Oregon Telecommunications Relay Service is a relay service providing full telephone accessibility to people who are deaf, hard of hearing, or speech impaired. Trained specialists, called Communication Assistants (CAs), complete all calls and stay on the line to relay messages electronically over a text telephone, (also called a TTY for "Text telephone"), or verbally to hearing parties. This valuable communication tool gives all individuals who are deaf, hard of hearing, and speech impaired the opportunity to make personal or business calls just like any other telephone user.

You can use one of the following services offered:
 
Standard: Between a TTY user and a hearing person.
 
VCO (Voice Carry Over): A person with hearing loss uses voice to talk to the party he or she has called, but receives spoken messages in text on the TTY via the Communication Assistant.
 
HCO (Hearing Carry Over): A person with a speech impairment hears the party he or she has called talking to him or her, but uses a TTY to communicate via a Communication Assistant.
 
Spanish Relay: TTY users can type in Spanish and their conversations will be relayed in Spanish to the party they are calling. TTY users can also request Spanish-to-English or English-to-Spanish translation via relay.
 
STS (Speech-to-Speech): A person with a speech impairment does not use the TTY; the Communication Assistant listens and re-voices for him or her to the party he or she has called, and everyone is able to hear each other.
 
Oregon Telecommunications Relay Service is free. Calls can be made to anywhere in the world, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, with no restrictions on the number, length, or type of calls. OTRS handles calls placed using direct dial, collect, person-to-person, phone debit cards, calling cards, and any participating long distance carrier. These calls are billed at the carrier’s designated rates. Local Exchange carrier rates apply for both local and regional calls. OTRS is not a telephone company, and receives no long distance revenue from Relay calls. You always get to choose your long distance carrier.

Confidentiality:  OTRS is serious about protecting your privacy. All calls are strictly confidential, and no record of any conversations is maintained. All OTRS personnel are required to receive annual training and must sign a Pledge of Confidentiality and a Code of Ethics that protects your rights. No record of any call is ever kept, employees are not allowed to discuss the content of your call, your personal information, or act on any information they may learn while relaying a call. OTRS is committed to providing professional and ethical services.