Returning veterans are in the process of re adjusting to the civilian lifestyle. Many will be seeking resources to help resolve different issues that they may be confronted with, such as hearing loss. According to the Department of Veterans Affairs, loss of hearing is a common disability for veterans (VA- Public Affairs). Telecommunications access services are available through the Sprint Federal Relay Program. Sprint Federal Relay can provide tools to accommodate the communication needs for these veterans with a hearing loss.

Who can use Federal Relay? Federal agencies, authorized Federal contractors, agency sponsored universities and laboratories; the general public to access Federal agencies; and when authorized by law or regulation, state, and local governments, and other organizations listed in GSA Order 4800.2E. It is accessible in all 50 states as well as the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, and the Northern Marianas. All other locations are defined as non-domestic.

Federal Relay is divided into two parts -- Telephonically-based and Internet-based. Telephonically based services comprise of: Traditional Relay (TTY/ASCII/Voice), CapTel and STS (Speech to Speech). IP Relay (FRSO), Relay Conference Captioning and Video Relay Service make up the Internet based group. Federal Agencies who have employees with a hearing loss or speech difficulties can submit a task order with Sprint (GSA contract holder) in order to use Federal Relay at www.federalrelay.us/task-order-submission.

Federal Agency's Designated Agency Representative (DAR) and/or Contract Officer (CO) cab join an audio conference to learn more about the new Federal Relay contract and how to submit a Task Order.  For more information on how to get this training, please click onto this link - http://www.federalrelay.us/darco-training.

For Further Information on Federal Relay and/or contract, go to www.federalrelay.us, call Federal Relay Customer Service at 1-800-877-0996  (Voice/TTY) or email federalrelay@sprint.com. Questions about the change from "centralized" to "direct" billing, contact GSA - Federal Relay Program Office at (703) 306-6308  or patricia.stevens@gsa.gov.