FAQ
Questions families ask
Straight answers about how Kite works, what it costs and what it will not do.
What is Ask Kite?
Ask Kite (askkite.ai) is an AI assistant for someone in prison or jail. They call it from the facility phone, or in some state prisons write to it from the tablet, and it answers their questions out loud or in writing. Each person gets their own phone number and passphrase, and their family sets up the account and pays. On the line it is simply called Kite. It is not connected with other companies or apps called Kite or Kite AI.
About Kite
How quickly can my loved one start using Kite?
Their number works straight away, and in many systems they can call it the same day. Some facilities keep an approved call list, and where that applies the person inside has to add the number first, which can take a few days. Nothing on your balance expires while you wait.
Can they try it before I pay?
Add your person and they get $2 free to try Kite ($5 with a friend's code): on our demo line or by message. Add $10 and what's left becomes real money for their calls. It needs a saved card and a confirmed email, and nothing is charged for the card. It is given once per person, once per family and once per card, and it has no cash value.
Which prisons and jails does Kite work with?
Calling works from any facility phone or tablet that can call a regular local number. Some facilities require the number to be on an approved list first, which can take a few days. Messaging is currently available in Washington and California state prisons; everywhere else is calls only.
Is this legal?
Yes. Calling Kite is an ordinary phone call: your loved one dials a regular local number from the facility’s own phones, under the facility’s rules, monitoring and rates, like any other call. Writing to Kite goes through the facility’s own messaging service, and the facility reads every message.
Is it safe and private?
Nothing said on a call is kept. There is no recording, no transcript and no memory between calls; when a call ends, what was said in it is gone. The only exceptions are ones they ask for out loud: a problem passed to our support team, or Kite’s answer sent to their tablet. Written messages are different: Kite keeps its own replies, and the first few words of the message each one answers, for 30 days, then deletes them. The facility’s phone and messaging systems still monitor and record the way they always do, and Kite cannot change that.
Can I see what my loved one talks to Kite about?
No. Your dashboard shows the minutes used and the money spent — never what was said on a call or written in a message.
Can Kite give legal advice?
It is not a lawyer and does not replace one. It can explain how the law and the process work, help them understand their case and their paperwork, prepare questions for their attorney and draft letters. Decisions about their case belong with their lawyer.
What if my loved one is in crisis?
Kite is not a crisis line. It cannot see them, call anyone or alert staff. If someone inside is in danger, the facility’s staff and mental-health services are the people who can act, and the fastest way to reach them is through the facility. Kite will talk with them for as long as they have, but it is not a substitute for a person.
Are there limits on how much they can use it?
One call can run up to 30 minutes (15 in California), and they can call again straight away. There is no monthly cap. The balance is the only limit, and nothing carries over or runs out at the end of a month.
Are there hidden fees, and who pays the facility’s phone charges?
Kite charges $0.10 a minute of talking, rounded up to the whole minute, and $0.20 to $0.40 a message. There is no connection fee, no monthly fee and no charge for looking things up. The facility’s phone provider bills its own per-minute rate the way it always has. Kite’s charge is on top of that, and we have no control over the other part.
Can I sponsor more than one person?
Yes. One account is a family. Each person you add gets their own number and their own passphrase. They share one family balance, and you can set a limit on how much of it each person can use. You can also add money to one person’s wallet, which only they can use.
Can they share the passphrase with other people inside?
They shouldn’t, and there is no need to: everyone you add gets their own line. The passphrase opens the line and spends your balance, so anyone who knows it can use the minutes you paid for. If it gets out, you can change it from your dashboard at any time.
What if the facility moves my loved one?
Their number and passphrase stay the same, so they dial exactly what they dialed before. If the new facility keeps an approved call list, the number has to be added there again. Messaging follows the state, so it may stop or start with a move.
How do I cancel, and do you offer refunds?
There is nothing to cancel. Kite is prepaid, so you stop by not adding more money, and your balance stays until it is used. To close the account, email [email protected] from the address on your account and we refund any unused balance to your original payment method within 10 business days. Free credit and promotional bonus credit are not refundable in cash.
Can they use messaging right now?
In Washington and California state prisons, yes. They write to Kite through the facility’s own messaging service and Kite writes back, at $0.40 a message in Washington and $0.20 in California. The facility reads every message first, so an answer can take minutes or, sometimes, a day to arrive. The two messages we send to get them started — a welcome, and their number and passphrase — are free. Everywhere else is calls only for now.
- How quickly can my loved one start using Kite?
- Their number works straight away, and in many systems they can call it the same day. Some facilities keep an approved call list, and where that applies the person inside has to add the number first, which can take a few days. Nothing on your balance expires while you wait.
- Can they try it before I pay?
- Add your person and they get $2 free to try Kite ($5 with a friend's code): on our demo line or by message. Add $10 and what's left becomes real money for their calls. It needs a saved card and a confirmed email, and nothing is charged for the card. It is given once per person, once per family and once per card, and it has no cash value.
- Which prisons and jails does Kite work with?
- Calling works from any facility phone or tablet that can call a regular local number. Some facilities require the number to be on an approved list first, which can take a few days. Messaging is currently available in Washington and California state prisons; everywhere else is calls only.
- Is this legal?
- Yes. Calling Kite is an ordinary phone call: your loved one dials a regular local number from the facility’s own phones, under the facility’s rules, monitoring and rates, like any other call. Writing to Kite goes through the facility’s own messaging service, and the facility reads every message.
- Is it safe and private?
- Nothing said on a call is kept. There is no recording, no transcript and no memory between calls; when a call ends, what was said in it is gone. The only exceptions are ones they ask for out loud: a problem passed to our support team, or Kite’s answer sent to their tablet. Written messages are different: Kite keeps its own replies, and the first few words of the message each one answers, for 30 days, then deletes them. The facility’s phone and messaging systems still monitor and record the way they always do, and Kite cannot change that.
- Can I see what my loved one talks to Kite about?
- No. Your dashboard shows the minutes used and the money spent — never what was said on a call or written in a message.
- Can Kite give legal advice?
- It is not a lawyer and does not replace one. It can explain how the law and the process work, help them understand their case and their paperwork, prepare questions for their attorney and draft letters. Decisions about their case belong with their lawyer.
- What if my loved one is in crisis?
- Kite is not a crisis line. It cannot see them, call anyone or alert staff. If someone inside is in danger, the facility’s staff and mental-health services are the people who can act, and the fastest way to reach them is through the facility. Kite will talk with them for as long as they have, but it is not a substitute for a person.
- Are there limits on how much they can use it?
- One call can run up to 30 minutes (15 in California), and they can call again straight away. There is no monthly cap. The balance is the only limit, and nothing carries over or runs out at the end of a month.
- Are there hidden fees, and who pays the facility’s phone charges?
- Kite charges $0.10 a minute of talking, rounded up to the whole minute, and $0.20 to $0.40 a message. There is no connection fee, no monthly fee and no charge for looking things up. The facility’s phone provider bills its own per-minute rate the way it always has. Kite’s charge is on top of that, and we have no control over the other part.
- Can I sponsor more than one person?
- Yes. One account is a family. Each person you add gets their own number and their own passphrase. They share one family balance, and you can set a limit on how much of it each person can use. You can also add money to one person’s wallet, which only they can use.
- Can they share the passphrase with other people inside?
- They shouldn’t, and there is no need to: everyone you add gets their own line. The passphrase opens the line and spends your balance, so anyone who knows it can use the minutes you paid for. If it gets out, you can change it from your dashboard at any time.
- What if the facility moves my loved one?
- Their number and passphrase stay the same, so they dial exactly what they dialed before. If the new facility keeps an approved call list, the number has to be added there again. Messaging follows the state, so it may stop or start with a move.
- How do I cancel, and do you offer refunds?
- There is nothing to cancel. Kite is prepaid, so you stop by not adding more money, and your balance stays until it is used. To close the account, email [email protected] from the address on your account and we refund any unused balance to your original payment method within 10 business days. Free credit and promotional bonus credit are not refundable in cash.
- Can they use messaging right now?
- In Washington and California state prisons, yes. They write to Kite through the facility’s own messaging service and Kite writes back, at $0.40 a message in Washington and $0.20 in California. The facility reads every message first, so an answer can take minutes or, sometimes, a day to arrive. The two messages we send to get them started — a welcome, and their number and passphrase — are free. Everywhere else is calls only for now.
Money
How do I know this is not a scam?
Fair question — this industry has earned it. Kite is prepaid only: nothing renews, nothing auto-charges, and you can close the account and have any unused money you paid in refunded. Saving a card costs nothing. And you can reach a person without signing in: [email protected]. We reply within 2 business days.
Is there a monthly plan?
No. Kite is prepaid only. You add money when you want to and it lasts until it is used. Nothing bills you on a schedule.
Do calls and messages come out of the same money?
Yes. Talking draws from your balance by the minute and messages draw from it one at a time — you do not buy them separately or in packs. If you support several people, the messages each one writes on the tablet are paid from their own wallet.
What happens when the balance runs out?
When the money runs out during a call, Kite says so about a minute before and then ends the call. New calls and messages wait until you add money, so it cannot run up a bill you did not fund.
Do they get warned before the money runs out?
Yes. When less than a minute of paid time is left, the assistant says so on the call. They are also told the balance and the time remaining at the start of every call, so a call ending is never a surprise.
Why does a message cost more in some states?
Because the prison system sets that price, not us. Washington charges us many times what California does to carry the same message, so it is the one that costs more. We pass that through rather than charging every family the average, and we only list a state once we have confirmed what it actually charges.
Does looking things up on the web cost extra?
No. It is free, and nothing about it appears on your balance. The only thing a call costs is the per-minute rate above.
How do I pay?
Card, Apple Pay, Google Pay, or your bank account through Link. A payment company handles the card, so Kite never sees or stores your card details.
Secure checkout powered by Stripe
- How do I know this is not a scam?
- Fair question — this industry has earned it. Kite is prepaid only: nothing renews, nothing auto-charges, and you can close the account and have any unused money you paid in refunded. Saving a card costs nothing. And you can reach a person without signing in: [email protected]. We reply within 2 business days.
- Is there a monthly plan?
- No. Kite is prepaid only. You add money when you want to and it lasts until it is used. Nothing bills you on a schedule.
- Do calls and messages come out of the same money?
- Yes. Talking draws from your balance by the minute and messages draw from it one at a time — you do not buy them separately or in packs. If you support several people, the messages each one writes on the tablet are paid from their own wallet.
- What happens when the balance runs out?
- When the money runs out during a call, Kite says so about a minute before and then ends the call. New calls and messages wait until you add money, so it cannot run up a bill you did not fund.
- Do they get warned before the money runs out?
- Yes. When less than a minute of paid time is left, the assistant says so on the call. They are also told the balance and the time remaining at the start of every call, so a call ending is never a surprise.
- Why does a message cost more in some states?
- Because the prison system sets that price, not us. Washington charges us many times what California does to carry the same message, so it is the one that costs more. We pass that through rather than charging every family the average, and we only list a state once we have confirmed what it actually charges.
- Does looking things up on the web cost extra?
- No. It is free, and nothing about it appears on your balance. The only thing a call costs is the per-minute rate above.
- How do I pay?
- Card, Apple Pay, Google Pay, or your bank account through Link. A payment company handles the card, so Kite never sees or stores your card details.
Secure checkout powered by Stripe
Still have a question?
Write to us and a person answers by email, within 2 business days. [email protected]