Telecommunications Relay Services (TRS)

Title IV of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) of 1990 requires the FCC to ensure that Telecommunications Relay Services (TRS) are available, to the extent possible and in the most efficient manner, to the more than 30 million Americans who have hearing or speech disabilities. TRS is a telephone transmission service that is designed to give people who have hearing or speech disabilities functionally equivalent access to the telephone network. TRS has been available on a uniform, nation-wide basis since July 26, 1993. The FCC sets minimum operational, functional, and technical standards for TRS, certifies state TRS programs, and oversees the administration of the interstate TRS cost-recovery fund. Currently, TRS provides access to the voice telephone network for more than 30 million Americans who have hearing and speech disabilities. The service is offered seven days a week, 24 hours a day in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the United States Virgin Islands.