Typetalk Has a New Name - Text Relay

Text Relay is a service which enables deaf, hard of hearing, deaf-blind and people with speech impairments to use the public telephone network.

Text Relay is a partnership between:

• The Royal National Institute for Deaf People  - RNID and

• British Telecomm - BT

BT funds and provides the access technology TextDirect, whilst RNID manages the service.

Textphones

A textphone or minicom,  plugs into your telephone socket at home, has a keyboard and a display that lets you type and read your conversation. To make a textphone call, the other person must either have a textphone or the caller must use Text Relay.

RNID Text Relay provides a link between the textphone user and the hearing person and helps put the hearing impaired caller in touch with the person they wish to speak to. The link is a highly trained RNID Text Relay operator who understands the needs of deaf and speech-impaired people and provides a discreet and confidential translation service.

Text Relay prefix numbers

For a person without a hearing impairment wishing to make a call using Text Relay you prefix the number you wish to call with 18002.

This will then be connected to the desired number via a Text Relay operator. If you contact a hearing impaired person who is using a minicom the typetalk operator will relay your spoken word to text and their text to spoken word. If a hearing person answers, the Text Relay operator will withdraw from the call.

The Text Relay service can be used by a hearing impaired person wishing to contact a council official or a council official wishing to contact somebody who uses a textphone.

For further information view the Text Relay website or please contact the Access Officer.

Contact us

Contact the Deaf Services Team.