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Contact: Kristine Shipley – Sprint Kristine.Shipley@mail.sprint.com
614-793-3052
Jacqueline Morgan – Ultratec
jmorgan@ultratec.com
1-800-482-2424 (V//TTY)
Herndon, VA -- Sprint (NYSE: FON)
has announced the launch of a new Relay Service capability
which uses Ultratec Enhanced Turbo Code® (E-TurboTM)
to provide deaf users the functional equivalency of
traditional voice calls by conveniently speeding dialing
and connection. The user may dial their party directly
and spend less time interfacing with Communications
Assistants during call set-up.
Sprint Relay users are the first to benefit from this
Ultratec offering. Besides expediting the calling process,
the caller has more control over the set-up of the call
and user preferences as well as the text transmission
speed.
Also known as E-TurboTM, the new technology allows
a Sprint Relay user to program and save customized calling
preferences like long distance carrier, communications
mode (TTY, Voice Carryover, Hearing Carryover), or preference
for male or female Communication Assistant (CA). Using
the powerful E-TurboTM “Dial Through” feature,
the TTY user simply presses the E-TurboTM “Relay”
key then enters the destination telephone number. This
information is then automatically passed from the Ultratec-enabled
TTY to the Sprint Relay platform. This replaces ‘call
set-up’ with the Relay Communication Assistant
(CA), making the relay call experience faster and more
convenient. The CA receives a message on his/her terminal
indicating that the caller is using E-TurboTM with the
appropriate TTY equipment. The Sprint customer database
will continue to support customer notes, frequently
dialed, emergency numbers and blocked numbers.
Sprint E-Turbo Add-1
E-TurboTM is specifically available through
Sprint Enhanced Relay Services and works in conjunction
with new Ultratec Superprint Pro80 Gold TTYs (manufactured
after April 1, 2002). E-Turbo will be available in Ultratec
Superprint Pro80 and Superprint Pro80 LVD TTYs shortly
thereafter. Ultratec units that were manufactured before
April 2002 do not include E-TurboTM functionally. E-TurboTM
will be included in other Ultratec TTY models in the
future. Please check Ultratec’s website (www.Ultratec.com)
for a current list of E-TurboTM enabled TTYs.
E-TurboTM is available 24 hours a day, 365 days a year
through the Sprint Relay states and Sprint Interstate
Relay Service. E-TurboTM works most effectively when
you program your TTY with your state-dedicated relay
toll-free numbers or Sprint National Relay numbers such
as English (Voice/TTY/ASCII), Spanish, and VCO.
The numbers for Sprint Interstate Relay Service:
800-877-8973 TTY/Voice/ASCII
877-826-2255 VCO
800-435-8590 Spanish
For more information on Ultratec E-TurboTM, contact
Sprint Customer Service at 1-800-676-3777 (Voice/TTY/ASCII)
or go to www.sprint.com/relay or contact your nearest
Sprint Account manager.
Sprint is the nation’s leading provider of telecommunications
relay services (TRS) with over a decade of experience.
The U.S. government, 27 states and the Commonwealth
of Puerto Rico currently rely on Sprint’s 11 U.S.
Relay Operations centers to offer the power of communications
to a population that otherwise would be isolated.
About Sprint
Sprint is a global communications company serving
23 million business and residential customers in more
than 70 countries. With more than 80,000 employees worldwide
and $23 billion in annual revenues, Sprint is widely
recognized for developing, engineering and deploying
state of the art network technologies, including the
United States’ first nationwide all-digital, fiber-optic
network. Sprint's award-winning Tier 1 Internet backbone
is being extended to key global markets to provide customers
with a broad portfolio of scalable IP products. Sprint's
high-capacity, high-speed network gives customers fast,
dependable, non-stop access to the vast majority of
the world's Internet content. Sprint also operates the
largest 100-percent digital, nationwide PCS wireless
network in the United States, already serving the majority
of the nation’s metropolitan areas including more
than 4,000 cities and communities.
About Ultratec
Ultratec is the world’s leading manufacturer
of TTYs amplified phones, and other assitive equipment
for people who are deaf, hard of hearing, or speech-impaired.
The company has been leading the field for more than
25 years, developing new technologies for TTYs, relay
services, emergency service care providers, and public
telephone facilities to ensure that telecommunications
is accessible to everyone.
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