Inmate Calling Service

An inmate telephone system, also known as an Inmate Calling Service (ICS) or Inmate telephone service, is a type of specialized telephone service provisioned for use by inmates at correctional facilities. Ideally, telephone service for inmates allows for their rehabilitation by allowing consistent communication with family and legal counsel while incarcerated.

In the United States, prison telecom is a $1.2 billion industry, led by two private equity-backed companies—Global Tel Link (GTL) with a 50% market share as of 2015. and Securus Technologies, with 20%. The prison telecom industry has faced scrutiny due to the nature of their business model, as high commissions paid by providers as part of exclusive contracts with individual facilities are passed down to consumers through service rates that are significantly higher than typical phone service. While there have been attempts by the United States' telecom regulator, the FCC, to

In order to use an inmate telephone service, inmates must register and provide a list of names and numbers for the people they intend to communicate with. Call limitations vary depending on the prison's house rule, but calls are typically limited to 15 minutes each, and inmates must wait thirty minutes before being allowed to make another call. Calls are recorded and monitored by the prison's staff. Phone credits are typically accessed via an inmate account card. Since 2001, the Federal Bureau of Prisons has required that use be limited to 300 minutes per-month.

In the United States, the inmate telephone market is dominated by two providers, Global Tel Link (GTL) and Securus Technologies, with Global Tel-Link controlling approximately 50% of the market and Securus with 20%. The New York-based private equity firm, Veritas Capital, with assets of over five billion, acquired GTL under the tenure of Veritas' founder and CEO Robert B. McKeon. Mobile, Alabama-based GTL was a subsidiary of GTEL Holdings in 2009 and offered "inmate communications, investigative, facility management, visitation, payment and deposit, and content solutions".

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