--- --- Mar 30, 2022 # Pigeonly Connecting families by [Josiah Bates](/author/josiah-bates/) ## Josiah Bates Josiah Bates is a criminal justice reporter and a former TIME staff writer. He currently works for The Trace.  Pigeonly builds technology products that connects inmates and their support network of family and friends. Pigeonly builds technology products that connects inmates and their support network of family and friends.Getty Images High costs and inadequate phone services can make it difficult for incarcerated people and their loved ones to [keep in touch](https://time.com/5595475/prison-phone-calls-connecticut-law/ "undefined"). Pigeonly, which enables users to look up an inmate and then helps them set up a prison phone account, offers rates of just 6¢ a minute, compared with an average of $1 per minute for most U.S. prisons and jails. The company, which operates in over 70 U.S. and international jurisdictions, is at the forefront of global efforts to humanely reform prison and jail systems. _A weekly newsletter featuring conversations with the world’s top CEOs, managers, and founders._ [_Join the Leadership Brief_](https://cloud.newsletters.time.com/signup?nln=leadership&source=100companies "undefined"). Pigeonly Is one of the 2022 TIME100 Most Influential Companies ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"Article","@id":"https://time.com/collections/time100-companies-2022/6159469/pigeonly/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/collections/time100-companies-2022/6159469/pigeonly/"},"headline":"Pigeonly","datePublished":"2022-03-30T10:23:33.000Z","dateModified":"2026-03-03T00:01:33.187Z","description":"","url":"https://time.com/collections/time100-companies-2022/6159469/pigeonly/","keywords":["TIME100 Companies","T100Companies2022","sponsorshipblock"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt0e0533f6560fabfc/698a3023457a524f29d66406/T100-Companies-I-Pigeonly.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Josiah Bates","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/josiah-bates/"}],"creator":"Josiah Bates","articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt0e0533f6560fabfc/698a3023457a524f29d66406/T100-Companies-I-Pigeonly.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/collections/time100-companies-2022/6159469/pigeonly/","name":"Pigeonly"}}]}] ```