TTY and Relay Use for Businesses

You're the CEO

Imagine yourself as the CEO of a large organization, with hundreds of millions of dollars (or whatever) of profits per year. You walk into the call center and monitor one of your call-takers, only to hear the following conversation:

A Conversation

Hello, what do you want?

Uh, I just want to know how much you charge for your service.

(five minutes go by without any words said by either party)

Are you there?

Hello, what do you want?

I still want to know how much you charge for your service.

I need some information from you...

(information is exchanged)

Okay, thanks. Hold on while I look up the information.

Okay

(wait another five minutes)

Are you there?

Yes, I'm here. Don't you have everything you want?

I want to know how much it will cost!

(sigh) It'll cost $50/month

Okay, I'll take it

Hold on

(yet another 5 minutes goes by)

Why are you still on the line?

Uh, I'm trying to buy your service

You already bought it, why don't you get it?

Okay, that's fine. Thank you.

(wait a minute or so)

(caller finally hangs up)

What Would You Think?

What would you think if you were the CEO? Unfortunately, this is the way a large segment of your potential customer base is treated. They are only giving you the business because your competitors are just as bad. One company doing it right would probably grab, exclusively, an entire segment of people - they would be your customers just because of a little bit of training and money you spent to be polite and efficient when communicating with them!

For reference, the above conversation was created after I called a large corporation on their TTY line - the TTY conversation wasn't much different than the above.

People with Speech and Hearing Disabilities

People with speech and hearing disabilities often make use of alternatives to the traditional telephone. While email and web sites continue to be a powerful method for this group of people to contact companies, there are times when the business wants people to contact them in an interactive way - often through the telephone. In addition, there are times when an unusual request is being made - a request that is best handled in an interactive way.

For people with speech and hearing disabilities, the TTY (this is the US name for the machine - elsewhere it has different names, such as a minicom) is a means of making these interactive "phone calls." Instead of using a traditional phone, a person will use a keyboard connected to the phone system to contact similar devices. Where the other party doesn't have a compatible device (perhaps a relative or friend, or a business that is not disability friendly), most governments provide a free service to "relay" the call between the keyboard user and a typical telephone user.

Unfortunately, most businesses don't know how to properly handle these calls. Their staff is not trained well, they often don't have the proper equipment, and, at best, it's an extremely low priority. People making relay calls get hung up on for fear of being defrauded, while even large businesses that invest in a TTY and a employee to take the calls fail to train their personnel on TTY usage.

Tips for Both TTY and Relay Calls

Because of these problems, I felt it important to create some tips for businesses. These tips will help you interact with TTY and relay users. They may also increase your profit margin!

Provide exactly the same level of service to all users, however they call you. If you would allow a telephone user to purchase a product, you should allow a TTY or relay user to do the same!
Be humble, and allow corrections. Provide customer service while remembering that you may communicate in this fashion rarely, while the customer probably does it daily.
Ask for clarification when you are unsure what is meant.
Be brief, and give the other party a chance to respond. Because it is difficult to interrupt on most of these calls, someone who communicates 3 or 4 paragraphs without giving the other party a turn in the conversation may be wasting valuable (to both the customer and the business) time when they find out they wanted to know something slightly different than you thought they wanted to know!
Know general TTY and relay etiquette, realizing too that there are variations in this etiquette.
Test your call takers periodically with a relay and/or TTY call, to verify that they are representing your company in a positive way. If possible, invite people with disabilities to assist with the tests.

Relay Call Tips

Even businesses with direct TTY numbers will sometimes receive relay calls, for many reasons. It's important that you understand how to properly handle these calls. Not only will it help you sell your product, but it's also the law in most of North America and Europe!

Don't hang up when you hear it's a relay call! This is illegal. It's fine to ask to call the person back, via relay, if you want to verify that they are calling from the number they claim to be calling from (criminals have found the relay services an easy way conceal the origin of their calls). But it's not acceptable to hang up or refuse to sell to a relay caller just because they use relay!
Learn how to use the relay service! This way you can contact your customers to tell them of order status, sell additional services, or otherwise communicate
Include a notation in your customer database for relay users, so that you know how to contact them.
Be patient! Relay use is much slower than you may be used to. However, it also has the advantage of often being direct, and to the point.
Let customers know you welcome relay calls! Mention this in your ads, website, phone listing, etc - a common phrase is, "TTY Users - Use Relay Service." This lets potential customers know that you've at least heard of relay service.
Take calls in the order you receive them, including relay calls. Even though they may take more time, it's rude to ask a customer to hold too long or too often.
Communication assistants (the people doing the "relaying" at the relay service) have a very tough code of conduct concerning confidentiality. It is okay (and legal) to discuss medical, financial, or legal matters with a customer on a relay call. Additional consent should not be required.
Remember, everything you say or which can be heard in the background will be communicated to your customer! Just because someone has a hearing disability doesn't mean that you want to use a phone in the bathroom or that you want to make snide comments about the customer while they are on the phone! The customer will know what is going on in the background!
People with speech disabilities use TTY and relay. Make sure your advertisements, websites, etc. don't leave them out when referring to alternative ways to contact your organization!

TTY Call Tips

Many businesses, especially larger ones, have purchased a TTY device to receive calls directly, without requiring use of a relay service. Even small businesses may find it helpful to procure a TTY device, as a way of showing their desire to increase their customer base (the device is relatively affordable, and at most businesses an existing employee can take TTY calls in addition to their other duties). However, it's important to manage your company's image with this, as with any other, form of communication. Most companies with TTY lines fail to leave a good impression, unfortunately.

For large businesses, consider employing persons extremely familiar with TTY use and etiquette (for instance, Deaf persons or family members) as TTY operators.
Learn how to use your TTY, how to tell if it is ringing, etc.
Greet the caller the same way you would great a phone caller, by stating the business name and some form of employee identification (first name, operator number, etc)
Create a "tip sheet" that you leave near the TTY to remind employees about proper TTY usage
When a customer is waiting for you to give them information, periodically let the customer know the status of their request (for example, "PLS HLD..." followed a minute or two latter by "STILL WORKING ON YOUR REQUEST..." or similar phrase).
Someone taking a TTY call should not be performing other duties while on the TTY call. They should not be handling multiple customers at the same time.
Make sure your TTY line has the capability of taking a message when your business is closed. Make sure that these messages are checked frequently. Note that many phone systems need special configuration to use a voice mail box to receive TTY messages.
Ensure adequate TTY lines - a TTY user should not get a busy signal any more frequently than a non-TTY user.
Know the proper term for a TTY device in your country. In the US, the correct term is TTY, not TDD.

Your Image - and More Customers

By presenting a good image to people with speech and hearing disabilities, you not only earn the business of people with disabilities (a sizable market in itself), but also their friends and family. You can bet that a bad impression causes you more than one lost customer, and you can bet a good impression (because of how rare it is) can gain you more than one. Many people still choose companies based on their customer service.