Dial 7-1-1 for Nebraska Relay Service

Teletypewriter (TTY) users who are deaf, hard of hearing or speech disabled can use a new statewide service to communicate by phone with standard telephone users. It's all part of the Nebraska Relay Service, a state-funded telephone service that began October 1, 2001.

According to a card that came with Nebraskans' phone bills, 7-1-1 is the newest and quickest way to access the relay anytime, anywhere and is similar to 4-1-1 for information and 9-1-1 for emergencies. Callers can use any home, business, wireless, and most pay phones in Nebraska to access this service. The service is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

To use the Nebraska Relay Service:

1. Dial 7-1-1
2. An operator called a communication assistant (CA) will answer your call. Give the CA the telephone number of the person you are trying to reach.
3. Once your conversation begins, use the term "GA" to indicate it is the other person's turn to respond.
   

During your call, everything spoken will be typed to the TTY user, and everything typed will be read to the standard telephone user. All Nebraska Relay calls are completely confidential.

The relay allows people who are deaf, hard of hearing, or speech disabled to have a telephone conversation with anyone, anytime, even if the other person does not have special equipment.

The service is also available for Nebraskans with these types of communication systems:

• Voice Carry Over (VCO) for people who can not hear but are able to speak clearly;
• Hearing Carry Over (HCO) for speech disabled callers who can hear well on the telephone to listen directly to the person they are talking with; and
• Speech to Speech (STS) for speech disabled callers to use the relay without a TTY.
  

The Nebraska Relay Service is funded by a small surcharge ($.05) on all Nebraska telephone lines. There are no charges to access the service and all local calls are free. Long distance charges apply for any long distance calls. Contact your long distance provider directly for information on rates. There are no restrictions on the length of relay calls or how many calls you choose to make.

Nebraska Relay Service also offers a customer profile. With a customer profile, the individual calling preferences (information such as connect mode, long distance company, speed dialing, and more) will automatically be available every time you connect to the relay.

To learn more about the program, contact Hamilton Telecommunications, the relay service provider for Nebraska, at 1-800-322-5299 (voice/TTY).