How to Get Added to Your Loved One’s Approved Call List (Virginia DOC)
Getting on your loved one's approved call list in Virginia DOC comes down to two things: they need to add your phone number, and the number has to follow the system's routing rules to avoid blocked calls.
Your loved one controls their approved call list. They add and remove numbers, and the list caps at 15 total - including attorney numbers and investigator hotlines. If they've hit the limit, someone has to come off before you can be added.
Good news: you're not stuck with a landline. Cell phones and other wireless numbers work fine on the approved call list, so you can use the phone you actually carry with you.
Virginia DOC's inmate phone system runs through ConnectNetwork (Global Tel*Link). That's the platform behind the call list and the account options you'll hear about once calls start coming in.
Your loved one adds you through the facility phone system (ConnectNetwork/Global Tel*Link). From your end, it's simple: once your number is on the list, calls can start coming through.
Heads up: You can’t add yourself to the approved call list from the outside. Your loved one has to add your number, and they can only keep up to 15 numbers total (including attorneys and investigator hotlines).
Virginia DOC calls have to go straight to the approved number and stay there. The call needs to ring the phone your loved one listed - it can't bounce somewhere else mid-call.
Avoid call-routing features: Call forwarding, third‑party transfers, and answering-machine services can violate the “must terminate at the approved number” rule and lead to blocked calls.
Assume calls are recorded and monitored - that's the default. The main exception is verified attorney calls. But even then, privacy isn't automatic: your loved one has to request a recording block ahead of time for a verified attorney number.
- Treat every call as recorded unless told otherwise - Virginia DOC records and monitors inmate calls except properly verified attorney calls.
- Make sure the attorney number is verified - the recording exception applies only to verified attorney numbers.
- Request a recording block ahead of time - the inmate (or CCAP probationer/parolee) must ask in advance for the electronic block that prevents monitoring/recording on that verified attorney number.
- Confirm the block is in place before discussing privileged information - without the approved recording block, the call won’t be protected from monitoring/recording.
Practical Tips Families
- ✓ Set up an AdvancePay prepaid phone account through ConnectNetwork (online) or by calling 1-800-483-8314.
- ✓ Decide how calls will be funded with your loved one (prepaid through AdvancePay versus accepting collect/debit calls).
- ✓ Remember you can decline any collect or debit call if you don’t want to accept charges at that moment.
Missing calls because you can't accept collect or debit charges? AdvancePay is the usual fix. It's a prepaid account for family and friends through ConnectNetwork. You can fund it online or by phone at 1-800-483-8314.
Most call problems come from "workarounds" the system treats as abuse. Phone privileges can be revoked for placing incoming calls to an inmate, calling international numbers, making toll-free calls (including 700/800/888/900 and similar), charging calls to credit cards or third parties, transferring calls, or using call forwarding or answering-machine services. Calls to pager numbers or pay phones can also get privileges revoked.
Common call-block trigger: If a call is forwarded, transferred, or routed through an answering-machine service, it may violate the rule that calls must terminate at the approved number - and that can lead to blocked or revoked calling privileges.
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