TTY stands for teletypewriter or Text Telephone. A TTY machine allows people with different disabilities to make phone calls.
Identification
During a conversation, with a TTY machine, you type your message rather than talk. The TTY machine then uses a telephone line to relay the typed message, which can be read by the person you are calling, using a second TTY machine.
Benefits
The TTY machine allows people who are deaf, hard of hearing or suffering from speech difficulties to make and receive phone calls.
Features
Like texting, TTY users rely on abbreviations for common phrases, such as SK for "stop-keying," or goodbye.
Equipment
The TTY machine uses the handset from a regular telephone placed on the base of the TTY machine. When a TTY machine rings in the homes of deaf or hearing-impaired people, a flashing light notifies them.
Considerations
To use a TTY machine, both parties must have a TTY machine; however, Telecommunications Relay Service is an alternative that allows you to use a TTY machine to talk to an operator who in turn speaks your message to the person you wish to call who does not have a TTY machine.
Tags: allows people, have machine, machine allows, machine allows people, phone calls