TTY

Text Telephone Relay or Telecommunications Relay Service (TTY/TRS)

TTY is for individuals who are deaf, hard of hearing, DeafBlind, or have speech disabilities and wish to communicate with a hearing person who uses a standard telephone. TTY relay calls are generally made using a text telephone, also known as TTY, which is a communications device equipped with a keyboard for typing messages and a screen for reading messages. A TTY device connects to a standard phone line. TTY callers call the Federal Relay TTY Toll-Free Number to reach a Communication Assistant (CA) who processes their call. Once connected, the TTY user types messages to the CA, who relays the conversation by reading it aloud to the hearing person. The CA then listens to the hearing person's reply and types it to the TTY user.

 The following Toll-Free and toll access numbers allow Federal employees or the general public to connect with Federal Relay:

Toll-Free and Toll Access Numbers for Federal Relay are:

  • (800) 877-8339 TTY / ASCII (American Standard Code For Information Interchange)- Allows TTY users to type their conversation
  • (877) 877-6280 VCO (Voice Carry Over)- Allows users to voice their conversation
  • (877) 877-8982 Speech-to-Speech- Allows people with Speech Disabilities to re-voice their conversation
  • (800) 845-6136 Spanish- Allows Spanish-speaking callers type and receive their conversation in Spanish with no translation services
  • (888) 474-8983 Spanish to English- Allows callers to type in English or Spanish and recieve translation services from Spanish to English or English to Spanish
  • (866) 377-8642 Voice- Allows hearing callers to connect with a CA to type their conversation to their caller
  • (866) 893-8340 TeleBraille- Allows a DeafBlind caller to receive their conversation at a slower pace
  • (605) 331-4923 From non-domestic locations (International Voice/ TTY/ VCO/ ASCII/ Spanish)- Allows an international call to connect with a CA to place a call within the US
  • (800) 877-0996 Customer Service (Voice, TTY, ASCII and Spanish)- Allows callers to connect with Customer Service