Frequently Asked Questions

The following frequently asked questions are organized into two groupings. ONE, those most often asked by Facility Administrators; and TWO, those asked by the end user customers. The questions and answers may be read in sequence by scrolling down the page to the appropriate section, or accessed directly by clicking on the items of interest.

Facility Administrators:

Telephone Customers:

Why do you have a block on my line?
Why do you charge so much for these calls?
Why can't I receive calls on my brand new telephone number?
All I have is a cell phone, how can I get my calls?
I had a collect call block on my phone, how can I get my calls?
I want to keep the collect call block on my phone, can I still receive calls?
I want my phone blocked from receiving calls from a detention facility?
I called the facility and had them block my line, now I want to receive the calls?

Facility Administrators:

Question:   What keeps the detainee from calling their victims or other inappropriate numbers? There is always a concern that detainees will call victims, judges, district attorneys, or others they should not be calling. How can this be prevented?

Answer:     All calls placed from ATN managed facilities are placed as collect calls. This is a sensitive issue, especially for victims. The called party always has the option of refusing the call without talking to, or listening to the detainee. Most legal entities like judges, attorneys, and police officers place collect call blocks on their home phones.

Solution:    It is suggested the facility managers place all their employee home phone numbers on a facility requested block list. The receiving party has the option of physically refusing the call before the talk path is opened with the detainee. This is especially important when attempted contacts are made to victims. The called party can request their number be physically blocked from the facility preventing any future calls from being placed to their number. Additionally, on the more sophisticated confinement telephone systems, if the customer presses *3 on their keypad their number will be automatically blocked.

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Question:   Will the system block Third Party Calls? Often detainees will try to contact victims and other parties they should not be calling, or the detainee will have someone place a third party call to someone on the facility block list. How can this be prevented?

Answer:     Third party call blocking algorithms work with varying degrees of success. Most vendor claims to the contrary, that all third party calls will be blocked, may be held with some degree of suspect. In today's age of modern technology most telephone switching is completely silent to the monitoring control equipment. Many approaches have been developed to overcome the problem of third party calling. Each solution often results in the termination of legitimate phone connections that are not attempting to make such a call. Unfortunately, this third party switching can involve calls to sensitive telephone numbers such as those of a victim.

Solution:    It is suggested that facility managers employ third party call blocking algorithms with caution. However, there are other alternatives that are equally effective. The more sophisticated confinement phone controllers with respond to the end user initiated *3 block at any time during the conversation. Third parties being harassed by detainees, patching calls through an intermediary, can press *3 on their local keypad. This action will block the original party called, therefore blocking the accomplice involved in making the third party call. The phone number of the intermediary will be blocked with a date and time stamp by the detention system phone controller. This will aid criminal investigators prepare a case involving the illegal harassment.

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Question:   Who will handle complaints and connection problems? I am concerned that my office will be expected to handle customer service complaints.

Answer:     Customer Service Agents and technical personnel, are trained to work with customers on all types of connection problems and equipment service issues. A toll free 1(800) number is made available to customers and facility administrators.

Solution:    ATN is equipped to address all connection problems and equipment service issues with a minimum of input or interference with facility management and staff. Contact information is provided to the switchboards and control centers of each facility. It is requested, all customer problems and equipment service issues, be referred to ATN service representatives for timely resolution. Additinally, each phone station displays ATN contact information.

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Question:   Does the system connect to a Live Operator Service?

Answer:     Yes, the system not only employes a fully automated operator service which is computer managed and controlled, but also allows the inmates to call directly into our call center to report calling proglems and equipment failures. InTouch is designed to virtually eliminate complaints from the inmates to the facility staff. These calls are constantly monitored by our management staff to ensure that customer service agents maintain a professional demeanor.

Solution:    Connection to any telephone service beyond the limits of outgoing collect calls only, must be specifically requested in writing by facility managers, and custom system programming must be employed. There are no incoming call connections.

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Question:   Will the telephone system accommodate my Spanish-speaking detainees? I have a large population of Spanish-speaking people in my facility and I am concerned about full access to the confinement telephones.

Answer:     Yes, the telephone system provides for alternative language prompts in multiple languages.

Solution:    Multiple language prompts are available for selection by the detainees. Spanish is the most commonly requested second language and is currently available as a secondary language default on all ATN confinement telephone systems. Other language prompts are available by request of the facility.

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Telephone Customers:

Question:   Why do you have a block on my line?

Answer:     This question requires a multi-part answer in that ATN may not have a block on your line. ATN service representatives can quickly check to see if we have placed a company block on your line, or if your calls are not being completed for some other reason. ATN, may block your line for any of the following most common reasons.

• Excessive Call Charges Exceeding ATN Credit Limits
  
• Kick back of any Call Records or Charges by your Local Service Provider
  
• Non-payment of Outstanding Direct Billed Charges
  
• Any Indicated Fraudulent Use of the Telephones
  
• The line subscribed to an un-billable Local Service Provider
  
• Customer's Billing Information Incomplete
  
• Threatening or otherwise Uncooperative Customer
  
• Facility Requested Block
  
• Called Party Requested Block
  

Additionally, the Local Service Provider may directly or indirectly have the line blocked from receiving collect calls. This may be due to any of the following:

• New Telephone Number
  
• Owner Requested Third Party Billing Block
  
• Non-payment of Long Distance or other Third Party Charges
  
• Poor Payment Record with Local Provider
  
• The Local Service Provider does not accept any Third Party Charges
  
• New Telephone Exchange not currently programmed
  

Solution:    The ATN customer service representative will investigate the reasons for any telephone number being blocked, and will work with the customer to develop an appropriate solution. Technical or network related problems will be referred to the ATN Maintenance Department for further investigation and resolution.

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Question:   Why do you charge so much for these collect calls? Your company is just taking advantage of the detainees and their families and charging what ever you like for the calls!

Answer:     The ATN policy is to rate calls at or below similar collect calls made from a local payphone. These calls are no more expensive than the same call placed from a local payphone located anywhere in the community. Most collect rates within any state are governed by regulations passed by the State Public Service Commission, or State Legislature. The Federal Communication Commission governs inter-state rates. ATN charges for inter-state calls are generally below the rates charges by the predominate long distance carriers for the same service. Indeed the call cost is half that of many inter-state payphone providers for similar service.

Solution:    One cost control measure is to set-up a Prepaid Discount Calling account with ATN. This will result in a substantial savings over the cost of regular calls, and any funds not used may be refunded at the customer's request. Additionally, a prepaid account will allow the customer to better manage a budget for calls from a detention facility.

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Question:   Why can't I receive calls on my brand new telephone number? The phone company installed this new number in my home yesterday, and I am told that the telephone keeps stating "Call Not Allowed".

Answer:     The destination phone number for all calls placed from a detention facility are checked against a national database. This is called "Validation". Local telephone service providers are responsible for entering the phone numbers into this database and assuring the call completion data is correct. It generally takes from one (1) to ten (10) days for this information to become available for checking, sometimes the local service provider never properly completes this process. All attempted collect calls to telephone numbers without proper validation information will not be completed.

Solution:    The quickest solution to this problem is to set up a prepaid account with ATN. The validation process will be bypassed and you can receive your calls immediately.

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Question:   All I have is a cell phone, how can I get my calls? I do not have a regular telephone line to my home, and I use my cell phone as my primary telephone service.

Answer:     Cell phone companies will not accept any third party billing for collect calls, therefore no cell phone numbers will pass validation to receive calls. However, ATN can bypass the validation system for customers that open Prepaid accounts. This would allow collect calls to complete to cell phone and non-billable exchanges.

Solution:    ATN can route "collect" calls to your cell phone from any of our facilities. You must however set up a prepaid account with ATN to cover the call cost, and you will be responsible for any charges for airtime your cell phone contract calls for.

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Question:   I had a collect call block on my phone, how can I get my calls? I removed the collect call block with my local service provider, however I still can't receive my calls.

Answer:     It generally takes from one (1) to ten (10) days for your local service provider to update your telephone number information in the national database. This is their responsibility. Sometimes the local service provider fails to properly complete this process and it can take several weeks to resolve the problem. All attempted collect calls to telephone numbers without proper validation information will not be completed. Additionally, ATN is reluctant to extend credit for collect calls to parties that continue to block and unblock their phone numbers with their local service provider.

Solution:    The most effective solution is to establish a prepaid account with ATN allowing you to receive your calls immediately.

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Question:   I want to keep the collect call block on my phone, can I still receive calls? I have people living in my home who have abused my telephone and I don't want to remove the collect call block on my line, because they will use my phone inappropriately while I am at work. I would, however, like to receive calls from a specific detention facility.

Answer:     This is not an uncommon problem! ATN can program their phones from a specific facility to bypass the validation process. You can receive "collect" calls from that facility only, without affecting any of your telephone services.

Solution:    In order for ATN to bypass validation on a phone line with a known collect call block, the customer must establish a prepaid account. The customer can then with ATN then receive immediately.

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Question:   I want my phone blocked from receiving calls from a detention facility? I am receiving calls I don't want to receive or, I have someone living in my home who is accepting calls I do not want them to receive. However, I don't want to limit my phone from receiving any collect calls.

Answer:     Yes, ATN can block your line from any one, or all of our managed detention facilities. This can be accomplished without affecting any of your other telephone services.

Solution:    ATN will place an owner requested block on any telephone number. It is suggested this request be secured with a password that is known only to the phone owner. Often the party accepting the calls, without the line owner's knowledge or permission, will call ATN service representatives requesting an owner block be removed, this while pretending to be the actual phone owner. The number will not be unblocked without the appropriate password response.

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Question:   I called the facility and had them block my line, now I want to receive the calls? I have decided that I want the block removed, I now want to receive my calls from the detention facility. How can I get this block removed?

Answer:     Before ATN will remove any phone number block requested directly by facility managers, we must receive confirmation from someone at the facility responsible for managing detainee telephone privileges. ATN will not even accept unblocking requests from the phone owner's local service provider once a facility requested block has been placed on the line.

Solution:    Have a responsible facility management representative contact an ATN service representative and request the line block be removed.

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