Muscogee County Jail Emailing An Inmate

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Muscogee County Jail

Address:
700 10th Street
Columbus, GA 31901

Phone:

706-653-4258

Frequently Asked Questions

Send an Email or Text to an Inmate in the Muscogee County Jail

Sending an Email, Text or Secure Electronic Message to an Inmate

The Muscogee County Jail provides a service which allows secure electronic messaging for their inmates.

The email service they use is called Jail ATM.

Jail ATM is not directly connected to the internet like normal email, but instead each correspondence is first intercepted by the jail's servers. This gives the staff an opportunity to review the messages before delivering them to both inmates and the people that the inmates are communicating with.

Electronic messages received by the inmates are read either on kiosks within the inmate's unit, or or on tablets provided by the third party service that oversees the program.

Allowing inmates access to email has many upsides:

  • It is less expensive than regular mail.
  • It allows for faster turnaround of communication.
  • It allows the jail to monitor inmate communication in real time.
  • Because the jail receives a portion of the revenue, it brings the jail revenue they wouldn't have otherwise.
  • It is an inmate privilege that they don't want to have taken away, and thus can be used as a way to control behavior.
  • It keeps unwanted contraband from entering the facility in the physical mail.

For a list of Frequently Asked Questions and Answers about Jail ATM inmate emailing and texting, scroll down for more information about it or call the jail at 706-653-4258.

How do I Send Texts / Emails to an Inmate at Muscogee County Jail

Muscogee County Jail uses the services of Inmate Sales to allow text messaging communication between inmates and their friends and family.


Chirping is the product name for inmate texting.  
This product allows inmates to send chirps (texts) to friends and family members.


Here's how it works:

  • First you must register, and then funds are added to the inmate's account. If you want to pay by phone, call 877-998-5678.
  • When an inmate gets the device they may send 5 free automated messages each day for the first three days of possession of the chirping device.  
  • These automated messages will inform the person the inmate Chirped who is sending the Chirps and the facility they are Chirping from.
  • It will then ask them to go to a direct link to the inmate's account on the Inmate Sales website.
  • The website will then instruct them to use a credit card to put money on the inmate's account.  

Cost of Chirping:  

  • Inmates will be charged a monthly service fee of $4.00.  Inbound and Outbound Chirps are $0.10 each.
  • If an inmate has available funds on their chirping device they will be able to chirp any cell phone and that chirp will appear to be a normal text. 
  • If you wish to stop receiving Chirps from an inmate, reply to the Chirp with STOP.

iphone app
Google Play app

 

Messaging and Email with an inmate at Muscogee County Jail

Using Jail ATM Digital Messaging with an Inmate at Muscogee County Jail - Sending and Receiving Messages.



How It Works:

Once you sign up with Jail ATM instant Messaging you can you can send texts from the cell phone associated with the mobile number you provided at sign-up, and receive text messages from the inmate on the same cell phone. You can only use the phone number you signed up with or it won't work.

Viewing Texts and Sending Replies:

Each text message sent to the inmate is converted to an email prior to delivery. The resident will view your text message just like he or she would view an email (for instance, on a kiosk within the housing unit); however, the resident will be alerted that the message came in as a text. The resident’s reply is converted back to a text message after sending, and delivered to your cell phone. Everything you send and receive will be viewed by the Muscogee County Jail first.

Emails:

After you sign up for the SMS Texting Program, all of the inmate's emails and other electronic messages are delivered to your cell phone as a text message – you will no longer receive emails from the resident. You can still send an email to the resident after you sign up for the SMS Texting Program. However, the resident’s reply comes back to you as a text message. You can access your messaging account on the JailATM website to see a full record of all electronic messages sent and received.

Cost:

Once you sign up, the fees will be outlined and are subject to change, however Muscogee County Jail typically charges $1.00 per text message sent and received.

Email With an Inmate in the Muscogee County Jail

Frequently Asked Questions about Inmate Email and Texting


Can inmates send and receive texts and emails?

How much does it cost for an inmate to use a text or email service?

Can inmates send and receive photos through their messaging system?

Can I send an inmate a link to a video to watch?

Can I send an inmate a video?

What device does an inmate use for texting and emailing?

What is the inmate text and email system used in the Muscogee County Jail?

What are the companies that provide electronic messaging services to jails and prisons?

How do I fund the inmate’s messaging system?

How often can an inmate text and email?

Can inmates text or email any time of the day or night?

Can an inmate email or text inmates in other jails or prisons?


 

 

Can inmates send and receive texts and emails?

Almost all jails and prisons have adopted or are adopting a messaging system which allows inmates to communicate with their friends and family using an electronic messaging system. It’s neither email nor text, it’s something in between.

The inmate and their contacts do not use their regular email accounts or phone numbers, but account numbers that are set up with the company providing the service.
All communication goes through them. Think of them as a middleman.

Once a contact of the inmate is approved, like the approval process a visitor goes through, an account is set up, using a credit or debit card to fund the account. 

To start, the inmate’s contact can send a message that has a limit of so many characters, usually about one page of text. 

The message is then reviewed by a computer that scans the message for certain keywords or phrases that are not allowed, almost like a censoring service. If the machine scanner finds problems with the message it sends the message to the Muscogee County Jail staff to review, and if they find no issues, will then forward it to the inmate’s account so that they can read it.

If there are problems with the message, it is possible the message will not be sent. The sender will be notified of the decision and will not get a refund.

Once the inmate receives the message, should the account holder have funded the account allowing replies, the inmate can respond with a similar length message.


 

 

How much does it cost for an inmate to use a text or email service?

The cost to use the electronic messaging service, which is like texting or emailing, costs between $0.50 and $1.00 per page; a page being about 500 characters.


 

 

Can inmates send and receive photos through their messaging system?

Photos can be sent by the inmate’s outside contact, but not by the inmate due to security concerns. There is an extra cost, usually about $0.50 for each photo attached. 

The photos must go through a security screening where nudity, violence and other things are checked before the photo can be delivered. If the photo is rejected, the sender will be notified, but no refund will be given.

The inmate does not have the ability to print out the photos that make it past the screening, but the photos will stay in their account so that they can view them at their leisure. 


 

 

Can I send an inmate a link to a video to watch?

No.  Because this is a closed system, the Muscogee County Jail inmate has no access to the internet, thus the inmate will have no access to any links that you send them.


 

 

Can I send an inmate a video?

Yes, just as you can send text and photos, you can send a video message, or if not a message, then a video of your children or yourself. Every company has a limit on the length of the video, usually no more than one minute, and at a cost of approximately $2.00 to $3.00 per video.

The video will first be screened for any nudity, excessive vulgarity, violence, etc. If it is rejected on any of the grounds the sender will not be given a refund.

As with the policy of photos, the inmate cannot reciprocate. They cannot send videos of themselves or anything in jail.


 

 

What device does an inmate use for texting and emailing?

The jails that contract with the electronic messaging service is given a certain number of kiosks within each unit for inmate use. Inmates can log on as they might with a public computer terminal. 

In addition to the public terminal kiosks, inmates are given (or can rent) access to individual tablets like a bulky, almost indestructible ipad. These allow an inmate to use them to access your messages, photos and videos in a more private manner. 

Should the inmate damage the tablet, they will be responsible for replacing it. The money will be deducted from their commissary account.


 

 

What is the inmate text and email system used in the Muscogee County Jail?

The electronic messaging system used by Muscogee County Jail, if there is one, can be found at the top of this page. If there is no information about the ability to text or email with an inmate, it is possible that this facility has recently changed companies or does not have this service available. Call 706-653-4258 to confirm.


 

 

What are the companies that provide electronic messaging services to jails and prisons?

This is a list of all the companies in the United States that work with jails and prisons, providing text and email messaging between inmates and their friends and families:

Access Corrections
CIDNET
City Tele Coin
Correct Pay
Corrlinks
Ctel
Edevo
Express Account
Gettingout
GTL
Homewav
IC Solutions
Inmate Canteen
Inmate Sales
JailATM
J Pay
NCIC
Paytel
Pigeonly
Prodigy Sales
Reliance
Securus
Smart Communications
TBE
Visitel


 

 

How do I fund the inmate’s messaging system?

You fund the messaging service with credit and debit cards. All of them take Visa and MasterCard, most also take Discover, but only a few of them take America Express.


 

 

How often can an inmate text and email?

When available, there is no limit to the amount of texting and email that an inmate can have with their family and friends.


 

 

Can inmates text or email any time of the day or night?

If an inmate has their own tablet, then they can text any time of the day or night. However if they are limited to the use of a wall mounted kiosk terminal in their unit, they can only use it during the hours they are allowed off their bunks or out of their cells; usually 7:00AM to 10:00PM, excluding meals, head counts and shift changes.


 

 

Can an inmate email or text inmates in other jails or prisons?

No, inmates in jail are not allowed to communicate with inmates in other institutions. There is always a way to get around it, for example if one of the inmates has access to a phone with an internet connection, but this would be the only way.

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