Phone & Video Calls in Utah (UDC)

How Phone Calls Work

Phone service at both Utah state prisons runs through GTL — the company now known as ViaPath Technologies. Calls only go one direction: the incarcerated person places them, and incoming calls are not accepted. In a verified emergency, facility staff will relay a message.

Before calls can connect, the incarcerated person submits a telephone request form listing the numbers they want to call — so a new arrival cannot phone home until that list is processed. Calls are placed with a personal PIN, personal calls may be monitored and recorded (attorney calls are not), and calls must be in English unless authorized otherwise. Third-party billing and credit-card calls are prohibited.

What Calls Cost

UDC’s communication page lists current rates at $0.10 per minute plus tax for local, in-state, and out-of-state calls alike, with international calls listed at $0.19. The page does not date these rates, so treat the posted page as the live source — rates appear under “Current Rates” on UDC’s Communication page.

There are two ways calls get paid for:

• AdvancePay — a prepaid account a family member or friend sets up and funds through ConnectNetwork (web.connectnetwork.com), tied to your phone number. When the person calls that number, the account is charged.
• Inmate debit — the person pays from their own account; those deductions appear on their account statement.

Video Visits: Free on ThrIVE

Video visiting in Utah runs on ThrIVE, a browser-based system that UDC pays for with department funds — visitors are not charged. UDC’s published FAQ notes a future fee has not been ruled out.

The essentials:

• Video visits run Monday through Thursday and are limited to 30 minutes per day, including login time.
• You must already be an approved visitor — the same application and background check as in-person visiting, covered in Visiting in Utah. Approved visitors email a photo ID to the facility’s visiting office and receive ThrIVE login credentials by email.
• Visits are scheduled at least two business days ahead through the sign-up forms on UDC’s visitation page.
• It works from a home device in a regular browser. The in-person dress code applies on camera; photos, screenshots, and recordings are prohibited and can end the visit, and driving during a visit ends it immediately.

Tablets — In Transition During 2026

Utah’s facilities use tablets for education, library books, music, commissary ordering, and some calls. UDC announced in March 2026 that it is switching tablet vendors, from Orijin to ViaPath: personal tablets were collected beginning March 20, housing sections share a limited pool of tablets during the changeover, and ViaPath installation is projected for late May through early July 2026 at the Salt Lake City prison and August or September at Gunnison.

Two things follow for families. First, tablet access is reduced during the transition, which can mean fewer calls and slower communication for some months in 2026. Second, UDC currently publishes no family-to-inmate electronic messaging service — whether the new ViaPath tablets bring one has not been announced.

Verify Before Acting

For the general, nationwide overview of this topic, see the national guide: Staying in Touch.