Section 756.205  Relay Service Operations and Specifications

a)         TRS as described in Section 756.100(a) shall operate at all times for all Illinois exchanges.  Relay services that are not mandated as described in Section 756.100(b) by the FCC need not be provided at all times.

b)         TRS shall have redundancy features functionally equivalent to the equipment in normal central offices, including uninterruptible power for emergency use.

c)         TRS shall be designed to handle on a statewide basis the current calling volume, with capabilities to alter the facilities to handle the projected volume of calls.

d)         At a minimum, TRS shall be accessed by callers via the 7-1-1 dialing code and a toll-free telephone number.  The same toll-free telephone number shall be available to the Illinois relay system regardless of the relay system provider.  Callers shall be required to dial (enter) no more than 11 digits in order to access the relay system.

e)         TRS shall have a system for incoming emergency calls that, at a minimum, automatically and immediately transfers the caller to an appropriate PSAP. An appropriate PSAP is the designated PSAP to which a direct call from the particular number would be delivered. In addition, a CA must pass along the caller's telephone number to the PSAP when a caller disconnects before being connected to emergency services.

f)         TRS users shall have access to their chosen interexchange carrier through the TRS and to all other operator services, to the same extent that access is provided to standard telephone users.

g)         TRS shall transmit conversations between TTY and voice callers in real time. The relay service shall accept calls that can be dialed directly by a CA at the request of the originating caller. Specifically, the CA shall accept and complete TRS calls with the ability to transliterate text messages to voice and voice messages to text.

h)         TRS shall ensure adequate TRS facility staffing to provide callers with efficient access under projected calling volumes, so that the probability of a busy response due to CA unavailability shall be functionally equivalent to what a voice caller would experience, as defined in 83 Ill. Adm. Code Part 730.520, in attempting to reach a party through the voice telephone network.

i)          TRS facilities shall, except during network failure, answer 85% of all calls within 10 seconds by any method that results in the caller's call immediately being placed, not put in a queue or on hold.  The 10 seconds begins at the time the call is delivered to the TRS facility's network.  The call is considered delivered when the TRS facility's equipment accepts the call from the local telecommunications carrier and the public switched network actually delivers the call to the TRS center.  Abandoned calls shall be included in the speed-of-answer calculation.  A TRS provider's compliance with this subsection shall be measured on a daily basis.  The system shall be designed to a P.01 standard.  A telecommunications carrier shall provide the call attempt rates and the rates of calls blocked between the telecommunications carrier and the TRS facility to relay administrators and the TRS providers upon request.

j)          Consistent with the obligations of telecommunications carrier operators, CAs are prohibited from refusing single or sequential calls or limiting the length of calls utilizing relay services.

k)         TRS shall be capable of handling any type of call normally provided by carriers unless the FCC determines that it is not technologically feasible to do so.  Relay service providers have the burden of proving the infeasibility of handling any type of call.  

l)          CAs must alert the TRS user to the presence of a recorded message and interactive menu through a hot key on the CA's terminal. The hot key will send text from the CA to the consumer's TTY indicating that a recording or interactive menu has been encountered. Relay providers shall electronically capture recorded messages and retain them for the length of the call. Relay providers may not impose any charges for additional calls, which must be made by the relay user in order to complete calls involving recorded or interactive messages.

m)        TRS shall be capable of handling pay-per-call calls.

n)         The system provider shall be permitted to decline to complete a call because credit authorization is denied.

o)         A TRS facility shall ensure that adequate network facilities shall be used in conjunction with TRS so that, under projected calling volume, the probability of a busy response due to loop trunk congestion shall be functionally equivalent to what a voice caller would experience, as defined in 83 Ill. Adm. Code 730.520, in attempting to reach a party through the voice telephone network.

p)         TRS facilities are permitted to use SS7 technology or any other type of similar technology to enhance the functional equivalency and quality of TRS. TRS facilities that utilize SS7 technology are independently subject to the Calling Party Telephone Number rules set forth at 47 CFR 64.1600 to 64.1604.

q)         When a TRS facility is able to transmit any calling party identifying information to the public network, the TRS facility must pass through, to the called party, at least one of the following: the number of the TRS facility, 7-1-1, or the 10-digit number of the calling party.

(Source:  Amended at 28 Ill. Reg. 6974, effective May 1, 2004)