PhoneThru for Prison Calls

If you have a loved one in prison you know the high cost of calling out to a mobile can severely limit their connection with the outside world.  Landline number forwarding services like PhoneThru can dramatically lower the cost of communication, but how do you know which is the right service for you?

We hope you’ll choose PhoneThru for your prison calling needs, so in line with our “no surprises” philosophy, here are some factors to consider before going with us…

How many times a day is my inmate likely to call?
This is an easy one! The more often your inmate calls the more likely you’ll be able to take advantage of our larger recharges to get the lowest call rates.

Pro Tip: Unused minutes rollover when you recharge. You can use this to your advantage by purchasing a XXL recharge to get minutes at the cheapest 5.7c rate even if you won’t use them all in 28 days.  As long as you recharge before the minutes expire, even the smallest recharge will extend your unused minutes for another 28 days.

Is my inmate likely to be released or move in the near future?
If your inmate is likely to be released or on out on bail in the next month, you won’t need your landline number any more. If your inmate is moved out of their current area, they’ll likely need a new landline so you won’t need the old one.  In both cases you’ll want to try and make sure you don’t have more minutes banked than you can use.  Once they’re out or have moved there’s no point recharging so any unused minutes will expire and be wasted. Note that minutes are “per-number” so you can’t transfer them to a new number.

Do I understand the prison phone system?
If you’re new to all of this and don’t have your head around how engine numbers and prison calling works, you’re more likely to end up wasting money on a number that won’t suit your needs. A specialist service like PrisonConnect might be better if you’re a first timer.

Do I lose my phone a lot?
This might seem like an odd one, but your PhoneThru account is tied to your mobile number and can’t be changed.  To change your mobile number you need to create a new account and then transfer your landline number from the old account to the new account.  Transferring numbers between accounts is a paid service and costs $3 per number.

So, long story short – if you lose your phone or change your mobile number a lot, you’ll want to factor in those $3 transfers.

Alternatives
If your specific needs means PhoneThru isn’t a good fit for you, take a look at our sister service, PrisonConnect, over at https://prisonconnect.com.au. PrisonConnect is an all-inclusive service designed for prison calling and all it’s complexities.  It runs a pay-for-what-you-use model where you pay a weekly fee for your landline number and a single rate for call minutes. You can cancel at any time and they refund your unused credit. Tell ’em we said “hi”.