Internet

A Telecommunications Relay Service (also known as TRS, Relay Service, or IP-Relay) is a service that the deaf and hearing impaired use to make and receive phone calls to and from hearing people who do not have TTY/TDD‘s. There are many kinds of Relay calls, such as video relay (which I recently blogged about) and the most common is TTY/Voice – Voice/TTY, or text relay.

Basically, how it works is rather simple; the TTY user calls the Relay operator, who also has a TTY. (Computers and smartphones can also be used in place of a TTY with internet relay services or built-in TTY software.) The TTY user types to the operator; the operator speaks to the hearing caller and “relays” the TTY user’s typed words to them. The hearing caller responds to the operator, who types the voiced words back to the TTY user. Most relay operators (also called “CA’s,” for “communications assistant”) will also type in background sounds to help make the call more personal for the TTY user, such as (person laughing,) (person coughing,) (dog barking,) (sounds angry,) etc. I’ve freaked out hearing callers before by asking, “Are you tired?” when the operator told me that they were yawning, and one time the person I was talking to was talking about my birthday surprise with someone else in the room, and the relay operator typed it all to me. That was funny.

Here’s a diagram of a standard text relay call:

When one person finishes typing/speaking and is indicating it’s the other person’s turn to speak, they say “Go Ahead” (the typing person types “GA”) and when the call ends, both parties say/type “SK” which means “stop keying.”

If a hearing caller wishes to call a TTY user, they can do so by phoning a TRS and giving the operator the number of the TTY user they wish to call. Most internet relay services allow deaf/TTY users to subscribe to a phone number of their own, so hearing callers simply call that number and then they are automatically connected to the TRS operator and the deaf person.

TRS are paid for by telecommunications fees and are a public service. In the United States and Canada, the number 711 automatically connects one with the TRS. Relay services are available in many countries, including the UK, Australia, New Zealand, and Denmark. TRS cannot be used to call 911 emergency services. Deafies in the US can make international calls, but deafies traveling overseas cannot call US relay services and must use the relay services provided in that country, if available.

A few downsides to using relay services are that the majority of hearing people don’t understand what it is. Usually when hearing people receive a relay call for the first time, they think it is a telemarketer and they hang up, meaning the deaf user has to ask the operator to redial and then wait while the operator explains the call. New frustrations ensue if the hearing person continues to hang up. I once had to call the parts department of a local motorcycle store to get something for my motorcycle and the service counter person hung up on me three times before I gave up and had my boyfriend call them and explain to them what was going on. They finally accepted my call and apologized profusely; they felt so bad that they gave me a 10% discount.

If you are a hearing person and you receive a relay call, it will go something like this: the relay operator will ask you, “This is IP relay anon 9033. Do you know how to use relay?” If you say “no,” they will go on to explain the service to you. The basic spiel is:

You are receiving a call form a person who is using a computer. I will voice what is typed and type everything I hear on your end of the line. You may begin responding when the person pauses or when you hear the words “go ahead.” Please speak slowly and in the first person because you are talking directly to the person. When you are finished speaking and ready for a response, you may pause or say “go ahead.” Relay will begin now.

Relay calls are a bit slower than a standard telephone call, which can be a little frustrating if you are in a hurry, but I suppose it’s just something we have to live with until the technology improves.

Another negative issue with relay calls is that they are often used by spammers/scammers. Many spammers in Nigeria discovered that they could use the relay to make free phone calls to the United States, and since an operator was speaking for them, the hearing caller did not hear the Nigerian accent and had no idea they were speaking to a foreigner; they thought they were speaking with a deaf person and of course, unscrupulous scammers played on the whole “sympathize with a disabled person” angle. More information on relay scams here: Link and link.

Relay services have been around since the early 1990′s, and the service has improved over the years. There is room for growth and improvement. I hope that this post will reach a lot of hearing people so that they will understand what a relay call is, and give deaf people a chance to call them. It’s extremely frustrating for me to receive a call from a potential employer and have them hang up on me because they got connected to the operator and thought they had the wrong number, or try to call the doctor and make an appointment and have the receptionist hang up on me because they don’t understand what the phone call is about.

Previously:
IP Relay
Video Relay

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I’m going to be writing about Relay services a lot this week to increase public awareness to the different types of Relay services and how they work. In this post I’m going to talk about the service I use, and why.

I use IP-Relay for almost all of my telephone relay needs. I started using them in 2005 when they announced their new AOL Instant Messenger (AIM) service, which worked effortlessly and meant that I could make phone calls from both my desktop computer and my TMobile Sidekick. In the past, deafies made Relay calls using a TTY, which was quite cumbersome; one, you had to make extra room on your desk for the TTY, and two, it was hard to multitask between the TTY & your personal computer if you were at work, and three – the TTY screens are small, usually just one line of text. Lastly, if you were out and about, it could sometimes be difficult to find a place to plug in the TTY so you could make a phone call. Think about it – most pay phones aren’t near power outlets.

In the early part of the 2000′s, telephone companies came out with Java-enabled online relay services that allowed deafies to make Relay calls using their desktop computer – here’s an example of the one provided by IP Relay. These were a little bit more convenient than using a TTY as you could continue working at your computer while you made a phone call, but I remember the Java application crashing a lot.

The new AIM service works great; all I had to do was add the user name “My IP Relay” to my AIM buddylist and I simply click on that screen name and type “CALL” in the window that pops up to start a phone call. It looks like this when I start a call:

I simply type back and forth to the Relay operator in the Instant Messenger window and the operator relays my typed words to the hearing person I am calling, and types the hearing person’s spoken words back to me. The interface is very useful as I can switch between applications while having the conversation and keep working, or I can look up things related to the conversation in an email window or browser window. I can cut and paste text in the AIM window; this was something I couldn’t do with a TTY or with the Java-enabled internet relay. I can save the chat windows on my computer.

In addition, since my TMobile Sidekick has AIM installed on it, this also means I can make wireless Relay calls on my Sidekick. No more carrying around a TTY, and no more having to hunt for a place to plug one in when I’m out. I’m constantly on the go, and having the ability to make wireless phone calls with ease is the bee’s knees. I love how the progression of technology gives me more freedom and independence.

When IP Relay announced their AIM Relay service, they also announced a new way for deafies to receive phone calls from hearing people. In the past, to connect with a deaf person via Relay, a hearing person would have to call the 800-number for the state relay service and then tell the operator to call the number of the deaf person they were trying to reach. IP Relay now allows deaf users to register for their own phone number; deafies get a phone number with an area code that is local to them, and can share the number with anyone. When a hearing caller wants to connect with them, they dial that number and are automatically connected with the Relay operator, and the deaf recipient automatically receives an Instant Messenger window on their computer or mobile device announcing the incoming call. There’s no need to tell the operator to dial any extra numbers and there are no additional steps; the hearing caller simply just starts talking. If the deaf recipient is away from their computer or does not have instant messenger turned on, the hearing caller can leave a voice message, and the IP Relay operators will type it up and email it to the deaf recipient. Very convenient and very accessible.  IP Relay works with MSN Messenger and Yahoo Messenger as well.

The service is free and is funded by Telecommunications Relay Service Surcharges.

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