The Telecommunications Relay Service (TRS) is a free telephone service that allows people with hearing or speech disabilities to place and receive telephone calls. Either party may initiate a TRS call. The service is available in all 50 states and can be used for both local and long-distance calls.
Local telephone companies usually provide TRS services. TRS uses operators, called Communications Assistants (CAs), to facilitate telephone calls between people with hearing and speech disabilities and other individuals. A person with a hearing or speech disability initiates a TRS call by contacting the TRS Relay Center using a teletypewriter (TTY) or other type of text input device and providing the number of the party that he or she wants to call. The CA, in turn, places a traditional voice call to the person. Once the person answers, the CA relays the calling party’s message by voice and converts the called party’s response into text.
