Text Relay Services for Hearing or Speech Disabled
Tuesday, August 04, 2009
Lourdes is committed to providing equal
access to communication technology for all patients and associates
who may be deaf, have hearing loss, or a speech disability. To help
us fulfill our commitment, we are happy to inform you about a
technology called Text Relay.
What is Text Relay?
Text Relay is a federally funded and regulated service
designed to make it easy for people with hearing loss or speech
disabilities to place phone calls. The service is free for both the
person making the call and the person receiving the call, and is
100% confidential.
How Does Text Relay Work?
Using a web-enabled computer or wireless device,
the caller initiates a Text Relay call by clicking on a Text Relay
button. Text Relay buttons can be found on the Telephone
Directory page of our Website. When someone clicks a
Text Relay button, a Text Relay window opens* and the call begins.
The caller is connected to an operator who will dial the phone
number associated with the Text Relay button and start the call.
The caller types his/her side of the conversation while the Text
Relay operator reads it aloud to the called party. When the called
party responds, the Text Relay operator types his/her spoken words,
enabling the caller to read the spoken side of the
conversation.
Associates receiving incoming calls will handle them just
like a regular phone call. There is no special training necessary.
The relay operator will inform the called party that
he/she is receiving a relay call and will provide instructions on
what to do.
To learn more about this technology, visit the Text
Relay Services section of the our Website.
* If pop-up blocker is enabled on the caller's computer,
it will need to be turned off to see the call window.
