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No — and it is better to hear that plainly than to spend an evening hunting for a number that does not exist. Prison phones only dial outward, to numbers the prison has approved.[1] This page is what you can actually do with that fact.
How it actually works
The person inside calls out from a wing phone — or, in a growing number of prisons, a phone in their cell — using a PIN account that can only dial numbers put forward by them and checked by the prison first.[1] There is no inbound line to a prisoner, no extension to ask for, and no service anywhere that can sell you one.
So the practical question is not “how do I ring them” — it is “how do I make sure that when they can ring, they reach me”. That comes down to two things: your number being on their approved list, and their credit stretching to real conversations rather than rushed ones.
Start with the list: how to get your number onto a prisoner’s phone list. It is the single thing that unlocks everything else.
Urgent news
For a death in the family, serious illness, or anything else that cannot wait for their next call, ring the prison itself and tell the switchboard it is urgent. Staff pass the message on and, where the prison judges it right, arrange for the person to call back — the chaplaincy often carries this, whatever anyone’s faith.[4]
If you are not sure what to say or who to ask for, the Prisoners’ Families Helpline exists for exactly this moment — free, confidential, and staffed by people who know how each prison tends to handle it.[5]
What this route is not: a way to have a chat. Prisons take genuine emergencies seriously precisely because the route is not used for anything else.
Between calls
Letters still work, and always get through eventually. Most prisons take emails through a message service, and visits are booked through the prison or GOV.UK.[1] None of them replaces hearing a voice — which is why the phone call, and what it costs them, matters more than everything else on this list. We compare every option honestly, including the free ones, in the options compared.
No. There is no number that reaches a prisoner, and prisons do not connect incoming calls to them. Calls only go the other way: the person inside rings out, from a wing or in-cell phone, to numbers that have been approved on their PIN account.
Ring the prison itself and say it is urgent — serious illness or a death in the family is exactly what this route exists for. Staff pass the message and, where appropriate, arrange for the person to call back; the chaplaincy is often involved. The Prisoners' Families Helpline can talk you through it if you are not sure what to say.
Security. Prison phones only dial approved numbers so that every call has a checked person on the other end, and calls on those lines can be recorded and monitored. An open inbound line would have neither protection, so the system does not offer one.
Yes — but it is the expensive way to be reached. On the published HMPPS rates a weekday call costs 5.50p a minute to a mobile and 2.48p to a landline, and they pay from their own capped money. The same credit buys about 2.1× the talk on a landline number.
The person inside puts your number forward on their PIN phone list and the prison checks it before it can be dialled. Only they can add it — nobody outside can. Our phone-list guide walks through the process, the timings, and what to do if a number is refused.
[1]Staying in touch with someone in prison
GOV.UK — current guidance. Read 2026-08-23.
https://www.gov.uk/staying-in-touch-with-someone-in-prison[4]Support for families and friends of prisoners
GOV.UK — current guidance. Read 2026-08-23.
https://www.gov.uk/support-for-families-friends-of-prisoners[5]Prisoners' Families Helpline
prisonersfamilies.org — opening hours read from the site. Read 2026-08-23.
https://www.prisonersfamilies.org/A landline number that rings the phone you already have, so their calls cost them the landline rate — and nobody rushes off the phone.