Telegram is the recommended way to receive messages from your loved one on Parakeet Chat. It's faster and more reliable than SMS, and works just like any other messaging app on your phone.
How to get started
- Download Telegram if you don't have it already — it's free and available on iOS and Android.
- Open the Parakeet Chat bot by visiting parakeet.chat/telegram or searching for @ParakeetChatBot in Telegram.
- Tap "Start" to begin setup.
- Share your phone number when prompted — we use this so your loved one knows who is messaging them.
- Enter your loved one's inmate ID when asked.
Once connected, any message you send to the bot goes to your loved one, and their messages come back to you through the bot.
Important: SMS stops when you connect
Once you connect to the Telegram bot, you will no longer receive messages via SMS. All messages from your loved one will be delivered exclusively through Telegram. This happens automatically as soon as you complete setup.
Sending voice messages
You can record and send voice messages directly through Telegram. Tap the microphone icon next to the message input field to start recording. Slide left while recording to cancel.
Your loved one will be notified that a voice message is waiting for them and can listen to it at any time.
Note: Voice messages cost your loved one per-minute to listen to from their voice message line, so please be considerate and send meaningful messages.
Emojis
Corrlinks — the federal messaging system your loved one uses — does not support emojis. To bridge this, Parakeet Chat automatically converts emojis into text codes before delivery, and converts codes back to emojis when your loved one replies.
For example: you send ❤️ → they receive :heart: → they type :heart: back → you see ❤️.
Your loved one can send the EMOJI command to Parakeet Chat to get a list of available emoji codes they can use in their messages.
Switching between contacts
To send messages to a different incarcerated person, type /start in the bot to switch.
Getting help
Type /help in the bot at any time to reach customer support.