Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction Offender Phone Services

Telephone Policies

• Inmate Access to the Telephone

General Information

If you have a friend or family member in prison who would like to have telephone contact with you, the first telephone contact you will receive will be an AUTOMATED CALL from Global Tel Link, the provider of our inmate phone services.  This call will ask your permission to add your phone number to the inmate's CALL ALLOW LIST.  This AUTOMATED SYSTEM will call your phone number 3 times a day for 5 days until it receives a YES or NO response.  Once you have answered yes to this call, any subsequent call attempts will be allowed to go to your number, unless there is a billing problem with your number.

Global Tel*Link Information

Inmate telephone service is provided through Global Tel*Link (GTL).  For questions or assistance regarding the telephone system or services, please contact the GTL Customer Call Center at 1-877-650-4249 during the following hours:

• Monday through Friday 8:00 a.m. to 12:00 a.m. (midnight) Eastern Standard Time
• Saturday and Sunday 9:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. Eastern Standard Time

Inmate Telephone Calling Options

Inmates may make telephone calls ONLY to those individuals on the inmate's approved telephone calling list who have agreed to accept the inmate's calls while incarcerated.  Inmate telephone calls may be paid for through one of the following three options:

• STANDARD COLLECT CALL - Placing the telephone call collect.  This requires the person receiving the call to have the capability for collect calls under Global Tel*Link's billing services.  The person receiving the call is responsible for paying for the telephone call.
• PRE-PAID COLLECT CALL - The inmate would place a collect call.  However, the person receiving the call must have pre-paid for the collect call through an account established with Global Tel*Link.  Pre-paid collect calls receive a 20% discount over standard collect calls.  Pre-paid collect call accounts can be established through Global Tel*Link's website.

All offenders are now able to directly pay for the telephone calls they make, using a Pin Debit telephone account.  Funds may be deposited into an offender's Pin Debit phone account through the following means:

• KIOSKS - You may deposit funds through the Kiosks available in the front entry building of each DRC prison. The kiosks will accept deposits using cash, credit or debit cards. The kiosk provider charges a $3 transaction fee at the kiosks, regardless of type or amount of transaction.  NOTICE:  Per ODRC Rules, starting February 6, 2012, ALL transactions using this machine will require the use of a Government Issued ID with a magnetic strip for identification purposes. Users will no longer be able to manually enter identification information. The machine will prompt when to swipe identification during the transaction. For additional information or other deposit options please visit www.offenderconnect.com or call GTL customer service at 1-877-650-4249.
• OFFENDER COMMISSARY - The offender may purchase telephone debit account credits at the prison commissary, using funds from his offender personal account.

Restricting Calls from all Ohio Prisons or a Specific Inmate

If you have received a telephone call from an Ohio prison and wish to restrict further calls from all Ohio prisons or from a specific inmate, please call Global Tel*Link at 1-877-650-4249 and follow the telephone prompts for this service.