What is Captioned Telephone (CapTel)?
Captioned Telephone (or CapTel) is a new telephone technology that allows people to receive word-for-word captions of their telephone conversations. It is similar in concept to Captioned Television, where spoken words appear as written text for viewers to read. The CapTel phone looks and works like any traditional phone, with callers talking and listening to each other, but with one very significant difference: Captions are provided live for every phone call. The captions are displayed on the phone’s built-in screen so the user can read the words while listening to the voice of the other party. So if the CapTel phone user has difficulty hearing what the caller says, he or she can easily read the captions for clarification.
