October 29, 2014, Aurora Neb. – Through a competitive procurement process, the District of Columbia has selected Hamilton Relay as their new provider of Captioned Telephone Relay Service (CTRS). Hamilton Relay, a leading provider of Telecommunications Relay and Captioned Telephone Service, began offering CTRS to residents of the District of Columbia on October 24, 2014. Hamilton began providing traditional Telecommunications Relay Service (TRS) to the District on July 11, 2014.
DC CTRS, a program of the Public Service Commission of the District of Columbia, provides 24/7 service designed for individuals who have difficulty hearing on the telephone. Through the use of a uniquely designed captioned telephone, CTRS users speak directly to the other person and listen while reading captions of what the other person says throughout the conversation. Behind the scenes, captions are generated by a specially trained Captioning Assistant using state-of-the-art voice recognition software. Captions appear on the phone’s display screen nearly simultaneously to the spoken word, resulting in clarity and confidence in using the phone to communicate with friends, family and businesses.
“Captioned Telephone has the power to enhance the quality of life for individuals with hearing loss,” said Dixie Ziegler, vice president of Hamilton Relay. “Being able to communicate over the telephone is extremely important, and we look forward to providing the residents of the District of Columbia with CTRS service.”
There is no cost to use DC CTRS service, although equipment and long distance charges may apply. Captions are available in English or Spanish. For more information, visit www.DCRelay.com or contact DC CTRS Customer Care by calling 1-866-560-1452 (Voice/TTY) or emailing dcrelay@hamiltonrelay.com.
About Hamilton Relay
Hamilton Relay provides contracted Telecommunications Relay and/or Captioned Telephone services to 17 states, the District of Columbia and the Island of Saipan, and is a provider of Internet-based Captioned Telephone services nationwide. More information is available at hamiltonrelay.com.
Hamilton Relay is a division of Hamilton Telecommunications, a diversified communications and technology service provider based in Aurora, Neb. Founded in 1901, Hamilton Telecommunications encompasses seven primary company divisions that allow Hamilton to operate on a local, regional and national basis.