How to Pay for Phone Calls from an IDOC Facility: Friends & Family vs Commissary
If someone you care about is in IDOC custody, phone calls can be paid for in two ways. Which option works best depends on whether you want to cover the cost yourself or have them pay from their trust funds.
IDOC offers two ways to fund phone calls: you can set up a Friends & Family Prepaid account through ICSolutions, or the person in custody can buy phone minutes through commissary using their trust account.
Want to pay for the calls yourself? IDOC directs friends and family to create a Friends & Family Prepaid account through ICSolutions' IDOC facility page. When you fund this account, call charges come from your prepaid balance - not from your loved one's trust funds.
The other option: the person in custody covers their own calls by purchasing phone minutes through commissary. The money comes out of their trust account.
IDOC and ICSolutions provide an example worksheet showing how costs break down under each method. In their example, a 10-minute out-of-state call using a Friends & Family prepaid account costs $0.117.
That same 10-minute out-of-state call costs $0.088 when paid through commissary funds - meaning the person in custody bought minutes using their trust account money.
Note: IDOC says this comparison is an example only. Taxes and fees can change over time. The worksheet also mentions that totals are rounded up to the nearest cent, and partial minutes are rounded up.
Need help with collect or prepaid collect calls? Contact ICSolutions Customer Service at 888.506.8407.
Quick Decision Tips
- ✓ Use Friends & Family Prepaid (ICSolutions) when you want to pay for calls you receive by funding a prepaid account.
- ✓ Use commissary/trust account minutes when the person in custody will pay for calls by using their trust funds to purchase phone minutes through commissary.
- ✓ If you want the call costs to come from your funds, choose the prepaid account; if the person in custody will cover it from their own balance, choose the trust/commissary option.
The worksheet shows different totals for the same call depending on how it's funded - $0.117 vs. $0.088 for a 10-minute out-of-state call, in their example. Treat those figures as a snapshot, not a guarantee. IDOC notes the comparison is only an estimate, and taxes and fees can change.
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