Minnesota Relay is a free service providing full telephone accessibility to persons who are deaf, deaf/blind, hard of hearing or speech disabled. A specially trained communications assistant (CA) facilitates the telephone conversation between a person who has hearing loss or a speech disability and the person to whom they wish to speak. Calls can be made to anywhere in the world (long distance charges apply), 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, with no restrictions on the number, length or type of calls. All calls are strictly confidential and no records of any conversations are maintained. Download a brochure explaining Minnesota Relay services.

For persons with a hearing or speech disability, the standard telephone is often a barrier to communication. In 1990, Title IV of the Americans With Disabilities Act required that Telecommunications Relay Services (TRS) be established in each state to remove this barrier. Minnesota Relay, a public service administered by the Minnesota Department of Commerce-Telecommunications Access Minnesota, satisfies this mandate. The State of Minnesota has contracted with Communication Service for the Deaf to provide Minnesota Relay.

Minnesota Relay is administered by the Telecommunications Access Minnesota (TAM) program within the Minnesota Department of Commerce. The Minnesota Relay center is located in Moorhead, Minnesota. Minnesota Relay services are provided to the state under contract with Communication Service for the Deaf.

Minnesota Relay is funded through a monthly surcharge on each wired and wireless telephone access line in the state.

For specific instructions on placing or receiving a Minnesota Relay call, please see the instruction sheets provided under Relay Users' Support.