INMATES' RELATIVES PLEAD TO KEEP DIAL-AR FOR PRISON CALLS

摘要

Inmates' relatives are asking the FCC to turn aside a request by Securus petition to be allowed to block the use of dial-around services that significantly reduce the costs of prisoner phone calls. The commission is being barraged with letters complaining about the high cost of prison calls without the dial-around service. Travis Welke of Eau Claire, Wis., said he had used ConsCallHome, which provided him with a local Leavenworth, Kan., number to cut the costs of calls home by a family member who otherwise has to make a long-distance call. But that ended when use of the service was blocked by Evercom's Correctional Billing Services, a major provider of phone connections to inmates, Welke said. Using ConsCallHome, he said, he paid $3 for a 20-minute call, compared with about $20 for a 20-minute call without the dial-around service. nn" I think Correction Billing/Evercom is a monopoly that charges way too much for their services and needs to be federally regulated," he wrote. Sandy Morningstar of Las Vegas told the commission that Correctional Billing Services charges almost $25 for a 15-minute call and calls made to her home from a family member in prison are often dropped by the service, which charges $6 each time. "This is unfair especially in this economy," Morningstar wrote. "We are just average people wanting to keep in touch with our loved ones and Correctional Billing Services is making that next to impossible. Life is hard enough when you have someone in jail or prison and not being able to talk with them makes life almost unbearable."