Sprint to Provide Relay Services for Arizona Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing Residents

OVERLAND PARK, Kan. (BUSINESS WIRE), February 09, 2015 – The state of Arizona has selected Sprint to provide a full suite of relay products and Telecommunications Relay Services (TRS) for Arizona residents. Sprint Relay services allow customers who are deaf, hard-of-hearing or speech-disabled to communicate with a hearing person using a personal computer or mobile device. Sprint currently provides relay services in 35 states and exclusively for the federal government, Puerto Rico, New Zealand and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

Arizona Relay Service (www.azrelay.org) allows hearing callers and users of text-telephone (TTY), Caption Telephone Service (CTS) and Speech-to-Speech (STS) to communicate with one another through specially trained relay operators, particularly when the hearing party does not have specialized telecommunications equipment. These operators facilitate the call by typing the spoken words, allowing the parties using the service to understand everything that is said, either by hearing it or reading it.

Specialized equipment for relay customers, such as amplified volume control telephones, TTY units, captioned telephones, electrolarynx devices, voice amplifiers and signaling/flashing devices, can be found through the Arizona Telecommunications Equipment Distribution Program. AZTEDP provides this as a free service to qualified Arizona residents.

“Many of our state’s deaf and hard-of-hearing community, as well as those who use speech-to-speech technology, depend upon Arizona Relay Service for providing quality telecommunications,” said Sherri Collins, executive director of the Arizona Commission for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing, which administers the program. “We are pleased that Sprint has been selected as our state’s provider of this valuable service.”

Sprint Relay will deploy a comprehensive outreach program to make Arizona residents aware of new telecommunications relay features under development as well as work closely with commission staff to provide outreach services to all potential users. One specific outreach goal is to continue to increase awareness of relay services among hearing users and businesses.

“We’re looking forward to serving the residents of Arizona who depend on relay services to stay connected,” said Mike Ellis, director-Sprint Relay. “As the nation’s largest 711 TRS provider, with more than 24 years of experience, we make the communication needs of the deaf and hearing loss community our top priority.”

For more information on Arizona’s relay service please call 602-542-3383.

About Sprint Relay

Sprint is the largest and most technologically advanced TRS provider in the nation with more than 20 years of experience providing relay services to persons who are deaf, hard-of-hearing, deaf-blind, or have a speech disability to communicate with hearing persons on the phone. Sprint’s experience in this field ensures Sprint Relay users receive quality service regardless of the type of relay service they are using. Sprint’s relay service is available 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, with no restrictions on the number of calls placed or the length of calls. For more information, visit www.sprintrelay.com.