Telecommunications Relay Services

Background

Telecommunications Relay Services (TRS) enable standard voice telephone users to talk to people who have difficulty hearing or speaking on the telephone. Under Title IV of the Americans with Disabilities Act, all telephone companies must provide free relay services either directly or through state programs throughout the 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and all of the U.S. territories. Businesses, government agencies, family, friends, and employers of persons with hearing and speech disabilities make and receive relay calls everyday.

How Does TRS Work?

TRS uses operators, called "communications assistants" (CAs), to facilitate telephone calls for people who have difficulty hearing or speaking, and other individuals. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) rules require telephone companies to provide TRS nationwide on a 24 hour-a-day, 7 day a week basis, at no extra cost to callers. Conversations are relayed in real-time and CAs are not permitted to disclose the content of any conversation. Relay callers are not limited in the type, length, or nature of their calls.

What is a TTY (Text Telephone)?

TTYs are also called text telephones. TTYs have a typewriter keyboard and allow persons to type their telephone conversations via two-way text. The conversation is read on a lighted display screen and/or a paper printout on the TTY.

What is IP-Relay (Internet Protocol Relay)?

IP Relay allows people who have difficulty hearing or speaking to communicate with anyone in the world through an Internet connection. IP Relay is accessed using a computer and the Internet, rather than a TTY and a telephone. So individuals who use IP Relay do not need to invest in a TTY; they simply use the computer to communicate. When conversing over IP Relay, people who are deaf, hard of hearing, or have difficulty speaking can participate in a conference call or go online while holding a conversation.

Unlike traditional TRS, where a TTY user contacts a TRS center via telephone lines and the communication assistant (CA) at the TRS center calls the receiving party via voice telephone, the first leg of an IP Relay call goes from the caller’s computer, or other Web- capable device, to the IP Relay Center via the Internet. The relay site is usually accessed via a Web page. The second leg of the call, as with traditional TRS, is from the CA to the receiving party via voice through the public-switched telephone network. The CA can also accept IP relay calls from persons with hard-to-understand speech and repeat the calls in an easily understandable form for the called party.

What Types of TRS Are Available?

There are several types of TRS available. Any of these may be initiated by an individual with a hearing or speech disability, or by a conventional telephone user.

TTY	Access and Requirements
Text-to-Voice TRS - This type of TRS uses a CA who speaks what a TTY user types, and types what a voice telephone user replies. The first step of this type of TRS is the TTY user’s call to the TRS center. This is functionally equivalent to receiving a "dial tone." The caller then gives the number of the party that he or she wants to call to the CA. The CA in turn places an outbound voice call to the called party. The CA serves as the "link" in the conversation, converting all TTY messages from the caller into voice messages, and all voice messages from the called party into typed messages for the TTY user. The process is performed in reverse when a voice telephone user initiates the call.	TTY user equipment: TTY or workstation with special modem and TTY software, telephone and analog telephone line (or wireless cell phone with TTY jack). (Some configurations may use sound card and headset with microphone instead a telephone.) Non-TTY users equipment: telephone, telephone line. California access: dial 771 (9-711 from campus phone) California Spanish (Espanol) TTY Relay : 1-800-855-3000 Other California Relay Service access numbers: see DDTP/CRS web page IP Relay user equipment: Computer workstation with internet access, web browser and appropriate software, if necessary, per provider's requirements. IP Relay Providers: AT&T (http://relay.att.com/), Sprint (http://www.sprintrelayonline.com/) and MCI (http://www.ip-relay.com/)
Voice Carry Over - Voice carry over (VCO) TRS enables a person who is hard of hearing, but who wants to use his/her own voice, to speak directly to the receiving party and to receive responses in text form through the CA. No typing is required by either the calling or the called party. This service is particularly useful to senior citizens who have lost their hearing, but who can still speak.
Hearing Carry Over - Hearing carry over (HCO) TRS enables a person with a speech disability to type his part of the conversation on a TTY. The CA reads these words to the called party, and the caller hears responses directly from the other party.
Spanish Relay Services - Telephone companies must provide interstate (between states) relay services in Spanish. While Spanish language relay is not required for calls within (intrastate) states, many states with large Spanish-speaking populations already offer this service on a voluntary basis.
America Online Instant Messenger(tm) Relay Services - AIM Relay Services provides an additional access point for telecommunication relay services. To use AIM Relay Services, users simply add the relay vendor's designated AOL or AIM Screen name to their Buddy List feature and send an instant message to the vendor with the ten-digit phone number they would like to call. Once connected with a Communications Assistant, the call proceeds as a traditional relay call, except using instant messages instead of typing text into a TTY device. Text relay is available to all AOL and AIM service users.	AIM Relay Service via MCI IP-Relay: Buddy list screen name: MyIPRelay AIM Relay Services is accessible on users' computers using the AOL dialup software, on the Internet using the free AOL Instant Messenger (AIM) software (http://www.aim.com), and using the Apple® iChat® client. It is also available on a wide range of wireless devices, such as the Danger® Sidekick(tm) with T-Mobile® service or using many cellular phones that offer WAP-enabled access to AIM.

Speech-to-Speech

Access and Requirements

Speech-to-Speech Relay - With this option, a person with a speech disability uses a CA specially trained in understanding a variety of speech disorders. The CA repeats what the caller says in a manner that makes the caller's words clear and understandable. No special telephone is needed for this option. The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) has granted authority to the Deaf and Disabled Telecommunications Program (DDTP) to provide Speech-to-Speech Relay Service as part of the California Telephone Access Program (CTAP).

Equipment: Telephone, telephone line.

California S-T-S Access: 1-800-854-7784

ASL Video

Access and Requirements

Video Relay Services - This type of TRS enables individuals who use sign language to make relay calls through CAs who can interpret their calls. The caller signs to the CA with the use of video equipment and the CA voices what is signed to the called party and signs back to the caller. This type of relay service is not required by the FCC, but is offered on a voluntary basis by certain TRS programs. This option is helpful for people who use American Sign Language (ASL), and for people who cannot type on a TTY easily, such as children who are ASL users.

Equipment: Computer workstation, web camera, video software for service used, high-speed internet access. Telephone and telephone line for 2-line VCO/HCO.

Providers: California Video Relay Service (Sprint) (http://www.crsvrs.com), AT&T (http://www.relay.att.com/), MCI IP-Relay (http://www.ip-vrs.com/); Hands On Video Relay Services (HOVRS) (http://www.hovrs.com), Sorenson Video Relay Services (http://www.s-vision.com)

America Online via HOVRS: AOL screen name: Hovrsim (Video Relay is available to AOL members, AIM 5.5 users and those using the Apple iChat AV 2.1 client.)

7-1-1 Access to TRS

Just as you can call 4-1-1 for information, as of October, 2001, you can dial 7-1-1 to connect to relay service anywhere in the United States. 7-1-1 will make it easier for travelers to use relay because they will not have to remember relay numbers in every state.

Don't Hang Up!

Some people hang up on relay calls because they think the CA is a telemarketer. If you answer the phone and hear, "Hello, this is the relay service. Have you received a relay call before?" please don’t hang up. Congratulations! You are about to talk to a person who is deaf, hard-of-hearing or has a speech disability, on your phone!

References

US FCC Telecommunications Relay Services (http://www.fcc.gov/cgb/consumerfacts/trs.html)
US FCC IP Relay Service (http://www.fcc.gov/cgb/consumerfacts/iprelay.html)
AOL Time Warner Press Release, July 8th, 2004 (http://media.aoltimewarner.com/media/newmedia/cb_press_view.cfm?release_num=55254076)
California Relay Service (http://www.ddtp.org/EquipmentAndServices/CRS/CaliforniaRelayService.htm)
California Speech-to-Speech Relay Service (http://www.ddtp.org/EquipmentAndServices/SpeechtoSpeech/SpeechToSpeechService.htm)

Copyright Notice

About half of this document is from the US FCC documents listed above which are government works in the public domain. Portions of this document not in those US FCC documents are copyrighted by the University of California at Berkeley.

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