What is the Telecommunication Relay Services (TRS) Charge?
Local telephone companies offer Telecommunications Relay Services (TRS) to help hearing- or speech-impaired individuals communicate via the telephone. TRS is required by Title IV of the Americans with Disabilities Act and to the extent possible, must be “functionally equivalent” to standard telephone services. Communications assistants (CAs) relay the content of calls between users of special text telephones (TTYs) and users of traditional telephones. For example, a TTY user can use the phone by calling a TRS provider (or relay center), where a CA will place the call to the voice user and relay the conversation by transcribing spoken content for the TTY user and reading text aloud for the voice user. TRS recently has expanded to include Video Relay Service (VRS) that provides a video link that allows a CA to view and interpret sign language and IP Relay Service that enables two-way communication between an individual using a non-voice terminal device (e.g., a computer) and an individua
