The vendor required to provide telecommunications relay services be designed to relay local, intrastate, interstate and international calls that originate or terminate in state.
- Types of calls to be handled
1. Intrastate calling
• Individuals with communications disabilities subscribing to state intrastate services must be able to call or be called by any business or residence that has standard telephone service is state.
• The center must be capable of accepting calls placed across a state line, which, if the center were not utilized, would be considered local intrastate calls.
• The center shall be capable of terminating calls to toll-free numbers that are intraLATA in nature, including free NXXs used by the LECs and intraLATA 800 numbers.
2. Interstate calling
• Required to provide interstate calling.
• Comply with commission separations rules and procedures, if applicable.
• Handle Spanish language calls 24-hours a day on an interstate basis.
3. Voice and hearing carry-over (VCO)
• Accept calls to or from a voice-capable caller who is hearing-disabled that permit this caller to speak his or her own message directly to a call recipient who is hearing-capable without such transmission being processed by the CA.
• Accept calls to or from a hearing-capable caller who is speech-disabled that permit this caller to hear the communication directly from the call recipient without such transmission being processed by the communications assistant (CA).
4. Emergency calls
• Accept emergency calls and must use a system for incoming emergency calls that automatically and immediately provides the nearest and appropriate public safety answering point (PSAP) with the caller’s telephone number and the caller’s location.
• The system provides emergency services and the process for handling emergency services.
5. Recorded messages
• Relay calls to numbers delivering recorded messages (e.g., voice mail, prerecorded messages, or other information services) and the CA must alert the user to the presence of a recorded message through a “hot key” on the CA’s terminal.
• Relay recorded messages from and leave recorded messages on telephone answering machines at the request of the center customer.
• Record the recorded messages, to be retained for the length of the call-in order to more accurately and quickly relay the recorded message to the caller.
• It will relay recorded messages from and leave recorded messages on telephone answering machines.
6. Operator handled calls must meet the requirements
• Relay busy-line verify and busy-line interrupt.
7. Special calling services must meet the requirements
• Provide its users with conferences and three-way calling and other custom calling features as they become available.
- Contract Period/Term: 1 year
- Questions/Inquires Deadline: January 14, 2026
