City Tele Coin

What City Tele Coin does

City Tele Coin (CTC) is a privately held Louisiana corporation founded in 1986 that provides inmate telephone services and video visitation systems to correctional facilities. The company is headquartered in Bossier City, Louisiana, operates with approximately 65 employees, and serves hundreds of facilities concentrated in the Southern and Southeastern United States under continuous founding management. CTC operates a B2B2C model, contracting with correctional facilities as enterprise customers while simultaneously serving end-user families and friends of inmates through direct-to-consumer channels.

The company's core technology consists of proprietary inmate telephone and video visitation systems that are programmed, tested, and maintained entirely in-house rather than outsourced. This includes DirectPay prepaid calling accounts, facility-specific inmate calling cards, a video calling platform requiring minimum 10Mbps download/3Mbps upload speeds, messaging services, and a tablet/media account system. Field service technicians, programmers, and system engineers are on-call 24/7 with automatic surveillance of voice and video traffic. Distribution spans the company website, iOS and Android mobile applications, lobby kiosks at facilities, commissary integration, phone-based ordering, and walk-in payments at the Bossier City headquarters. The CTC Phone Manager web platform (version 1.8.7.0) provides administrative tooling for correctional officers.

CTC generates revenue through usage-based per-minute calling rates capped by FCC regulation at $0.21/min for interstate debit/prepaid calls and $0.25/min for collect calls, supplemented by transaction-based processing fees ($2.50-$12.50 for media deposits, $3 online, $5.95 in-person), subscription fees ($2 monthly statement), calling card sales, video visitation usage, and commissary deposit handling. All systems are prepaid-only with no automatic billing. The company is entirely bootstrapped, with no disclosed institutional investors, funding rounds, or M&A activity in its operating history.

Name

City Tele Coin

Legal name

City Tele-Coin Company, Inc.

Website

https://citytelecoin.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1986

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Short description

City Tele Coin is a privately held Louisiana-based provider of inmate telephone, video visitation, and media/tablet services to hundreds of correctional facilities in the Southern and Southeastern United States, operating a B2B2C model with proprietary in-house developed systems since 1986.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Inmate Telecommunications Services

SIC

Telephone Communications (No Radiotelephone) (4813)

akta.pro primary industry

Correctional Food, Commissary & Inmate Services (Managed Services) (BPAKANAI)

Keywords

• Inmate telephone services
• Video visitation systems
• Correctional communications
• Inmate calling services
• Correctional facility telecom

Headquarters

HQ city

Bossier City

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Calling Card Sales: City Tele Coin generates revenue from selling inmate calling cards both on-site at correctional facilities (through commissary or lobby kiosks) and online through their website. Cards are facility-specific and funds are withdrawn as calls are placed or messages sent. Card balances cannot be reloaded and are non-refundable.
2. DirectPay Prepaid Calling: Prepaid calling account service where customers add funds to their account to receive calls from inmates. DirectPay bypasses traditional collect call billing and is phone-number specific. Charges are based on call duration with applicable per-minute rates.
3. Inmate Telephone Service Fees: Revenue from interstate inmate calling rates capped at $0.21 per minute for debit/prepaid calls and $0.25 per minute for collect calls per FCC regulations. Additional ancillary service charges and taxes apply. In-state rates regulated under state jurisdiction.
4. Media/Tablet Time: Funds applied to inmate media accounts for tablet usage including app time and other features. Processing fees apply based on funding amount tiers. All media funding transactions include non-refundable processing fees.
5. Administrative Processing Fees: Fees charged for various payment processing methods: $5.95 administrative fee for in-person office payments, $3.00 fee for online payments, plus additional fees for media processing based on transaction amount tiers.
6. Monthly Statement Fee: Monthly paper statement fee of $2.00 charged to each active account on the 1st of each month.
7. Video Calling: Revenue from video visitation services allowing friends and family to conduct video calls with inmates at supported facilities.
8. Commissary Deposits: Integration with commissary deposit services allowing families to add funds to inmate commissary accounts. Third-party providers may charge separate handling fees.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels7 records

Marketing channels3 records

Core offering

City Tele Coin deploys and operates proprietary inmate telephone and video visitation systems at hundreds of correctional facilities in the Southern and Southeastern United States. End consumers—families and friends of inmates—purchase prepaid calling services (DirectPay accounts and calling cards), video calls, messaging, commissary/media funding, and account management through the company's website, iOS/Android apps, lobby kiosks, and phone/in-person channels, with rates regulated under FCC 13-113.

Product overview

City Tele Coin provides a unified platform of communication and financial services for the correctional facility market. The core offering centers on inmate telecommunications, combining phone services (DirectPay prepaid accounts and calling cards), video visitation (Video Calling platform), and messaging. Supporting services include Tablet Time/media purchases through the Commissary Deposit service, all accessible via a Mobile App and Online Account Management portal. The CTC Phone Manager serves as the administrative platform for correctional officers and facility management. The company operates on a prepaid-only model with in-house developed and maintained systems, serving hundreds of facilities across the Southern and Southeastern United States since 1986.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• City Tele Coin Mobile App Mobile application for iOS and Android enabling families and friends of inmates to manage accounts, make payments, purchase calling cards, conduct video calls, send messages, and manage contacts.
• DirectPay

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature8 records

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Emerging players

• American Prison Data Systems (APDS): APDS provides inmate tablets, education, and communication technology to correctional facilities. Comparable to CTC's tablet/media service line, with a more modern technology stack but smaller scale and market penetration than established players.
• Corrisoft: Corrisoft provides inmate communication, education, and reentry-focused technology platforms for correctional facilities. Comparable as a correctional-focused communications technology provider, with a more modern software platform emphasis than legacy players like CTC.

Direct peers

• NCIC Inmate Communications: NCIC provides inmate telephone services, video visitation, and related communication products to correctional facilities. Comparable to City Tele Coin in scale and service mix, with similar focus on state, county, and private facility customers.
• Pay Tel Communications: Pay Tel Communications provides inmate telephone, video visitation, and related correctional communications services, particularly in the Southeastern US. A closely comparable peer in scale, regional focus, and product offering, often competing head-to-head with CTC for facility contracts.
• ICSolutions: ICSolutions provides inmate telephone, video visitation, and communication management services to correctional facilities across the US. A closely comparable peer operating in the same product categories with similar B2B/B2B2C business model, though typically serving larger state DOC contracts.
• Telmate (formerly Renovo): Telmate (part of the Renovo family) provides inmate telephone, video visitation, messaging, and tablet services. Directly comparable to CTC's full product suite with a focus on integrated, mobile-friendly inmate communications for correctional facilities.
• TouchPay Holdings (Lumen/Payit): TouchPay provides payment and money transfer services for government agencies including correctional facilities, enabling families to deposit funds for inmate commissary accounts. Comparable to CTC's commissary deposit and payment processing services.
• Renovo Solutions: Renovo Solutions offers inmate telephone, video visitation, and tablet/media services to correctional facilities. Comparable to CTC across communication and tablet services, with a similar mid-sized regional operator profile.

Broad incumbents

• Global Tel*Link (ViaPath): ViaPath (formerly Global Tel*Link) is one of the largest providers of inmate telephone, video visitation, and communication services in the US. Directly comparable as a competitor in the same correctional communications space, with a much broader national footprint and integrated technology stack.
• Securus Technologies (Aventiv): Securus (now operating as Aventiv) is the largest US inmate communications service provider, offering telephone, video visitation, tablets, and inmate payments. Directly comparable to City Tele Coin across all core product lines but at significantly greater national scale and with broader service offerings.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks7 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/city-tele-coin-co-inc

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about City Tele Coin