Sending Messages to Anderson County Inmates: NCIC.com vs. Traditional Mail

Anderson County Jail uses NCIC.com as its inmate messaging system. Through it, you can send messages, documents, photos, and other mail content directly to inmates. The jail considers this quicker and more efficient than traditional mail alone, since messages sent through the system are delivered instantly for inmates to view on facility kiosks. If you need to get information to someone fast, or you want to share a photo or document without waiting on the postal process, this is the option the county has built its current mail process around.

Pricing

• ✓ NCIC.com message: $0.25 per message
• ✓ NCIC.com picture message or document: $0.35 per picture
• ✓ The county describes these NCIC.com costs as cheaper than paying for postage and supplies for a mailed letter

The biggest difference is delivery time. With NCIC.com, your message is delivered instantly, and the inmate can view it on the kiosks inside the facility. Traditional printed mail works differently now. Paper mail is received at a central processing location, scanned, and then delivered electronically so the inmate can view it on a kiosk in their cell. So even though you're mailing paper, the inmate still ends up reading it on a screen. Those extra processing steps can add noticeable time compared to sending a message through NCIC.com.

1. Use NCIC.com when time matters: If you need the inmate to see your message quickly, NCIC.com is built for instant delivery to the facility kiosks.
2. Use NCIC.com for photos and documents: You can send photos and document images through the same system, which can be simpler than trying to fit everything into paper-mail rules.
3. Budget around the per-item cost: Messages cost $0.25 each, and picture messages or documents cost $0.35 per picture, so you can estimate your total before you send.

Choose printed mail when you specifically want to send something through the postal system, but format it with the scanning process in mind. Your letter goes through central processing, gets scanned, and is then delivered electronically for kiosk viewing inside the facility. Keep it short and one-sided. Printed mail must be no more than 5 pages. Anything over 5 pages will be returned to you. Also, scanned mail is scanned front side only, so don't put content on the back of any page if you want it to be seen.