A specially trained communications assistant (CA) facilitates the conversation between a person with a hearing or speech disability and other individuals. Calls can be made anywhere in the world, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. All calls are completely confidential.
Captioned Telephone Services (CTS) is used by a person with hearing loss who has some residual hearing. CTS allows you to read word-for-word captions of what the other person on the call is saying, while you also listen to what is being said using your residual hearing.
When you dial the phone number of the person you are calling, CTS automatically connects with the relay captioning service. Automated speech recognition technology, with or without the assistance of a relay communications Assistant, transcribes the other person’s words into captions for you to read.
There is no cost to you to use CTS. The per-minute cost for this service is paid for through state and federal funding.
You can view a video of how CTS works below.
The type of CTS equipment and service that you would use depends on what kind of phone service you have, and if you have Internet service.
This service is called Internet Protocol (IP) CTS. IP CTS is similar to CTS. However, with IP CTS the voice part of the call is delivered over your telephone line, while the captions are delivered via your Internet connection. IP CTS works well if you prefer a more traditional phone experience. People dial your telephone number and the call automatically links to the relay captioning service. The service is available at no cost to you, but you must register before you can begin using the service.
There are multiple providers that offer this service. You can review their offerings and contact the provider that you would like to use:
Software apps make it easy to get captioned telephone service on select smartphones and tablets. The app delivers captions of everything your caller says, while you listen (with your residual hearing) and speak directly to your caller. The service is free for you to use, but you must register before you can begin using the service.
There are multiple providers that offer this service. You can review their offerings and choose the provider that you would like to use:The federal Lifeline and state Telephone Assistance Plan (TAP) provide monthly discounts on landline or wireless telephone service, or on internet (broadband) service, for eligible low-income customers.
Telephone Assistance PlanIndividuals who are deafblind can use a special TTY equipped with a braille display or a large visual display.
The term “GA” or “go ahead” is important for TTY relay calls for turn taking purposes. “GA” insures that you (the TTY user) and the standard phone user do not respond at the same time and miss each other’s communication. When you read “GA”, you will know that it is your turn to speak. The same is true for the standard phone user, who will not respond until you type “GA.”
You can request that the CA type at a speed slower than the standard rate. You can request a specific speed, in five-word increments, beginning at ten words per minute and going up to 45 words per minute. In order to determine the pace that works best, you can ask the CA to try different speeds until you find a speed that is comfortable.
When people want to reach you by phone, they can call you through Minnesota Relay by dialing
7-1-1 or the toll free number: 1-800-627-3529.
When making an emergency 9-1-1 call, dial 9-1-1 directly without using Minnesota Relay. All 9-1-1 centers are equipped to handle TTY calls. Minnesota Relay can process emergency calls, but this may delay the response to your call.
To use Deaf-Blind Relay you need a special TTY equipped with a Braille display or a large visual display, and telephone service.
If you have significant combined vision and hearing loss and meet federal income guidelines, the National Deaf-Blind Equipment Distribution Program, called iCanConnect, can provide you with free communication technology and training.
To contact the iCanConnect program:
A Customer Preference/Profile form allows you to customize your relay call.
By completing and submitting a Customer Preference/Profile form the relay is able to store your individual call preferences in their database. This will allow your relay calls to be set up quickly.
You may complete the form:
For questions or additional assistance, contact T-Mobile Accessibility Care:
For assistance with making a Deafblind Relay call, contact T-Mobile Accessibility Care:
To schedule a free presentation, contact the Minnesota Relay Outreach office:
HCO allows a person who can hear but who has very limited or no speech capability to make and receive phone calls. Using HCO relay and a specially designed telephone with a text display, you can listen directly to the voice of the other person on the call and type your response to the relay communications assistant, who voices the response to the other person.
The term “GA” or “go ahead” is important for HCO relay calls for turn taking purposes. “GA” insures that you (the HCO user) and the standard phone user do not respond at the same time and miss each other’s communication. When you hear “GA”, you will know that it is your turn to speak. The same is true for the standard phone user, who will not respond until you type “GA.”
When people want to reach you by phone, they can call you through Minnesota Relay by dialing 7-1-1 or the toll free number: 1-800-627-3529.
If you have completed a Customer Preference/Profile form and indicated your answer type as HCO, or if your caller requests HCO:
If you have not completed a Customer Preference/Profile form and your caller does not request HCO:
Two-Line HCO is an enhanced form of Hearing Carry Over that offers you more control and allows for interactive conversation without the use of “GA” (go ahead) instructions. You can respond in real time, and even interrupt, rather than wait for the other party to say “GA.”
Requirements for Two-Line HCO
When making an emergency 9-1-1 call, dial 9-1-1 directly without using Minnesota Relay. All 9-1-1 centers are equipped to handle TTY calls. Minnesota Relay can process emergency calls, but this may delay the response to your call.
To use HCO relay service you need a TTY and a standard phone with telephone service.
If you meet certain eligibility requirements, you may qualify to receive a TTY at no cost through Minnesota Access to Communication Technology (MN ACT).
A Customer Preference/Profile form allows you to customize your relay call.
By completing and submitting a Customer Preference/Profile form the relay is able to store your individual call preferences in their database. This will allow your relay calls to be set up quickly.
You may complete the form:
For questions or additional assistance, contact T-Mobile Accessibility Care:
Tips
For assistance with making an HCO call, contact T-Mobile Accessibility Care:
IP Relay service is currently under the jurisdiction of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and is not a service of Minnesota Relay.
IP Relay is a text-based form of relay service that uses the internet, rather than a traditional telephone line and TTY, for calls between a person who is deaf, hard of hearing, deafblind, or who has a speech disability and the other person on the call.
Simply type what you want to say to the IP Relay operator, the operator relays the message to the person you called, and then types their response back to you. You can make IP Relay calls using a computer, laptop, tablet, or select smartphones. For information on IP Relay:
IP Relay is offered by T-Mobile Accessibility; the service is free, but you must register for a T-Mobile IP Relay 10-digit telephone number before you can begin using the service. To register, do one of the following:
Upon completing the registration, a 10-digit number will be assigned. Only one IP Relay phone number is needed to make and receive calls through the web or mobile applications.
IP Relay’s Two-Line Hearing Carry-Over allows a person with a speech disability to listen and type their conversation while the relay operator reads aloud to the other party.
Go to https://43574298.fs1.hubspotusercontent-na1.net/hubfs/43574298/IP-Relay-2Line-HCO.pdf.
IP Relay’s Two-Line Voice Carry-Over allows a person with hearing loss to speak directly to the other party while the relay operator types what is heard.
Go to https://43574298.fs1.hubspotusercontent-na1.net/hubfs/43574298/508_ip-relay-2-line-vco-booklet.pdf .
Minnesota Access to Communication Technology (MN ACT) provides free telecommunications equipment (such as TTYs, speech amplifying phones, speech generating devices, cell phones, and more) to eligible Minnesotans who are having difficulties using the telephone due to a hearing, speech, vision, or physical disability.
If you do not qualify for MN ACT, staff can provide you with a directory of vendors that sell specialized telecommunications equipment.
The federal Lifeline and state Telephone Assistance Plan (TAP) provide monthly discounts on landline or wireless telephone service, or on internet (broadband) service, for eligible low-income customers.
Spanish speaking persons with a hearing or speech disability are able to make relay calls. This is not a translation service. Both parties must speak Spanish, and at least one party must have a hearing or speech disability.
For information on placing a relay call using Spanish language, visit T-Mobile’s servicio de retransmisión en español.
For assistance with making a Spanish Relay call, contact T-Mobile Accessibility Care:
Inglés: 1-800-676-3777
Español: 1-800-676-4290
E-mail: access@t-mobile.com
Online: https://www.tmobileaccess.com/contact
Speech-to-Speech (STS) relay allows a person who has difficulty speaking or being understood on the telephone to communicate using her or his own voice or voice synthesizer. An STS communication assistant (CA) revoices the words of the person with a speech disability so the other person on the phone call can understand them.
STS relay CAs are specially trained to understand a variety of different speech patterns including callers with cerebral palsy, Parkinson’s disease, multiple sclerosis, Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, muscular dystrophy, stuttering, a laryngectomy, stroke complications and other voice disorders, or conditions affecting clarity of speech.
You can view a video of how STS works below.
When people want to reach you by phone, they can call you through Minnesota Relay by dialing 711 or the STS toll-free number: 1-877-627-3848.
For anyone who has a speech disability and is a T-Mobile wireless customer, STS calls are available in a single tap. Simply add the STS icon on your smartphone's home screen, and tap it when you're ready to make a call.
The icon is a shortcut, not an app, so it uses virtually no space on your phone and makes STS that much easier. It's available for both iOS and Android phones, and set up is easy.
Set Up Instructions (NOTE: for mobile devices only):
In an emergency, dial 911 directly. You may use STS to call 911 but that will not be as fast as dialing 911 directly. Be prepared to provide your full name, description of emergency and location.
No special telephone equipment is needed to use STS, though some people may find it beneficial to use a speakerphone or hands-free telephone equipment. If you have hearing loss, you can use STS with an amplified phone.
If you meet certain eligibility requirements, you may qualify to receive telephone equipment at no cost through Minnesota Access to Communication Technology (MN ACT). For more information on MN ACT:
Completing an STS Profile will allow you to customize your STS calls by submitting your call preferences, such as:
You have the flexibility to update your user preferences as needed. Your information is confidential and secure.
You may complete the form:
T-Mobile Accessibility Care has dedicated customer service staff is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week to assist STS users. Accessibility Care can also provide information to organizations serving STS users on how to place and receive STS calls, and on features designed to support STS users and their callers.
Call Setup
STS users may tire and speech may become more difficult during long calls. In order to speed up the processing of your call, you can provide call information for the STS communications assistant in advance. This can include information such as the number to be dialed, the name of the person being called, the subject of the call, special instructions, or anything that makes it easier for you to complete your call (such as prescription or account numbers).
To use Call Setup, you must complete a Customer Profile at https://tmobileip.com/auth/login. Once you have a Customer Profile, go to the Speech-to-Speech tab, and then click on “Update STS Call Setup”. You can add Call Setup information up to 24 hours in advance of your call. Your Call Setup instructions are available as soon as you click “Submit”, and will continue to be available for 24 hours.
Saved Messages
If you dictate a message to leave on a voicemail or answering machine and then get a busy signal, you can ask the STS communications assistant to copy the message into your customer profile. When you want to try the call again, redial STS and ask the communications assistant to retrieve the saved message. After 24 hours, the message copied into your profile will be automatically deleted from the system.
A hearing person may use a standard telephone (wired or wireless) to place a relay call and easily converse with a person who is deaf, deaf-blind, hard of hearing, or who has a speech disability.
A specially trained communications assistant (CA) facilitates the telephone conversation between you and the person with a hearing or speech disability. Calls can be made 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. All calls are completely confidential. Standard charges apply for long-distance calls.
You do not need any special telephone equipment to make a relay call.
When you receive a relay call, don’t hang up. The person calling is deaf, hard of hearing, or speech disabled and is using relay service to contact you. This is not a telemarketing call and it is very important that you do not hang up on the caller.
A Customer Preference/Profile form allows you to customize your relay call.
By completing and submitting a Customer Preference/Profile form the relay is able to store your individual call preferences in their database. This will allow your relay calls to be set up quickly.
You may complete the form:
For questions or additional assistance, contact T-Mobile Accessibility Care:
Say “Go Ahead” or “GA” each time you have finished speaking.
The term “Go Ahead” or “GA” is important for relay calls for turn taking purposes. “GA” insures that you (the standard phone user) and the relay user do not respond at the same time and miss each other’s communication. Say “Go Ahead” or “GA” each time you have finished speaking and are ready for a response. When you hear the CA say “GA” it is your turn to speak again.
Speak directly to the person calling, not to the CA.
Talk in the first person and pretend the CA is not on the call (avoid saying “tell him” or “tell her.”
The CA is not part of the conversation and will not acknowledge you if you speak to her or him.
Asking the relay user questions.
If you need to ask the relay user a series of questions, please ask them one at a time, wait for a response, and then ask the next question. This will give the relay user a chance to respond to each question and will reduce misunderstandings.
Be patient, and speak slowly.
Relay calls take longer than regular telephone calls. Because the CA must type (or re-voice) everything you say verbatim, please speak slowly. If you are speaking too fast, the CA may ask you to slow down or to repeat yourself. There may be a pause before the CA begins relaying the response back to you.
For TTY relay calls, the CA will type everything that is heard.
To ensure that relay calls are functionally equivalent to standard telephone calls, CAs type everything they hear, including background noises and voice intonations. Your words will be typed exactly as you say them.
PBX (Private Branch Exchange) Systems and 7-1-1.
You may not be able to dial 7-1-1 to make a relay call if your business has a PBX system. If you encounter this difficulty, contact the telecommunications manager or PBX coordinator from your office and ask them to re-program the PBX switch software to allow 7-1-1 access.
For assistance, contact T-Mobile Accessibility Care:
To schedule a free presentation, contact the Minnesota Relay Outreach office:
This form of relay service allows a person who is deaf, hard of hearing, or who has a speech disability to use a TTY to communicate with the other person on the call. The CA reads the TTY user’s words to the other person, and types the other person’s words for the TTY user to read.
The term “GA” or “go ahead” is important for TTY relay calls for turn taking purposes. “GA” insures that you (the TTY user) and the standard phone user do not respond at the same time and miss each other’s communication. When you see “GA”, you will know that it is your turn to speak. The same is true for the standard phone user, who will not respond until you type “GA.” The other’s communication. When you see “GA”, you will know that it is your turn to speak. The same is true for the standard phone user, who will not respond until you type “GA.”
When making an emergency 9-1-1 call, dial 9-1-1 directly without using Minnesota Relay. All 9-1-1 centers are equipped to handle TTY calls. Minnesota Relay can process emergency calls, but this may delay the response to your call.
You will need a text-telephone (TTY) and telephone service.
If you meet certain eligibility requirements, you may qualify to receive a TTY at no cost through Minnesota Access to Communication Technology (MN ACT).
Profile Form
A Customer Preference/Profile form allows you to customize your relay call.
By completing and submitting a Customer Preference/Profile form the relay is able to store your individual call preferences in their database. This will allow your relay calls to be set up quickly.
You may complete the form:
For questions or additional assistance, contact T-Mobile Accessibility Care:
For assistance with making a TTY call, contact T-Mobile Accessibility Care:
To schedule a free presentation, contact the Minnesota Relay Outreach office:
VRS is currently under the jurisdiction of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and is not a service of Minnesota Relay.
VRS is an Internet-based form of relay service that allows persons whose primary language is American Sign Language (ASL) to communicate with the relay communications assistant in ASL.
The VRS caller, using a television or a computer with a video camera device and a broadband (high speed) Internet connection, contacts a VRS communications assistant (CA), who is a qualified sign language interpreter. They communicate with each other in sign language through a video link. The VRS CA then places a telephone call to the party the VRS user wishes to call. The VRS CA relays the conversation back and forth between the parties–in sign language with the VRS user and by voice with the called party. No typing or text is involved. VRS allows conversations to flow in near real time and in a faster and more natural manner than text-based relay service.
The VRS CA can be reached through the VRS provider’s Internet site, or through video equipment attached to a television. Like all relay calls, VRS is free to the caller.
A voice telephone user can also initiate a VRS call by calling a VRS center, usually through the provider’s toll-free number.
Numerous providers offer Video Relay Service.
For more information regarding VRS visit FCC Video Relay Services.
VCO is an option for a person who can speak clearly but has hearing loss significant enough to prevent them from hearing and understanding conversations over the telephone. Using VCO relay and a specially designed telephone with a text display, the VCO user speaks directly to the other person on the call. The relay communications assistant (CA) types what is spoken by the other person for the VCO user to read.
The term “GA” or “go ahead” is important for VCO relay calls for turn taking purposes. “GA” insures that you (the VCO user) and the standard phone user do not respond at the same time and miss each other’s communication. When you see “GA”, you will know that it is your turn to speak. The same is true for the standard phone user, who will not respond until you say “GA.”
NOTE: If you prefer to keep the handset in one position for speaking rather than moving it to and from the TTY, you can use a Y-jack or line splitter. This allows the TTY and the telephone to be connected on the same line. The handset can remain in one position (either at your ear or holding it as a microphone), allowing you to speak into the phone and read the text with greater convenience.
When people want to reach you by phone, they can call you through Minnesota Relay by dialing 7-1-1 or 1-800-627-3529. If you haven’t completed a Minnesota Relay Customer Preference/Profile form indicating how you will answer incoming Minnesota Relay calls, you will need to answer incoming calls in one of two ways:
Two-Line VCO is an enhanced form of Voice Carry Over that offers you more control and allows for interactive conversation without the use of “GA” (go ahead) instructions. You can respond in real time, and even interrupt, rather than wait for the other party to say “GA.” Unlike typical relay calls, the CA does not identify the relay and is present only to type the voice of the standard telephone user.
This is similar to standard VCO. However, the CA will not hear the VCO user speaking and only serves to type the other person’s response back to the VCO user. You (the VCO user) do not need to say “GA” when you are finished speaking, but you must type “GA” in order to bring the CA back on-line to continue relaying the other person's response. The other person will be heard by the CA and must say “GA” each time he/she is finished speaking. You must request VCO With Privacy (or Privacy On) at the start of your call.
When making an emergency 9-1-1 call, dial 9-1-1 directly without using Minnesota Relay. All 9-1-1 centers are equipped to handle TTY calls. Minnesota Relay can process emergency calls, but this may delay the response to your call.
To use VCO relay service you need a specialized VCO phone and telephone service, or a TTY, a standard phone, and telephone service.
If you meet certain eligibility requirements, you may qualify to receive a TTY at no cost through the state of through Minnesota Access to Communication Technology (MN ACT).
A Customer Preference/Profile form allows you to customize your relay call.
By completing and submitting a Customer Preference/Profile form the relay is able to store your individual call preferences in their database. This will allow your relay calls to be set up quickly.
You may complete the form:
For questions or additional assistance, contact T-Mobile Accessibility Care:
For assistance with making a VCO call, contact T-Mobile's Accessibility Care:
To schedule a free presentation, contact the Minnesota Relay Outreach office: