The inmate has to email you first and then you have to accept the email then you can email them back and orth from that point on, it takes about 2 hours before you get the email and the same for the inmate do to screening from the prison but it is a great consept, it saves on 3 tons of paper a year and they can't just put an address in the computer and email whom ever they want and there cannot be any attatchments like pictures, it's just the text to pre-approved friends and familys kinda like their phone privlages.