Relay Service
Relay is a service provided by state governments that
allows persons using voice phones to communicate with persons using text
phones (TTYs orTDDs).
The How it works page
describes the various types of services available.
Know what SLAM
is? SLAM is short for "single line answering
machine" retrieval. If you are unable to understand a message on
your answering machine, you can call the relay and tell them you want
SLAM. The operator will tell you to put your phone on the answering
machine and hit play. He then records the message. When the recording is
complete, he plays the message back and types it to you as he
listens.
The Relay Numbers page
lists the relay access numbers for each state.
In
February 2000, the FCC specified new rules
for the state relay services.
August 2000 - The FCC
requires all states to adopt the 711 number for
relay services.
August 2001 - IP Relay?? What's that??
Will I like it? How does it work? Find out in this article
on IP Relay.
September 2001 - Here's another article
on IP Relay, this one from some MCI folks, who talk about some of the
implementation challenges.
September 2001 - What's going
on with the telecommunications relay services (TRSs)? What are the TRS
needs of various elements of the hearing loss community. This article
on the TRS Administrators and Consumers' panel provides a lot of that
information.
October 2001 - Another look at the
telecommunications relay service, but this time from the perspective of
the relay service
provider.
November 2001 - Wisconsin Relay Service Tests Voice Recognition
April
2002 - FCC Authorizes IP Relay Reimbursement
May 2002 - Cheryl Heppner covered an
FCC
meeting on the Telecommunications Relay Service. Included are thoughts
by the commissioners and administrators about where the TRS is and where
it's going.
July 2002 - Sprint Announces Internet Relay Service
February 2003 - Wireless Phones Impacting Relay
Revenues
April 2003 - We've been celebrating IP Relay since it was first
offered a year or two ago. The FCC has just given it a huge boost by approving
it for reimbursement.
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.
January 2006 -
Interstate Long Distance Relay Calls No Longer Free
September 2006 - Sprint Launches IP Wireless
Relay Service for Blackberry Devices
August
2007 -
Relay Services and HOH Folks: Why They Don't Want to Serve You
February 2008 -
Stopping Fraud Slashes Relay Service Employment
June 2008 - TDI Commends FCC Action on IP Relay Services
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 - Ultratec
Announces New IP-Based Captioned Telephone
April 2009 -
Hamilton CapTel introduced
the CapTel 800i captioned telephone
April 2009 -
Sprint Announces Upcoming
Availability of Next Generation of CapTel Phones
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 -
COAT Supports
Nationwide CapTel in Statement to FCC
August 2009 -
TDI
Statement Regarding Allegations of Manufactured VRS Minutes
August
2009 - NAD Sues
Wells Fargo Over Failure to Accept Relay Calls
October 2009 -
AT&T Premieres Real Time IM Relay
November
2009 -
Twenty-six Charged in Video Relay Fraud Scheme
February 2010 -
Hamilton Relay Awarded California Telecommunications
Service Contract
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
November 2001
We've been hearing that voice recognition technology might be the
"next big thing" for people with hearing loss for a long time.
It seems it's always just a year or two away from being ready for prime
time. It looks like it may have finally arrived! The Wisconsin Relay
Service is going to start using Voice Recognition to speed its relay
calls. The technology is part of an Ultratec product called Fastran.
One of the problems with traditional relay is that it is slow. People
talk at 150 to 200 words a minute, but a skilled typist can only type
about 60 words a minute. So it takes considerably longer for the
Communications Assistant (CA) to type the spoken message than it took
for the hearing person to say it. Voice recognition offers the
possibility of having the typed text nearly keep up with the spoken
message.
Because the voice recognition software must be trained on the voice
of each speaker, it can't "listen" to the hearing person and
convert that speech to text. Instead, the software is trained on the
voice of the CA, who repeats what the hearing person says into the voice
recognition system, which converts it to text that is sent to the TTY.
I'll be anxious to hear what people think of this new service. So if
you live in Wisconsin, please watch for it and let us know how it works!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
February 2003
We all know that wireless phones are taking over - we see them
everywhere. Except for the fact that many digital wireless phones are
incompatible with hearing aids and CIs, they really don't have much
effect on the lives of people with hearing loss, right??
Wrong! Wireless phones are starting to impact people with hearing
loss in an unexpected way. They're causing a reduction in funding for
relay services!
As you may know, the relay service in most states is funded by a
small surcharge (a few cents) on the monthly local phone bill of
everyone in the state. But all those pennies add up to a sizeable chunk
of change. Note that the surcharge only applies to wireline phones -
those that rely on a phone line to your house. There is no relay
surcharge on wireless phones!
As wireless phone service becomes more available and reliable, people
are canceling their wireline service, and the relay fund revenues
suffer. This trend of relying entirely on wireless phone service is just
beginning, but some experts predict that it will mushroom in the years
ahead. And each person who makes the switch reduces the relay funding by
a few cents a month.
The obvious solution is to impose the same surcharge on wireless
phones, and some states are considering exactly that remedy.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Editor: We think IP Relay is one of the best recent technological
advances for people with hearing loss. For those who don't know, it
allows you to make relay calls using a computer and the Internet, rather
than a TTY. Many companies have been offering free IP Relay service for
a year or more as they promote this new system. Now the FCC has endorsed
the concept by making IP Relay eligible for cost reimbursement. Here's
more information. Thanks to NVRC for the article!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Internet Protocol (IP) Relay, which allows you to make relay calls
(e.g. deaf or hard of hearing person to hearing person or vice versa)
through the Internet. Many people enjoy the ability to make calls from
their computers instead of using other devices. The pioneer in IP Relay
was WorldCom.
During the past year, several providers have been offering free calls
through IP relay and footing some extraordinary costs while waiting for
the Federal Communications Commission to rule on whether this service
would be allowed to meet the definition of "telecommunications
relay service" under the ADA while being exempt from certain
requirements, and be eligible for reimbursement of costs for providing
it. The costs would be paid through the Interstate TRS Fund -- some of
the money collected from your monthly phone bill.
Among the FCC's decisions:
- A waiver was given for 5 years from meeting the requirements of
emergency call handling, voice carryover calls, and speech to speech
calls (previously, a 1-year waiver was in effect).
- New 5 year waivers were given for hearing carryover and 900 number
services.
- In order to keep their waivers, IP Relay providers must file an annual
report with the Commission giving details about the technological
changes in these waiver areas, the progress made, and the steps taken to
resolve the technical problems that prohibit IP Relay providers from
meeting the requirements waived.
- All waivers granted will expire January 1, 2008.
- "Cost recovery" was denied to those who provided IP Relay
prior to this ruling on March 14, 2003, who did not meet all of the
applicable mandatory minimum standards for telecommunications relay
services.
Too view the complete text (16 pages):
http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/FCC-03-46A1.doc
(c) 2003 Northern Virginia Resource Center for Deaf and Hard of
Hearing Persons.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
February 2008
Scammers from countries such as Nigeria and the
United Kingdom have been using a taxpayer-funded telephone relay service
for the deaf to target victims in the United States, current and former
employees said. About 700 people are employed at a call center in
Riverbank that provides phone translations, called relay services, for the
deaf, hard of hearing and speech-impaired. Users can access the free
service using the Internet. The service is funded by a surcharge of about
10 to 15 cents a month on all phone bills and regulated by the Federal
Communications Commission. The new owner of the Riverbank operation, New
Jersey-based GoAmerica Inc., found that a number of the center's calls
were originating from outside the United States. Because the service is
for domestic use only, the company said, it blocked the international
calls. That triggered a dramatic drop in calls and prompted GoAmerica to
announce Monday that it would slash its Riverbank staff.
Full Story
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
January 2009
Capt. Kirk and his unforgettable "Beam me up,
Scotty" introduced a generation to the concept of videophones on the 1960s
drama series Star Trek. The phones are now a reality - for more than
100,000 deaf people. The futuristic phones exploded in popularity when
the Federal Communications Commission began, in late 2000, to reimburse
companies for staffing call centers with sign-language interpreters.
[snip] But supercharged growth and business practices in the new industry
have raised serious concerns about the price tag for the public. The
market for video, Internet and other relay services for the deaf could
soon top $1 billion a year, up from less than $50 million in the late
1990s. Sorenson Communications Inc., of Salt Lake City, which calls itself
"the phone company for the deaf," is the dominant provider as both a
videophone manufacturer and a provider of sign interpreters at video-relay
call centers. Thomas Chandler, the chief of the FCC disability-rights
office, said in 2007 internal e-mails that the video-relay program was a
"classic fleecing of America." The government, he said, was reimbursing
companies for it at "ridiculously high rates."
Full Story
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
July 2009
The FCC is requesting comments on a proposal to
make Captioned Telephone Relay Service (CTS) mandatory. CTS is the service
of choice for many people with severe to profound hearing loss; for many
people it is the closest thing to "functional equivalence" currently
available, and we believe that it should be a required service.
Here's the complete FCC notice.
