Commonwealth of Kentucky Selects Sprint to Supply Relay Services for its Deaf and Hard of Hearing Community

Wireless News
03-30-2011
Commonwealth of Kentucky Selects Sprint to Supply Relay Services for its Deaf and Hard of Hearing Community
Type: News

The Commonwealth of Kentucky recently selected Sprint, providers of Telecommunication Relay Services (TRS), to provide its full suite of relay products to the Commonwealth as the newly designated Kentucky Relay Services provider.

According to a release, in October of 2010, the Kentucky Public Service Commission released a Request for Proposal in order to comply with federal laws requiring that telecommunications relay services be provided. A team of experts in the area of telecommunications technology and the needs of deaf, deaf-blind, and hard of hearing relay users evaluated and scored each proposal. A three-year contract was awarded to Sprint with an option for a subsequent two-year extension.
Kentucky Relay allows hearing callers, text-telephone (TTY), CapTel and Speech to Speech (STS) users to communicate with one another through trained Relay Operators, particularly when the hearing party does not have specialized telecommunications equipment. Kentucky Relay is available 24 hours a day and 365 days a year, the Company said. There are no restrictions on the number or length of calls. The service is confidential, and records of conversations are not maintained.

Emma Danielson of Sprint will serve as the Account Manager and the primary point of contact for Kentucky Relay once the transition is complete. Danielson brings to the account 15 years of experience in the Telecommunications Relay Field. As a Relay customer herself, Danielson has insight and firsthand knowledge of the needs of the deaf and hard of hearing population she serves. "I am looking forward to working with all Kentuckians' with their telephone communications needs and keeping them connected with one another," said Emma Danielson, Sprint account manager for Kentucky Relay.

Sprint Relay will employ an outreach program that includes several outreach specialists who will provide awareness to Kentucky residents about new telecommunications relay features, such as Internet-based relay services, including WebCapTel, Internet relay, Video relay, Wireless relay and other technologies under development.

"Sprint Relay is excited to work with the Commonwealth of Kentucky to provide telecommunication needs to the deaf and hard of hearing community. It has been our goal for the past 20 years to continue improving the quality of our services allowing individuals with hearing loss access to the telephone," said Mike Ellis, director of Sprint Relay.

More information:

www.sprintrelay.com

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