ok i'm looking to hear from anyone who is in the New York State area and has heard of the phone service called outside connection. my husband mailed one of their fliers and asked me to sign up so i could get cheaper rates. I did just that and the deal is good. i have a working line and all. my rates are 1.95 for yhe first connection and .10 every minute after that. wich is a heck of alot better than what MCI was charging me wich was 3.33 the first minute and .33 every minute after that. you do the math. our new obstacle is that the prison administration is trying to deny my honey use of the number because they claim it is third party billing? i don't inderstand how they can say that since my name is on the account and i am the only person billed. i called to speak to the counselor who had denied my husbands request to have the number added to his list and was told by his secretary that the area code has to match the address. HUH? that makes no sense at all because that particular phone company has my info on file if the prison request a verification i'm sure the company would oblige them. anyway we're bacjk at square one trying to sweat it out. the secretary said something about they were arguing the case now and were waiting to here the out come. so i'm assuming i'm not the only person on stand-by has anyone heard of a lawsuit in the New York area concerning any such phone carrier. anyway i'm frustarted. i just finished paying for a $384.00 MCI bill. i'm tired of this. I was thinking how plausible was it to organize a national boycott by both the inmates and there families. we could really hurt the phone companies by shutting down for one day of collect calls. Imagine the damage that could be done with a week of no calls from the inmates to their families. would you ladies be willing to sacrafice a few days of no phone conversations with your men for the over all good. we have got to start fighting back. no one else is going to do it for us.:pissed:

Hey...

This is just my opinion, but I am not a fan of a boycott. I don't think that in the end the boycott will long term hurt anyone but us and our loved ones inside. I think that what would be a more effective overall stand would be to start a petition and present it to the FCC. Start to fight the regulatory agency that supports this billing?

Any thoughts?

I must agree with Teb here. I can't possibly see how if you boycotted the phone companies that you would deliver any message except that the system really didn't need the phones in the first place. Then you may find yourself in the same situation as Texas where you get FIVE minutes ONLY and then ONLY every THREE MONTHS, if and only if the inmate has been a "good boy or girl" and has NO disciplinary write ups AND the unit is in a good mood to allow them.

If you don't believe me about the five minute thing, take a look at this (from http://www.tdcj.state.tx.us/faq/faq-id.htm#telephone):

Are offenders allowed to make telephone calls?
Offenders who demonstrate good behavior can earn one 5-minute collect phone call every 90 days. Calls are monitored and may be made only to approved individuals.

I would strongly advise seeking reform rather than attempting a boycott when you could lose what you have now.

IMO

Jim

ok so your reply is don't rock the boat. it has to start with some one ,some where. imagine if martin luther king had not rocked the boat. or any other brave person who stood up for what was right.

I am not suggesting nor is Jim to not rock the boat. I just don't believe that a boycott is the way to go. Boycotts will not hurt the administrators that are doing this to us...

the goal is not to hurt the admistration but rather instigate dialogue. honestly do you really expect a pettitioon. to do anything. if you know someone in our situation who has had a sucessful petion drive or whta ever you would call it, please let me know. furthermore if the states are raking in the cash we know they are as well as the phone companies. do you believe they would be so quick as to cut off the phone services. and if they were to lower the amount of talking time to try and recoup revenue u take them to court. all i am saying iswe are wives,husbands, brohters , sisters ect. of convicted felons. nobody gives a damn about us so we have to give a damn about ourselves or expect to be walked on.

I admit that I have not taken the time as yet to research this completely and do not have the answers. I personally do not believe that a boycott however is going to achieve results. I believe that a "business" approach to the situation is better than protesting. This is my opinion and I will do research into the matter when I can. I have heard that other states have successfully lowered the rates. How have they done this? I don't know. Was it through a boycott? I don't know.

Right now, I am more concerned with getting my calls reinstated regardless of the cost - the last call I received was August 3rd and this is an MCI screw up. I don't owe them and they claim that my phone is not blocked, and that system software is to blame. Once I get my calls reinstated then I will start to research how to take on this situation.

I will certainly share any of my findings as they emerge and I would urge anyone else to do the same. I believe that we can make a difference if we do it the right way.

I also understand that this is a very emotional issue for many because the cost prohibits contact! For some they don't get phone calls or only once every 90 days for 5 minutes. It is terrible to say the least.

I am not against you on this - I am with you - believe me. Something needs to be done...

Willsgrl, I'm curious to know if you have talked to Brian the President at outside connections? He is a member here and I'm just wondering what his thoughts are on what is happening to your phone number and the lack of approval...Please let me know, I will be getting in contact with Brian soon and I'll ask him about this too!

Thanks

Pamela

do you have his number?