Telecommunications Relay Service
Every state is required by law to provide a
telecommunications relay service, which enables people with special
telecommunications needs to communicate with others. An example is the
"standard" relay service of facilitating communications
between a deaf person using a TTY and a hearing person using a normal
voice phone.
We are fortunate to be living in these times, when we
are beginning to see specialized relay services, in addition to the
basic service.
Here's our coverage on the IP
Captioned Telephone Service approved by the FCC in December 2006.
October 2000 - One cool specialized service is Video
Relay, which allows the deaf person to sign to the relay provider,
rather than using a TTY.
November 2000 - How about all these new
telecommunications services - things like caller ID, optional calling
plans, 900 numbers. Can I use them with the relay service? The ALDACON
2000 Telecomm
Shopping for the Millennium tells you everything you want to know
about these issues.
June 2003 - In a move that the hearing loss community
widely applauded, the FCC recently voted to improve the state relay
services. We're also waiting with baited breath for their pending ruling
on hearing aid compatible (HAC) wireless phones. Here's
the story.
July 2004 - You've probably already heard the rave
reviews for the CapTel system. But did you know that
Sprint
is providing free CapTel phones for Federal Relay Users?
September 2005 - Communications
continues to get easier for people with hearing loss. Now you can access
IP relay from AOL's instant messaging software!
October 2004 - Interested in making
relay calls from your pager? Here's how you can!
November 2004 - The FCC is considering
whether the existing relay exemption for three-way calling should be
renewed.
November 2005 - The FCC is considering
two new regulations concerning captioned telephones. One would mandate
that all state relay services include captioned telephones; the other
would establish a Internet-based captioned telephone program.
January 2006 - Long Distance CapTel Calls Are No Longer Free
February 2006 - Relay Service Warns
Potential Victims of Fraud
February 2006 - Here's
Cheryl Heppner's report on the IP Relay Panel held at the 2005 TDI
Conference.
August 2007 - Relay Services and HOH
Folks: Why They Don't Want to Serve You
March 2008 - FCC Orders Emergency Call
Handling and Commits to Numbering for Internet Relay Users in 2008
August 2008 -
FCC Announces
Ten-Digit Numbering and Emergency Call Handling Procedures for IP Relay
January 2009 -
Phone program
for deaf is questioned
April 2009 -
Hearing Loss Association
of America Position Statement Regarding Captioned Phones & the
California Public Utility Commission
May 2009 -
Sprint Relay
Conference Captioning: My Experience Using an Outstanding Service
June 2009 - VRS and IP Relay
Registration Requirement Delayed
June 2009 - Wells Fargo Keeps Hanging Up
On Your Deaf Grandmother
July 2009 -
FCC Requests
Comments on Mandatory Captioned Telephone Relay Service
August 2009 - Thoughts on TDI's
Statement Regarding Allegations of Manufactured VRS Minutes
August 2009 - NAD Sues Wells Fargo
Over Failure to Accept Relay Calls
February 2010 -
Hamilton Relay Awarded
California Telecommunications Service Contract
July 2010 -
Hamilton CapTel(r) Now
Serves Massachusetts
April 2011 -
Maryland Relay Offers
Mobile Captions Service(SM)
June 2011 -
Wells Fargo and DOJ
Reach Agreement on ADA Case
October 2011 - Smartphone Captioning
Application Being Developed
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
November 2004
Editor: Relay providers are currently exempted from a requirement
that they provide three-way calling for people using the service. This
exemption will expire on February 24, 2005, and the FCC is considering
whether or not the exemption should be renewed. Comments are due by
December 17.
Here are a few paragraphs from the announcement. For more
information, or to learn how to comment, please contact Dana Jackson,
Consumer & Governmental Affairs Bureau, Disability Rights Office, at
(202) 418-2247 (voice), (202) 418-7898 (TTY), or e-mail at Dana.Jackson@fcc.gov
.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
On February 24, 2005, the one-year waiver of the requirement that TRS
providers (including providers of captioned telephone service) offer
three-way calling will expire. The Commission seeks comment on whether
TRS providers will be able to offer this feature as of that date, or
whether it is necessary to extend this waiver. We also seek comment on
whether, instead of a waiver, the requirement might be modified or
clarified and, if so, how.
In the June 17, 2003, Second Improved TRS Order & NPRM the
Commission required that TRS providers offer 3-way calling as a standard
feature of TRS. In the August 1, 2003, Captioned Telephone Order we
recognized captioned telephone service as a type of TRS. That order did
not waive the requirement that providers of captioned telephone service
offer a three-way calling feature.
On September 24, 2003, AT&T Corp. (AT&T) filed a petition for
limited reconsideration of the Second Improved TRS Order & NPRM.
AT&T requested that the Commission waive the three-way calling
requirement adopted in the Second Improved TRS Order & NPRM.
AT&T asserted that it was not possible for the TRS facility to set
up a three-way call, subject to clarification regarding how three-way
calling may be provided in compliance with the Commission's TRS
regulations. On December 11, 2003, Ultratec, Inc. and Sprint Corporation
filed a petition seeking clarification that the three-way calling
requirement either does not apply to captioned telephone service or that
a TRS provider complies with the rule regardless of the method used to
set up the three-way call.
On February 24, 2004, in response to these petitions, the Consumer
& Governmental Affairs Bureau released an order waiving for one year
the requirement that TRS providers (including providers of captioned
telephone service) offer three-way calling.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Editor:
People with hearing loss have enjoyed free interstate long distance
calling through the relay service for years, but that free service will
soon end! MCI is ending free interstate long distance calls for
California relay users effective January 12. It appears that other relay
providers, including CapTel providers, will soon be taking similar
actions. Note that intrastate (within state) relay calls through the
California relay service will continue to be free.
Here's the
notice from MCI.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Federal
Communications Commission (FCC) has ruled that the offering of free
interstate long distance service to TRS consumers is an impermissible
financial incentive. Accordingly, effective January 12, 2006, MCI CRS
will no longer provide free interstate long distance service.
For CRS
consumers, the practical effect of this change is limited to one type of
call - interstate long distance calls (e.g., calls from a
California number to a number in another state):
*
Connecting to MCI CRS will continue to be free-of-charge.
*
Intrastate long distance calls (calls from a
California number to a California number) via MCI CRS and MCI
service will continue to be free.
* Calling
parties will be billed for interstate long distance calls via MCI CRS
and MCI service.
For further
information on the FCC ruling see:
http://www.fcc.gov/cgb/dro/headlines.html
or
http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DA-05-2066A1.pdf
For further
information on CRS long distance billing contact CRS Customer Service:
800-735-0193
TTY/VCO/HCO/ASCII
800-735-0373
Voice/STS/Spanish
or by email
crs-cs@mci.com
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
January 2006
Editor:
You may have seen recent reports that long distance calls placed to or
from a CapTel phone are no longer free. This regulation went into effect
on January 12.
Note
that CapTel users must inform CapTel of their choice of long distance
providers. They will not use your provider of choice until you notify
them!
I'm
disturbed by how this situation was handled. The FCC ruling that
mandated this change was released in July of 2005, so it's not a new
idea. But I don't recall seeing anything about this change until the day
the changes went into effect. And I still have seen very little coverage
of these new regulations.
One
of the few reports I did see was from Brenda Kelly-Frey, the Director of
the Maryland Relay. She sent the following report and asked me to share
it with our readers.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Effective January 12, 2006, a new regulation by the Federal
Communications Commission (FCC) requires that any long distance charges
associated with your CapTel phone must be billed to the caller. This
means, if you make a long distance captioned call on your CapTel phone
(or if you are calling a CapTel user and the call is long distance), any
long distance charges will be billed to your local telephone number.
The long distance provider you have chosen for your home service is
NOT automatically applied to CapTel calls. You must contact CapTel
Customer Service <http://www.captionedtelephone.com/contact-us.phtml>
to have charges billed through your long distance company in addition to
any long distance company you may have chosen for your home phone line.
If you have any questions when you receive your phone bill, please
contact your local phone service provider.
CapTel Customer Service
Email: CapTel@CapTelMail.com
Toll-free: 1-888-269-7477 Voice/CapTel
TTY: 1-800-482-2424
Fax: (608) 238-3008
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
February
2006
In
November, Communication Service for the Deaf implemented a new
policy aimed at cracking down on the fraud that plagued
Internet-based relay service for the deaf. Because the Federal
Communications Commission requires that calls placed through the
relay system be as private as other telephone calls,
communication assistants were obligated to repeat, word for
word, what overseas scam artists said as they bilked American
companies out of thousands of dollars in merchandise. CSD's
solution: It allowed relay supervisors to warn potential
victims. Full
Story
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
June 2009
Rachel's 86-year-old grandmother was a loyal Wells
Fargo customer for more than thirty years. She's been forced to take her
business to a new bank because Wells Fargo representatives refuse to talk
to her. See, she became profoundly deaf about twenty years ago, and makes
her phone calls through a TTY relay service. A few weeks ago, Wells Fargo
customer service reps abruptly stopped accepting relay calls, claiming it
was a new fraud prevention policy.
Full Story
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
October 2011
At the doctor's office or in a class, for example,
the user can simply press a button and the voice of the speaker will be
transmitted to a central location where a transcriber "re-voices" the
content word by word for a speech recognition program that is trained
specifically for his or her voice. The software then transcribes the words
spoken into written form and transmits them back to the smartphone for the
user to read.
Full Story
