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 1. What is TRS?
 2. Emergency Calls
 3. CapTel®

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EMERGENCY CALLING

Updated March 16, 2022

 1. What is “TRS”?
 2. 911 Call Processing
    1. Traditional Relay Services
    2. 1-Line CapTel Phones
    3. 2-Line CapTel Phones
    4. Internet-Based CapTel Phones
    5. Hamilton CapTel for Business, Interconnected by Tenacity
    6. Hamilton Mobile CapTel & Hamilton Web CapTel
 3. Information Privacy
 4. Disclaimer of 911 Liability


WHAT IS “TRS”?

The Federal Communications Commission (“FCC”) defines Telecommunications Relay
Services (“TRS”) as the service which allows persons who are deaf, hard of
hearing, deaf-blind, or have speech difficulties to communicate with one or more
individuals through the use of telecommunications equipment/services, otherwise
known as “phone calls” or “calls”, in a manner that is functionally equivalent
to calls placed or received by persons who do not have hearing or speech
difficulties. Under Title IV of the Americans with Disabilities Act, as amended,
the FCC must ensure the provision of TRS. TRS is available in all 50 states, the
District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and all other U.S. territories for local,
long distance, and international calls.


911 CALL PROCESSING:

Telecommunications Relay Services have evolved over time and a variety of
devices are available to facilitate a TRS telephone call. Some devices use the
Public Switched Telephone Network (“PSTN”; aka “landline”) to carry the
telephone call while others use alternative transmission methods such as
Voice-over-Internet Protocol (“VoIP”). Some connect to the Relay service over
the PSTN, while others have an internet connection for receiving captions.
Depending on the service and/or system used, 911 calls are handled differently.
We strongly recommend that You use Your landline telephone service or Your
native mobile phone service to call 911 directly for a faster connection in the
event an emergency.


I. TRADITIONAL RELAY SERVICES

If You place a 911 call through 711 relay using a TTY, Your emergency call will
be routed to an appropriate public safety answering point (“PSAP”) based on the
area code and prefix of Your telephone number, and Your telephone number and
address registered to that phone number will be made available to the PSAP. The
Relay Operator/Communication Assist will be available to relay the conversation
as needed during the call. We strongly recommend that You dial 911 directly from
Your TTY device for faster connection in the event of an emergency.


II. CAPTIONED TELEPHONE SERVICE

1-LINE CAPTEL PHONES (MODELS 200, 800, 840)

911 calls placed using 1-line CapTel phones will be routed the same way that
Your underlying voice service provider routes traditional telephone calls. For
example, if You place a 911 call using a 1-line CapTel phone connected to a PSTN
landline, the call will be routed to an appropriate PSAP. You must consult Your
underlying voice service provider for details regarding how 911 calls are routed
for Your voice service, including how the PSAP will receive Your call-back
number and location information.

911 calls placed with 1-line CapTel phones are directly connected to the PSAP
without first routing through the Captioning Service, so these 911 calls are not
captioned in the same manner as non-911 CapTel calls. You will, however, be able
to speak directly into the handset, as You would with any other CapTel call, and
the 911 call-taker will hear everything You say. You may not be able to hear the
call-taker, but if You are using a PSTN landline the call-taker may be able to
type instructions to You, which will appear on the CapTel display screen.

2-LINE CAPTEL PHONES (MODELS 800 2-LINE, 840 2-LINE, 200 2-LINE)

911 calls placed using 2-line CapTel phones will be routed the same way that
Your underlying voice service provider routes traditional telephone calls. You
must consult Your underlying voice service provider for details regarding how
911 calls are routed for Your voice service, including how the PSAP will receive
Your call-back number and location information.

If You are using a PSTN landline, the 911 call will be captioned as normal if
captions are turned “ON” on Your phone. Captions may not work if You are using
VoIP or some other form of voice service.

INTERNET-BASED (IP) CAPTEL PHONES (MODELS 2400I, 880I, 840I, 800I)

911 calls placed using IP CapTel phones will be routed the same way that Your
underlying voice service provider routes traditional telephone calls. You must
consult Your underlying voice service provider for details regarding how 911
calls are routed for Your voice service, including how the PSAP will receive
Your call-back number and location information.

Although an internet-based CapTel phone connects to the Captioning Service over
the internet, the telephone call is still processed through Your underlying
voice service provider. You will get captions of the call directly from the
captioning service if captions are turned “ON” on Your phone and internet
service is available.

HAMILTON® CAPTEL® FOR BUSINESS, INTERCONNECTED BY TENACITY™

The Hamilton CapTel for Business, Interconnected by Tenacity solution is
currently available on Cisco business phone systems. Please refer to Your
Telecom Administrator to learn how to dial 911 on Your Cisco phone system. The
setup in Your business’ phone system will determine how Your call is routed and
there may be specific steps You must take in order to process an emergency call
with the Cisco phone.

When You dial 911 using Your Cisco phone, You may be connected directly to an
appropriate PSAP, as configured on the Cisco Unified Communications Manager
(“CUCM”) by Your Telecom Administrator. The captions on the call will be
connected to the Hamilton CapTel Call Center as long as You are logged in to
Your Hamilton CapTel account, have elected to turn captions “ON,” and have a
working internet connection. If at any time during a 911 CapTel phone call You
elect to turn captions “OFF”, You will not receive captions until You turn the
captions feature back “ON”.

HAMILTON MOBILE CAPTEL & HAMILTON WEB CAPTEL

911 calls made using Hamilton web and mobile CapTel apps are processed outside
of the PSTN and rely on the internet to connect to the captioning service and
connect the audio call. Information provided by You is used to properly route
and connect the 911 call and locate You in an emergency. If You choose to use
the Hamilton Mobile CapTel App or Hamilton Web CapTel to place a 911 call, there
are limitations and possible delays.

Relay App Services handle 911 calling differently than traditional telephone
services. Using traditional telephone services is the fastest way to call 911,
as Your telephone or TTY provide a direct link to Your emergency service
provider. In contrast, Relay App Services do not provide a direct link to the
emergency service provider; therefore it is important that You provide Your
location information to the 911 center at the beginning of the call in order to
transmit Your physical location to an emergency center. It may not be
technically feasible to transmit automated dispatchable location to Your
emergency provider. Hamilton recommends that You enable location services on
Your web and mobile devices, if feasible.

Hamilton is required to transmit 911 emergency calls made through the Relay App
Services in accordance with federal law and policies. As part of this
requirement, and in order to transmit important information to emergency service
providers, Your name, number, and location may be requested at the beginning of
an emergency call. If You call 911 using a web or mobile device and Hamilton is
not able to identify Your current location, Hamilton may transmit Your phone
number and registered address to the local emergency center serving the location
of Your registered address. Please note the call may not be routed to an
appropriate Emergency Service Provider or Public Service Answering Point if You
are in a location other than Your registered location.

If You do not or cannot provide current location information, Your call may not
be routed to an appropriate Emergency Service Provider or PSAP.

If Hamilton’s mobile or web apps do not support the operating system or browser
on Your computer or mobile device, You will not be able to use the service to
place any calls, including 911 calls. Please review the technical
recommendations for each product in the FAQs and contact Hamilton CapTel
Customer Care if You have questions about the compatibility of Your system with
Hamilton CapTel.

IF THE PHONE, COMPUTER OR MODEM USED TO ACCESS THE INTERNET DOES NOT HAVE A
BACKUP POWER SOURCE, THE SERVICE WILL NOT WORK AT ANY POINT THE PHONE, COMPUTER
OR MODEM IS NOT PLUGGED INTO A POWER OUTLET OR AT ANY POINT THAT POWER OUTLET IS
NOT RECEIVING ELECTRICITY (FOR ANY REASON, INCLUDING A UTILITY POWER OUTAGE).
HAMILTON RELAY RECOMMENDS THAT YOU MAINTAIN A LANDLINE FOR EMERGENCY CALLS.
HAMILTON RELAY CANNOT ASSURE THE FOLLOWING WHEN MAKING A 911 CALL USING WEB AND
MOBILE SERVICES: (1) A CONNECTION WILL BE ESTABLISHED; (2) THAT YOUR CORRECT
LOCATION WILL BE ELECTRONICALLY AVAILABLE TO THE EMERGENCY SERVICE PROVIDER; OR
(3) THAT CAPTIONING SERVICES WILL NOT SLOW THE RESPONSE TIME OR THE RELAY OF
EMERGENCY INFORMATION.

Emergency calling through the Service is available only for calls placed from a
location within the United States or one of its territories or possessions.
VOICE OVER IP (“VOIP”), WEB, AND MOBILE CAPTEL EMERGENCY CALLS ARE NOT THE SAME
AS TRADITIONAL TELEPHONE OR TTY EMERGENCY CALLS. IN AN EMERGENCY, HAMILTON
RECOMMENDS THAT YOU USE A TELEPHONE OR TTY IF POSSIBLE TO MAKE AN EMERGENCY CALL
IN ORDER TO CONNECT YOU DIRECTLY WITH EMERGENCY OFFICIALS. WHEN MAKING A VOIP,
WEB, OR MOBILE CAPTEL EMERGENCY CALL, HAMILTON MAY NOT AUTOMATICALLY BE ABLE TO
OBTAIN YOUR PHYSICAL LOCATION INFORMATION IF IT IS DIFFERENT THAN YOUR
REGISTERED LOCATION INFORMATION, OR ROUTE YOUR CALL TO APPROPRIATE EMERGENCY
PERSONNEL.


INFORMATION PRIVACY

All information obtained as a result of the above-described processes is limited
to that needed to facilitate 911 services and is made available only to
emergency call handlers and emergency response or law enforcement personnel. All
information is used for the sole purpose of ascertaining Your location in an
emergency situation or for other emergency or law enforcement purposes.


DISCLAIMER OF 911 LIABILITY

As a provider of relay services and as a provider of emergency communications
for purposes of the Federal NET 911 Act, Hamilton asserts immunity and other
protection from liability under both state and federal law in connection with
its provision of 911 dialing service. In addition, Hamilton disclaims all
responsibility for the conduct of local emergency response centers and the
national emergency calling center. Hamilton does not have any control over any
local emergency response center or the national emergency calling center.
Therefore, Hamilton is not responsible for whether those centers answer calls
made using Hamilton’s 911 dialing service, how they answer such calls, or how
they handle them. Hamilton relies on third parties to assist in routing 911
dialing calls to local emergency response centers and/or, to the extent
permissible under federal law, to a national emergency calling center. Hamilton
cannot ensure that Your local emergency service provider is capable of handling
all 911 calls. Accordingly, Hamilton is neither liable nor responsible if the
data used by a third party to route such calls is incorrect or produces an
erroneous result. Neither Hamilton nor its officers, directors, shareholders,
employees, agents or subcontractors may be held liable for any claim, damage,
loss, fine, penalty, cost, and/or expense (including, without limitation, any
and all attorneys’ fees) by, or on behalf of, any Hamilton customer or any third
party or user of Hamilton’s Service, relating to or arising out of Hamilton’s
Service, including, without limitation, 911 dialing, or any device used in
connection with Hamilton’s Service.

Hamilton Relay | Hamilton CapTel
Copyright © Hamilton Relay. All rights reserved. • CapTel® is a registered
trademark of Ultratec, Inc.