or any of the discount services because he won't be able to change his phone list for six months anyway.

But you do need to go ahead and call CBS/T-Netix back and set up an account with them or he won't be able to call at all.... if he's tried and not getting thru that means they won't bill you thru your telephone bill and you need to set up a Direct Bill account with them.

And they absolutely, 100% for sure, are the company that services St. Clair. I just got my bill from them the other day. If the person you first speak to again still seems clueless, ask them if there's a former T-Netix customer service rep around you can speak to instead. But since the numbers I gave you above are the old T-Netix numbers, likely you'll get someone who is ex-T-Netix that will know what they're talking about anyway...

PS - if you run into any trouble with CBS/T-Netix since you don't have a landline - you may have to wait a few months for him to be able to call, but PCO can set up service to cell phones, it's doable. Again, your problem there may be that if he's already turned in a phone list it'll be six months before he can turn in a new one, and what the PCO service does is give you a new number that will forward to your cell phone. But they can do that when the time comes...

Thankyou for all the help you have given me. I will try this thing again and maybe I will get somewhere this time. Will stay in touch. Linda

My husband is in St Clair County Jail in Ashville, AL and I had to go through Global Tel Link. Their phone number is 1-877-650-4249. Hope this helps!
Hi, I talked to CBS and they told me that MCI probably serviced St. Clair. I called MCI and a machine answered "saying no one had attempted to call me collect." It also prompted me to have the inmate "attempt" to call me so service could be set up. My husband did try to call me.

How can I get OC or PCO phone numbers to check them out. I have a prepaid phone,(no land line). When he was in the local jail I got service through CBS. I am just running around in circles.

Thankyou for your help. Linda