What is the Telecommunications Relay Service (TRS) Charge?
A. Local telephone companies offer Telecommunications Relay Services (TRS) to help hearing or speech impaired individuals communicate via the telephone. TRS is required by Title IV of the Americans with Disabilities Act and to the extent possible, must be “functionally equivalent” to standard telephone services. Communications assistants (CA) relay the content of calls between users of special text telephones (TTY’s) and users of traditional telephones. TRS recently has expanded to include Video Relay Service (VRS) that provides a video link that allows a CA to view and interpret sign language and IP relay Service that enables two-way communication between an individual using a non-voice terminal device and an individual using a standard voice telephone. Costs for intrastate TRS (that is, TRS calls made within a state) are paid by the individual states. Generally, states recover the TRS costs through a small assessment on telephone customers in the state. The TRS charge is used to fund
