What is TTY and VCO?

TTY stands for Text Telephone (or Teletypewriter for the Deaf). It is also sometimes called a TDD, but TTY is the more widely used term. TTYs are used by hard of hearing or deaf people to communicate over the phone line by typing text on the keyboard.

A TTY is a special phone that lets people with various hearing or speech disabilities use the telephone to communicate. The TTY phone can be used to send text over the phone by someone who cannot hear and then they can read what the other party says on the text display of the TTY phone. A TTY is required at both ends of the conversation in order to communicate in this manner.

A TTY phones typically has rubber cups in which the handset of the phone is placed, although some TTY phones can be plugged directly in to the phone line. TTY phones can be used with any phone except cell phones. However, newer technology includes some TTY phones that work with cell phones.

A person can also use a TTY to communicate with someone not using a TTY through a Toll Free Relay Service, (TRS) which is a free service in the U.S. paid for on a state-by-state basis through a small surcharge on all phone bills. Relay services provide relay operators who type what the person on the other end says, which comes through as text on the TTY phone. There is no charge for calls through the relay service unless it is long distance, in which case you are charged your usual long distance rates. However, some states may provide a discounted long distance rate. Special relay services may be available for speech-impaired people in some states.

Most TTY phones use Baudot encoding standard and only “talk” to another TTY or to another phone through the TRS relay service. Some TTYs are available with ASCII coding, which is the language that works with computers for text storage and transmission.

Some TTYs include printers, memory and large displays.

What is a Voice Carry Over (VCO) phone?

Another option is the VCO (Voice Carry Over) phones for those who can speak but cannot hear well. The person with the VCO phone does not have to type in their conversation and can speak directly to the other party while the other party’s message is then typed by the relay operator so the hard of hearing person can read the message on the VCO phone. A VCO call requires two phone lines or an IP relay, which doesn’t require the second phone line if there is a DSL or broadband connection in the home.

The IP-relay service uses the Internet instead of the phone system. With the IP-relay setup, anyone using a computer connected to the Internet can connect to a relay operator using a “chat-like” window. Most IP-relay services do not require software and many have free upgrade software for more control.

Calls are free with the IP-Relay service since these phones use the Internet instead of your phone line. As indicated previously, the IP-Relay service simplifies calling with a VCO phone.

IP-Relay services are available from the following providers:

AT&T VRS Link is http://www.attvrs.com/
Hamilton Internet Relay Link is http://www.hamiltonrelay.com/index.html
IP-Relay.com   Link is https://www.ip-relay.com/index.php
Sprint Relay Online   Link is https://www.sprintip.com/index.jsp

These free services allow you to type in a number to call and the relay operator will dial it for you. When the call is answered, the relay operator types what the other party says so you can read it in the “chat” window. You can then type your reply and the relay operator verbalizes that message to the other party.