Two Ways to Pay for Phone Calls and the 2025 Phone Transition: What Families of Southwestern Need to Know
If your loved one is at Southwestern Corrections Center, phone calls are now handled through ICSolutions. Here's what the February 2025 change means, how to pay for calls going forward, and what to do if you still have money in a Securus friends and family account.
The Illinois Department of Corrections (IDOC) moved facility phone services, including at Southwestern Corrections Center, over to ICSolutions. The switch started as early as February 3, 2025 and rolled out facility by facility over roughly two weeks. Your facility's exact changeover date depends on where it fell in that schedule.
There's some good news here. During the switch, IDOC says each person's phone credits and their phone lists (PAN) will transfer to the new ICSolutions system automatically. What does not transfer is money left in a Securus Advance Connect friends and family account. That balance stays with Securus, and you'll need to request a refund through Securus directly.
Heads up: IDOC's transition FAQ says to expect a one- to two-day phone service interruption during a facility's switch. Because the rollout was phased facility by facility, short outages could happen around your facility's transition window.
There are two ways to fund phone calls at Southwestern. You can pay from the outside using a Friends & Family prepaid ICSolutions account, or your loved one can buy minutes through commissary using money in their trust account.
- Go to the ICSolutions Illinois IDOC facility page to start a Friends & Family prepaid account.
- Create your prepaid account using your information so you can be billed for calls you receive.
- Add funds to the account so there is a balance available when your loved one calls.
- Keep your account details handy in case you need to review charges or update payment information later.
- ✓ Put money into your loved one’s trust account.
- ✓ Have your loved one use trust funds to purchase phone minutes through commissary.
- ✓ If calls suddenly stop, ask whether they have minutes available or whether their trust account needs to be funded again.
Under ICSolutions, IDOC's FAQ lists the domestic rate at $0.008 per minute. That's actually a drop from the previous $0.009 per minute rate under Securus.
Note: Expect a one- to two-day phone service interruption during the vendor switch. A brief gap in calls during the transition is normal.
If you previously funded calls through a Securus Advance Connect friends and family account, that money will not move to ICSolutions automatically. IDOC directs friends and family to contact Securus about refunds at 1-800-844-6591 or www.securustech.net.
For questions about calls after the transition, contact ICSolutions Customer Service at 888-506-8407 or email Customer@icsolutions.com. This is your best starting point for account and billing help on the new system.
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