TDD User Employs Keyboard
Telecommunication Devices for the Deaf, known as TDD for short, allow deaf or hearing impaired individuals to connect to their hearing family, friends and businesses by converting speech to text and text to speech. This process does not, however, happen automatically; it starts when the TDD user connects to a relay center and begins typing. To facilitate the transfer of communication from the TDD user to the relay center, a keyboard accepts input from the user and sends it--much like a computer sends plain text across a network connection -- to the operator on the other end.
Relay Center Relays the Call
When a TDD user connects to a relay center, a relay operator accepts the incoming call and reads the text typed by the TDD user. The TDD user provides a telephone number to call and, if applicable, an individual to request; the relay operator then dials the number, reaches the individual, and begins relaying information from the TDD input to the hearing person on the telephone line.
The Relay Operator Sends Responses to the TDD
As the relay operator speaks with the hearing individual, he or she types the individual's responses into the computer. These electronic responses are modulated into audible sounds and sent to the connected TDD; to reply, the TDD user simply types a response and sends it back to the operator. The relay operator is trained to carry on complete conversations in this method, ending each statement or question with the phrase "Go ahead" to signal that the TDD or listening operator is ready to receive a response.
TDDs Use Modems
To facilitate the transfer of information from the user's TDD to the relay operator's computer, TDDs modulate inputted text into audible sounds that can be transferred across a telephone line using a process similar to that employed by computer modems. When the modulated data arrives at the relay center operator's computer, an attached modem demodulates the incoming sounds back into data and displays the text on the operator's screen. When the operator types a response on a computer, this process is completed in reverse.
Tags: relay operator, from user, relay center, audible sounds, connects relay, connects relay center, facilitate transfer