Whatcom County Jail Remote Inmate Video Visits

Whatcom County Jail

Address:
311 Grand Avenue
Bellingham, WA 98225
Phone:
360-778-6500

Schedule a Video Visit with an Inmate at the Whatcom County Jail - Remotely or at the Jail

The Whatcom County Jail believes in the importance of their inmates having an opportunity to have visits from family and friends. When an inmate is released he or she needs to return home, and closeness to their family is one of the strongest reasons that keeps them from getting in trouble again.

One way that Whatcom County Jail is able to accomplish this is with gettingout remote video visitation. Remote visiting allows loved ones to use their phone or computer to connect directly with their inmate via a video kiosk in the jail or using tablets, all in a joint effort between the facility and gettingout.

The benefits of video visitation are:

• It keeps inmates happy.
• Allows the inmates to stay in touch with friends, family and children.
• It saves on staff time, thus money.
• Allows the jail to partake in a revenue share.
• Keeps viruses from spreading.
• Keeps contraband from entering the facility.

For more information on gettingout video visits and video messages, call the facility at 360-778-6500 or scroll down for a complete section of Frequently Asked Questions and Answers.

Whatcom County Jail - Remote Video Visitation with your Inmate

Whatcom County Jail uses GettingOut for their Remote Video Visitation and/or Visit Scheduling. 



There are three ways to remotely visit your inmate:
1.  Using the GettingOut/GTL Kiosk at the jail.
2. Using your computer from home.
3. Using your phone on the GettingOut or GTL apps.

How it Works with GettingOut
1.  Register an account.
2. Select Whatcom County Jail
3. Choose either an INMATE ACCOUNT or FRIENDS & FAMILY ACCOUNT.   

• **NOTE** Friends and Family must have funds in their "Friends & Family Account" to respond to inmate messages. 
• If you deposit money online in the INMATE ACCOUNT, than they have the freedom to spend the money on visits or phone calls to anyone, or any other communications services available at Whatcom County Jail.
• With the FRIENDS & FAMILY ACCOUNT, you control all communication services such as phone calls, video visits and messaging. Your inmate can only call the phone number you want.

4. You will then receive prompts to validate both your identity and phone number .
5. Again, choose your inmate's facility, then type their name and select your inmate.

GettingOut will then guide you through the steps needed to arrange your remote visit.

Customer Service for GettingOut
If you have any questions, you can call them at 866-516-0115.
GettingOut online contact form
Frequently Asked Questions
The GettingOut App is available on Google Play and Apple Store.

Whatcom County Jail ON-SITE (at the jail) VIDEO VISITATION SCHEDULE
311 Grand Avenue
Bellingham, WA 98225
360-778-6500

Schedule Video Visits online with gettingout

• Due to ongoing facility maintenance on-site visits may be temporarily suspended. Call 360-778-6500 before coming to the facility.
• Refer to the Jail Roster for an Inmate's Housing Assignments.
• On-site Visits are free.
• Visits are 30-60 minutes.
• Visitation schedule subject to change.
• Each inmate at the Jail is allowed one, 1-hour visit per week.
• A maximum of 3 guests are allowed per inmate visit.
• All visits must be made at least 24 hours in advance.

Whatcom County Jail REMOTE (at home) VIDEO VISITATION SCHEDULE

• All visits must be scheduled at least 24 hours in advance.
• Visitation Schedule subject to change.

IN-PERSON Visitation - Refer to the Jail Roster for an inmate's Housing Assignment

• In person visits may be temporarily suspended. Call 360-778-6500 to confirm.
• You must be signed in 10 minutes early

Remote Video Visiting an Inmate in the Whatcom County Jail

Frequently Asked Questions about Remote Video Visits

What is a video visit, and how do they work?

Who are the companies that facilitate video visits?

What is a video visit, and how do they work?

Video visitation, also known as remote visitation, is quickly becoming the preferred method for visiting an inmate in jail or prison for the following reasons:

•    It requires little to no staff, versus the staff required to move inmates to and from the visit and watch over the visit. It saves the Whatcom County Jail money.
•    It removes any opportunity for contraband (drugs) to enter the facility.
•    It can become a profit center for the facility, given that the revenue generated by visits is shared with the jail.
•    While inmates prefer to see family and friends in person, video visitation allows them to visit with them more often, and on a whim.
•    Video visitation gives the inmates and their visitors the feeling of more privacy.

Video visitation from the perspective of the visitor allows them to visit from their home, their car, at work, and even allows them to take their device to a family or religious gathering. It allows them to give their inmate the feeling of belonging and not being forgotten.

Video visitation can take place on a computer, a tablet or a phone. 

Video visitation saves time. Instead of spending hours driving to the jail, checking in, filling out paperwork, potentially being searched, waiting, and then having a 15–30-minute visit, if it isn’t cancelled at the last minute, the visit can be done from anywhere during a short break in the visitor’s day.

If the visitor does not have access to a phone or computer, they can make an appointment ahead of time and use terminals in the lobby of the jail.

You must also be on the inmate's approved list, even for a video visit.

Who are the companies that facilitate video visits?

There are several different companies that contract with all the jails and prisons that allow video visitation:

These are the companies in alphabetical order:

CIDNET
City Tele Coin
Correct Solutions Group
Correct Pay
Ctel
Gettingout
GTL
Homewav
IC Solutions
Inmate Canteen
Inmate Sales
iwebvisits
JailATM
Jpay
Gettingintouch (netvisit)
NCIC
Prodigy Sales
Reliance
Securus
Smart Communications
Tiger Services
Visitel
In addition, some jails use Microsoft Meeting and Zoom.