Patent ID: 7505573

Claim:
A method for enabling an inmate to make a telephone call to a called party, the method comprising: purchasing, by a called party, a prepaid card having a monetary value and a personal identification number (PIN); providing, by the called party to an administrator of the prepaid card, the PIN of the prepaid card and a telephone number of the called party; associating, by the administrator, an account number matching the telephone number of the called party, as provided with the PIN of the prepaid card by the called party, with a prepaid account of the called party; determining, by the administrator, the monetary value of the prepaid card using the PIN of the prepaid card as provided by the called party; transferring, by the administrator, the determined monetary value of the prepaid card to the prepaid account of the called party; dialing, by an inmate of a correctional facility using a telephone of the correctional facility, the telephone number of the called party for the inmate to make a telephone call to the called party; processing the telephone call from the inmate to the called party to determine whether to complete the telephone call, the processing including checking whether the called party has a prepaid account having an account number matching the telephone number of the called party; if the called party has a prepaid account having an account number matching the telephone number of the called party, then determining whether monetary value of the prepaid account of the called party is sufficient for paying for the costs of the telephone call; and if the monetary value of the prepaid account of the called party is sufficient for paying for the costs of the telephone call, then completing the telephone call from the inmate to the called party.