Here in Indiana, we use PCS. But......I think each state has their own calling system. You'll have to wait, unfortunately.
I know that where my son is, it costs 4.95 a call. It used to be 9.95, but they just got a new system. 972-280-7286 is the number for PCS if you want to call them and see if they are in your state.
I hope that helps!
Hugs!!

I only pay about $2.50 a call from my hubby. it depends on which service is servicing that prison and how their systems work.

He will get a bunch of that information when he gets in there... and then he'll be able to relay it to you. Also if you have only a cell phone as a primary phone like myself it is all prepaid too cause you can't call collect to a phone that isn't a landline, directly.

Google voice is a good one to use. A lot of the inmates in federal use it.

I used conscallhome.com. There's a $25/mo fee, but I still saved about $60 a month. We spoke 3-4 times a week. They used a local number forwarded to my cell phone, as you mentioned above. (or inmate can call whichever phone number is listed/approved on the inmate's approved phone list).

In Federal prison it is .05 cents a minute for local calls and .23 cents a minute for long distance. This is paid for by the account set up by the inmate. Collect calls are pretty expensive. I tried google voice but could not get a local exchange. I found a service that works exactly like conscallhome, but it only costs $7.95 a month. It is called patlive.com

I went to Walmart and bought a $10 Tracfone. I called Tracfone to activate it and told them the zip code in Iowa where the phone would be used, which is the zip code of the prison. I live in Missouri. My son can call me for $2 for 20 minutes, deducted from his phone account, which I put $20 into every so often by sending a money order to the Iowa prison address that handles the phone accounts for inmates.

I can buy minutes for my Tracfone at a discounted rate by using the cards that came in the package with the phone. On my end, the Tracfone minutes cost me anywhere from $.06/ min to $.13/min. Maybe this isn't the best option out there, but it works for me.

I will do some research into the other options mentioned above. Thanks to all who shared.

One more thing. I dropped my original $10 Tracfone in a toilet. Thank goodnesss it was only water! But it would not work after that, even after drying out for 3 days. So I went to CVS and bought another Tracfone, but this one was $19.99 and has double minutes for life. Every time I buy minutes, I get double what I pay for. My new Tracfone has a qwerty keyboard, but it's still not as nice as my Android smartphone from Verizon, which I use as my primary phone. My son is the only one who ever calls me on my Tracfone. I wear both phones everywhere I go.

Next month, my Colorado son (son #2 of 3) will stand trial by a jury for a sex offense. I may end up with two sons in prison. If so, I will use my son's cell phone with the Colorado number and let the contract on my Missouri phone expire. I want to have local numbers for any and all of my sons who are inmates.

By the way, son #3 has never been in trouble with the law and is straight as an arrow, according to his wife. Let's hope it stays that way, or I will just check myself into the nearest psychiatric hospital. *ha*