Relay Services

The vendor is required to provide intrastate and interstate Spanish relay services; as well as, other non-English relay as directed by the state or based on changes in the states demographics which warrant the availability of such service.
- Intrastate and interstate calling.
• The relay service shall be established to provide access for the community disabled to the intrastate telecommunication network which is functionally equivalent to that enjoyed by individuals who are not disabled.
• The relay service will be capable of accepting calls placed across state lines which, would be considered local intrastate calls.
• Individuals who use the relay service will be able to call or be called by any business or residence that has a standard telephone service in state.
• The intrastate relay system will be required to provide interstate calling.
• The intrastate relay system calls must be accounted for separately from interstate calls and shall not be billed pursuant to this contract.
- Spanish and other non-English relay
• Provide intrastate and interstate Spanish relay services.
• Provide other non-English relay as directed by the state or based on changes in the states demographics which warrant the availability of such service.
- Emergency calls
• The contractor will process emergency calls.
- Directory assistance calls
• The contractor will caption calls made to directory assistance without additional charges to the caller, unless otherwise notified by the state.
- Access to relay calling center
• Access to the relay service shall be provided directly and automatically through the relay phone as well as a toll-free number.
• The toll free number(s) shall be universally available and shall be uniform throughout the state.
• while contractors are not restricted to utilizing only one toll-free number for the relay service, the state urges the contractor to propose as few numbers as possible for access to the service to eliminate confusion and to promote easy and frequent utilization of the service.
- Relay call limitations
• The relay service must be capable of handling any call normally provided by common carriers; only those calls that are incapable of the service due to lack of existing technology are exempt for handling by the relay service; however, where possible, the contractor must establish a future handling date to provide relay services when new technology becomes available.
• The contractor has identified and will continue to identify as technology changes, those calls that are incapable of relay usage due to lack of available technology; only calls that are incapable of relay service due to lack of existing technology may be so identified.
- Special calling services
• Provide its users with conference and three-way calling and other custom calling features as they become available in this state and to the extent technically feasible.
• Charges assessed to such relay users shall not exceed the charges assessed by the local exchange company (LEC) serving the exchange from which the call is being placed.
• Additionally, charges for ancillary services not traditionally provided by the local exchange company must not exceed the rates assessed to those persons without communication disabilities.
• The contractor will caption calls to numbers delivering recorded messages unless the speed of transmission of such messages impedes effective and intelligible message transmission; the contractor will also caption recorded messages on telephone answering machines.

- Contract Period/Term: 2 years