Why are my calls blocked?

Calls to your phone line(s) from a correctional facility may be restricted for many reasons. Here are a few:

Collect Call Restriction. Your local telephone company may restrict collect calls. Call your local telephone company to have this restriction removed. Once any of these restrictions is removed, it may take up to 72 hours for a collect call to go through.

New Telephone Number.  If you have a new telephone number, a restriction could be placed on your line.  Simply provide us with the date you received your new number from your local telephone company, and CBS can remove the restriction.

Exceeded Your Spending Limit. If you have exceeded your Account spending limit with our Company, calls to your line may be blocked. If you believe this is the case, please contact us at 1-800-844-6591.

About My Bill

When an inmate dials a number and the call is answered, the called party will likely hear a brief message that identifies the call as being collect. Information about the name of the correctional facility or the name of the inmate may also be provided. The called party will then be instructed to press a button on their touchtone phone or say yes to accept the call. If the call is not accepted or if the called party merely hangs up, the call will not be billed to the dialed number.

Calls will appear on the bill only if someone in your household or business, accepts the call in this manner. Again, if nothing was done, or is the called party hangs up, the call will not be billed. If calls on your bill are unfamiliar, please check with other members of the household or business or anyone else who may have access to your telephone to determine who may have accepted the call.

How do I avoid disconnections?

To communicate by telephone with an inmate at a facility, you must have a touch-tone phone that emits a tone when the buttons are pressed.

For security reasons, failure to comply with the following could cause your call to be disconnected:

• Transfer or put the call on hold
• Use or answer call waiting 
• Use a cordless phone (static could cause a disconnect) 
• Press extra numbers on the touch-tone keypad 
• Stop your conversation (a period of silence may cause a disconnect) 
• Try to make any kind of 3-way call
  

How can I block my phone from receiving inmate calls?

If you would like to prevent calls from a correctional facility handled by Securus Correctional Billing Services, please contact us at customerservice@securustech.net and a representative will assist you in placing a restriction on your line.

There is no charge for this restriction. We make every effort to stop the collect calls; however, we cannot guarantee this service for facilities that we do not support. If you should notice collect calls still coming into your home from a correctional facility more than 48 hours after the restriction has been placed on your line, please contact the Securus Correctional Billing Services and additional steps may be taken to prevent the collect calls.

How do I open a new phone account so I can receive calls?

To receive calls from an inmate facility, you must have a touch-tone telephone. When you answer a call from a facility and hear the computerized voice, wait for the message to complete. When the message is complete, depress the appropriate instructed digit to accept or reject the call.

If you do nothing, the message will prompt you again. If you do nothing once more, or do not follow instructions, the call will disconnect. You will NOT be connected if you fail to respond to the touch-tone prompts. To protect you and to offer fair and equitable telephone access for all inmates, time limits have been placed on all calls by the correctional facility. Time limits vary from facility to facility within Securus Correctional Billing Services areas. To ensure your call isn't disconnected prematurely, please adhere to the frequently asked question on How to Avoid Being Disconnected.

We have several account options for customers to choose from. Our most popular is a prepaid AdvanceConnect™ Account account. Calls will connect to all phone types such as home phone, cell phones, and internet (such as VOiP carrier) with this Account. You can also add multiple phone numbers to your Account so you can be reached wherever you are. This means you can have your home phone number and your cell phone number all on the same Account. Only one Account to fund and all collect call charges will be deducted from your Account. Please send us an email, call us, or chat with us today to add a cell phone numbers to your current Account!

My inmate got out of jail. How do I get a refund on my AdvanceConnect™ Account?

You may not use all the money that you have placed into your AdvanceConnect™ Account by the time the inmate is released. If you need to, you may request a refund of your remaining balance. AdvanceConnect™ Accounts with a balance remaining on them will expire one hundred eighty (180) days from the date of the last call placed and paid for using the Account. (For Alaska customers, there is an exception to this refund policy.) On expired Accounts, no refunds will be issued after the Account expiration date. Prior to expiration, a full or partial refund may be obtained. To obtain a refund on an unexpired Account, please contact CBS by phone at 1-800-844-6591, by email at customer_service@securustech.net or by chat at www.securustech.net. For all check and credit/debit card transactions made by phone or on our website, refunds will be applied to the checking account or credit/debit card you last used. For refunds on Accounts that were paid via Western Union or for payments mailed in, a refund check will be mailed via regular U.S. Postal Service. Please allow 2-3 weeks for processing.

How do I get an AdvanceConnect invoice of my calls, fees and taxes?

Contact our customer service department at customerservice@securustech.net to request an invoice. Include your full name, registered phone number, pin and the month you are requesting the invoice for.

Will I get credit for dropped calls on my wireless phone?

Securus Correctional Billing Services cannot be responsible for the transmission quality of wireless/cellular networks.  These networks experience dropped calls.  Therefore, Securus Correctional Billing Services cannot issue credits for dropped calls to cell phones or wireless devices.

Why is CBS Changing?

Correctional Billing Services updated its name, its look, and its web address. Nothing else changed. Just a new look and a new place to log-in. As of November 16th, Correctional Billing Services has become Securus Correctional Billing Services and you will be forwarded to this site (www.securustech.net) to get information on our products and services and to log-in to view your Account information online. Securus Correctional Billing Services is the customer service division of Securus Technologies. Securus Technologies is one of the nation’s leading providers of inmate communication services. We serve approximately 2,400 correctional facilities and over 850,000 inmates in 44 states.  As a valued customer, you will continue to work with the very same people at our company and there will be no change in any contact telephone numbers.

What changed?
We launched a new look to make Managing Your Account easier. We have also updated our information to make it easier to understand our products and services and find what you need

Why did we make these changes?
We understand your needs for more information, clarity, access and new solutions and this is one of our steps in meeting those requests

What does this mean to you?

• Improved customer service - with more information available online, you will be able to get your answers quicker through our new frequently asked questions and new product information
• More communication with your loved ones - having information to help you select the right payment product with online access to see all of your account information will help you stay connected

What if I have more questions?
Please visit our Contact Us page if you have additional questions or concerns and a customer service representative will be happy to be of assistance

How do I get access to see my Account information online?

If you currently have a phone account, you can simply create your website registration by going to http://www.securustech.net/default.asp.

If you do not have a phone account, you will need to go to https://weblink.securustech.net/CreateAccount/default.aspx to create your phone account. After opening your phone account, you'll be given information on how to access your account online.

If I receive calls from multiple facilities, can I get a discount?

There are no discounts currently available.