Wyoming Relay Captioned Telephone Service
When the phone rings, do you feel stressed?
Are you worried that you won’t understand the person calling you?
Do you look around to see if someone else can answer the phone?
Well, worry no more!
Wyoming Relay Captioned Telephone Service allows you to answer your calls with confidence. You can relax and enjoy your conversations again! With your specialized telephone (CapTel®), your calls will be captioned and you won’t have to make wild guesses as to what the caller is saying. Captioned Telephone Services allows you to LISTEN with amplified sound and READ captions of everything your caller says during your phone conversations. Don't miss another word!
How does Captioned Telephone Service Work?
A person with hearing loss places a call on their CapTel® in the same way as dialing a traditional phone. As you dial, the CapTel® phone automatically connects to the captioning call center. People calling the CapTel® user must dial through a toll-free telephone number to connect the call to the captioning center in order for the CapTel® user to receive captions.
Behind the scenes, a specially trained operator hears and re-voices everything the other party says, and voice recognition technology automatically transcribes the operator’s voice into text, which is then transmitted with a slight delay to the telephone’s screen. This allows the person with hearing loss to read the portion of the conversation they either didn’t hear or didn’t understand.
If callers to the CapTel® user don’t dial through the captioning center first, the CapTel® phone will still operate as an amplified telephone, and the call will connect to the CapTel® user, but captions will not be available.
There is a “two-line” version of captioned telephone service that offers additional features, such as call waiting, *69, call forwarding, and direct dialing for 911 emergency services. This version requires two standard (analog) telephone lines. Spoken conversation is provided on one line; captions are provided on the second line. Captions can be turned on or off at any point in the conversation. People calling the CapTel® user dial that person’s number directly (without having to dial through the captioning center).
Internet Protocol (IP) captioned telephone service, one of the newest forms of telecommunications relay service, combines elements of captioned telephone service and IP Relay. IP captioned telephone service can be provided in a variety of ways, but uses the Internet instead of the telephone network to connect the caller with a hearing loss with the relay operator who can provide the captions. IP captioned telephone service can be used with an existing voice telephone and a computer or other web-enabled device without requiring any specialized equipment. IP captioned telephone service is currently under the federal jurisdiction and is not administered by Wyoming Relay. Here are some companies that provide IP captioned telephone service:
Hamilton Relay, Inc.
Purple Communications, Inc.
Sorenson Communications, Inc.
Sprint
24-Hour-A-Day Service Available
24-hour-a-day service is offered at no cost to users. Users are responsible for any long distance charges.
The cost of captioned telephone relay service as well as telecommunications relay service is covered by a surcharge (currently $.02) on all Wyoming landline and cellular lines as required by Title IV of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and Wyoming Statute.
Spanish Captioning (866-217-3362) is available for Spanish-to-Spanish calls everyday from 6 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. mountain time.
For Hearing callers: Dial 877-243-2823 to reach a 1- line CapTel® user. Following the recorded prompt, enter the CapTel® user’s area code and 7-digit phone number and your call will be connected. (Please note: there may be a slight delay in the CapTel® user’s initial and subsequent responses as they read the captions.) Dialing 7-1-1 will work to reach a CapTel® user.
Obtaining Specialized Captioned Telephone Equipment
For information on a variety of captioned telephone equipment available at no cost to eligible applicants through the Wyoming Relay Equipment Distribution (WYRED) program, please visit the WYRED page:
Insert hyperlink to WYRED page
CapTel® FAQs
http://www.captel.com/customer_service/kb/index.php/category/frequently-asked-questions
CapTel® Customer Service
• Customer Service: 1-888-269-7477
• En español: 1-866-670-9134
• Fax: 1-608-204-6167
• Email:
• Website: http://www.captel.com/customer_service/
CapTel® user guides may be obtained from the above Customer Service website.
CapTel® Call-Me Cards are approximately the size of a standard business card and are for use with 1-line CapTel®. They contain the toll-free captioning center telephone number, with an area for the CapTel® user to add their own phone number. The Call-Me Cards are free of charge and can be printed from the above customer service website or obtain through:
Wyoming Relay Administration Office
851 Werner Court, Ste 120
Casper, WY 82601
800-452-1408