Contact an Individual in Custody

IDOC transitioned to ICSolutions for phone services. Please read more details about the changes below.

Phone Vendor Transition Information

Instructions to Create an ICSolutions Account | Spanish Version

Memos to Population

Individuals in custody cannot receive telephone calls but can make calls to those on their approved calling list. If you want to receive a call from an individual in custody, you will need to write the individual in custody and ask to be placed on their approved calling list.

There are two ways to fund phone calls:

Friends & Family Prepaid: If you would like to pay for the calls received from an individual in custody, you will need to create and fund a prepaid account here.

Minutes Purchased Through Commissary: If you would like to pay for individual in custody calls, you can do so by funding the individual’s trust account. Individuals can then utilize these funds to purchase phone minutes from commissary. Information to add funds to a trust account is available here.

To enhance transparency and assist stakeholders in understanding the financial impact of utilizing prepaid accounts through ICSolutions or phone minutes purchased by individuals in custody through commissary, IDOC has created a document to illustrate the cost comparison. It should be used as an example/estimate only.

ICSolutions Phone Call Cost Comparison

Participation or initiation of three-way calls by individuals in custody is strictly prohibited by IDOC rules and will result in disciplinary action.

ICSolutions® (ICS) is the only service provider used by the Illinois Department of Corrections for individual in custody telephone services. If you have questions regarding receiving telephone calls from individuals in custody, you can call ICSolutions for information. If you wish to receive calls from individuals in custody on a cell phone, you will need to call ICS to setup a prepaid account prior to accepting calls. If you have a landline phone, you may set up a prepaid account or a direct billing account. For collect or prepaid collect information, please call ICS at 888.506.8407.

Calls on the ICS phone system will come from one of the phone numbers listed in the table below based on where an individual in custody is calling from. This is the number that will be displayed on your Caller ID. Call filters or spam blockers may block these calls or send them to voicemail. ICS suggests creating a contact for this number and adding that contact as a favorite.

Any questions regarding calls from individuals in custody, please call ICSolutions® Customer Service at: 888.506.8407 or email customer services at Customer@icsolutions.com.

All calls coming from an individual in IDOC custody are announced. You can accept, block calls from an individual in custody, or block all calls from IDOC. You can also contact ICS to block individual in custody calls.

If you blocked a number in error, please contact ICS Customer Service via phone or email at 888.506.8407 or Customer@icsolutions.com to request the number be unblocked.

Note: ICSolutions® is the only service provider for individual in custody phone services used at IDOC. There are reports of friends and family setting up accounts with companies other than ICSolutions® for phone service with IDOC individuals in custody. Please ensure that you are setting up accounts with ICSolutions® Accounts with other companies cannot fund calls from loved ones in IDOC facilities and will be blocked.

Individuals in custody may receive mail at any time during their incarceration. To ensure prompt processing, the individual in custody’s IDOC number should be placed in the proximity of their name on the envelope. You can locate the individual in custody IDOC number on the Individual in custody Search link. The information will feature the facility in which the individual in custody is housed. Facility addresses are under Facilities.

Incoming Mail Policies and Procedures

Friends and family with loved ones in all IDOC facilities (except ATCs) can communicate with individuals in custody using an electronic messaging system. Messages are created and sent through ICSolutions’ Corrlinks System. All messages are screened and monitored. IDOC has enabled a feature to delay sending outgoing and receiving incoming electronic messages. This feature applies to the ICSolutions CorrLinks electronic messaging system at all facilities. While this continues IDOC’s standard review process for electronic messages, the delay period is shorter than that used for messages sent through Global Tel*Link’s (GTL) ConnectNetwork.com. 

Registration and more information are available here. 

Messages sent through GTL will not be delivered. Please visit GTL’s ConnectNetwork help page for more information on GTL ConnectNetwork refund requests.