Telecommunications Relay Services and Speech-to-Speech Services for Individuals With Hearing and Speech Disabilities

In this document, the Commission clarifies waivers of certain telecommunications relay services (TRS) mandatory minimum standards for captioned telephone relay service, a form of TRS, which were set forth in a clarification and waiver document. The clarification and waiver document waived the following mandatory minimum standards for the provision of captioned telephone service: communications assistants (CAs) must be competent in interpreting typewritten American Sign Language (ASL); TRS providers must give CAs oral-to-type tests; and CAs may not refuse sequential calls. The Commission clarifies that these requirement do not apply to captioned telephone services that use voice recognition technologies (instead of typing) to convey messages, and that do not have the CA play a role in setting up the calls.