conscallhome.com

[anthony777]

Has anyone used this service?? I called them and they acually set up the inmate with a local phone number to keep the costs of long ditance down with Consolidated. Its about $25 per month with 300 free minutes

[lvanrs2]

I do not believe you can use this service as Consolidated is the only approved service for IDOC

[Forevermah]

Has anyone used this service?? I called them and they acually set up the inmate with a local phone number to keep the costs of long ditance down with Consolidated. Its about $25 per month with 300 free minutes

If you get caught using anything but Consolidated, your inmates and your phone privileges can be suspended .. not a very good idea!

[Dazzler]

There is no possible way to use a phone service other than Consolidated from within the IDOC.  Their phones are linked to Consolidated with pin numbers to each account.  If you don't have an account and the inmate doesn't have the pin number you can't make or accept a call.  I don't know how this service could possibly work other than to give you an area phone number closer to an Illinois prison to accept calls on.  There's no way that this company could be giving you 300 minutes with Consolidated...the best it could do is give you 300 of their phone time which is charged in conjunction with any inmate call minutes...in other words you're paying for the calls to two different companies....and if you get caught doing this you'll lose your telephone privileges and your inmate will do SEG time....this isn't the first company to try this scam....it's been going on for years....and they've all been uncovered and driven out of Illinois....

[anthony777]

I talked to this company and they are used all over the US including illinois. You do still pay and use Consolidated but you get a phone for the inmate to use that is local and it is hooked up to your number. It is legal. HELP

[Jims]

Try it at your own risk. You've been warned. These companies come and go... and the inmates use them for awhile, think they're great, go to seg, and lose their phone privileges. But hey - go for it.

[Dazzler]

Who says it's legal?  The company?  Try researching Prison Calls Online.  Another company that tried the same thing.  They got busted and all the inmates that were identified were sent to SEG.  The owner of the company finally gave some refunds to Illinois people and then started saying that he couldn't operate in Illinois....if it's the same type of operation you pay this company for providing you with a local area code and number to reduce the long distance rates on prison calls.  So you pay Consolidated for the calls and you pay this company a monthly service fee and a stipend for each phone call.....it's ILLEGAL in Illinois....

[anthony777]

Thanks!!! I guess I wont even try it. I knew it was to good to be true
Natalie

[Dazzler]

Exactly....and I know of several members who got in trouble for this.  One's husband was called into Internal Affairs and asked about it and he was taken to SEG and his wife's phone calls were cut off for one year.  Is it worth the risk?  They will find out about the company.  The best way to get around this is to just get a cellphone number in Illinois and use that for your incoming collect calls.   That is perfectly legal.

[Shari]

It sounds like it is along the same line as Vonage....I don't understand why it wouldn't be ok if Vonage is ok.

[Jims]

The difference is, with these services, they TRANSFER your call to a local number, and for whatever reason, the prison says they cannot monitor such calls. Vonage actually gives you your own local number, and it is billable to you, fully accountable to you. It is also illegal to call forward or transfer a call from an inmate. I don't think they're as picky with the call forwarding, or perhaps it is more difficult to detect. A lot of people transfer their home phone to their cell phones so as not to miss their call. But, it is technically not permitted.