Please 
Alabama Relay
Service 
FAQsAbout Alabama Relay
What is Alabama Relay?
Alabama Relay is a free service that provides full telephone accessibility to people who are deaf, hard-of-hearing, deaf-blind, and speech-disabled. You can use Alabama Relay to make calls to anyone who has a telephone in the United States and around the world.
Always available:
Alabama Relay is
available 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 356 days
a year.
Accurate & Transparent:
A relay operator voices everything you type and types everything you say.
Private & Confidential:
All Alabama Relay calls are strictly private. No records of any conversations are
maintained.
Free Services:
The service is free for anyone to use. Long distance charges may apply
Specialized Equipment to use to contact Alabama Relay:
People who require a TTY or CapTel phone may apply to the Alabama Telecommunications Access Program (ATAP). For more information, click here.
About Relay Provider
Sprint Corporation
Sprint Corporation has provided Telecommunications Relay Service since 1990, first in Texas. They are starting TRS service in Alabama on March 1st. At present, they serve over 30 states as well as the switchboard for the Federal Government in Washington, D.C. Sprint has about 30 Relay Centers throughout the nation.
Sprint Relay
Sprint is committed to providing the kind of relay service that makes it possible for people to reach out to the world and communicate without giving it a second thought. State-of-the-art technology and equipment is used in bringing service to hundreds of thousands of relay customers. For example, Sprint's Relay system lets callers store personal reference information such as frequently dialed numbers, preferred call type, long distance carrier, and other data. This allows calls to be processed faster and more efficiently.
Operators that process the relay calls are referred to as Relay Operator. Sprint's relay operator receive extensive training and are routinely monitored and tested to ensure the quality of performance remains high. So, whether you're chatting with a friend or closing an important business deal, you can depend on the quality of Sprint's relay service.
All Sprint Relay calls are strictly confidential. Federal law requires strict confidentiality for the operators. No part of the conversation between two callers is revealed or saved.
Training of Sprint Communication Assistants
Relay operators are specially trained and sign a confidentiality statement so all conversations are kept private. The relay operator simply facilitates the call and none of the conversations are divulged. Relay operators will not participate in conversations for any reason. When a TTY user is speaking with a standard phone user, the relay operator types what the hearing user is saying and then the relay operator will voice what the TTY user is typing. Relay operators will type everything they hear, including background noises, such as barking dogs or crying babies.
All relay operators participate in 20 hours of Diversified Culture. Sprint utilizes videos, role play, group activities and discussion groups to educate its employees on the different needs of their customers. Customers will benefit from relay operators who participate in role playing that incorporates varying levels of ASL difficulty throughout the initial training program. Relay operators spend approximately 25 hours practicing simulated calls on a training prototype that functions precisely as the actual relay equipment. The relay operators must demonstrate their proficiency in translating material to a training supervisor.
