How to Contact an Inmate at Facility

To receive inmate calls on a mobile phone, you'll need AdvancePay. This is the detail that trips most people up. Without this setup, calls to your cell simply won't go through.

There's also a PIN Debit phone account option. With PIN Debit, friends and family fund the account, and the inmate manages their own calling balance. They can place outbound calls to more than one facility-approved contact.

Steps to Follow

• ✓ If you are using a mobile phone number, plan on using AdvancePay so you can receive inmate calls.
• ✓ Ask which calling setup is being used (AdvancePay vs. PIN Debit) so you understand how calls will be placed.
• ✓ If a PIN Debit account is used, remember the inmate can manage the account and call more than one facility-approved contact (so make sure your number is one of the approved contacts).

1. Check whether calls are being labeled as spam. If you suddenly stopped receiving GTL-processed inmate calls on your cell phone, spam filtering is a common reason.
2. Call your cellphone carrier and request an unblock. Tell them to unblock the GTL caller ID numbers 480-448-2204 and 480-409-2926.
3. Try receiving calls again after the change. Once your carrier confirms the numbers are unblocked, have your loved one try calling back.

Before you spend time troubleshooting, check the basics. Is AdvancePay set up if calls are going to your mobile number? Is the inmate using a PIN Debit phone account? That matters because it changes how they manage calling and which facility-approved contacts they can reach.

• ✓ Ask your cellphone carrier whether either GTL caller ID number is blocked or being filtered as spam.
• ✓ Verify the GTL caller ID numbers with the facility in case the numbers change (the ones currently used are 480-448-2204 and 480-409-2926).