Sprint Relay Celebrates 25th Anniversary

Relay SD selected Sprint Relay as its provider of choice last summer following a robust RFP process. Sprint Relay, the nation’s largest Telecommunications Relay Service (TRS) provider, brings years of experience to this exciting partnership as it celebrates 25 years of service in 2015. 

Since Sprint Relay hosted its first relay call in 1990, it has empowered hundreds of thousands of individuals who are Deaf, have hearing loss or a speech disability to stay connected through innovative technology.   

“The products and services offered through Sprint Relay have a profound impact on the lives of individuals in the Deaf, hard of hearing and speech disabled communities,” said Mike Ellis, National Director for Sprint Relay. “Everyday tasks that so many take for granted, like answering a phone call, have been made possible because of the communication barriers removed through Sprint Relay services.”

The Sprint Relay team recently gathered to celebrate this significant milestone and their accomplishments during the past 25 years. Some notable achievements include:  

• First to provide Spanish TRS (1991)
• First to provide video relay services (1995)
• First to offer nationwide speech-to-speech services (1998)
• First to introduce relay conference captioning (2002)
• First in the industry to create a video-based Customer Service team for wireless customers who are Deaf or hard of hearing

Sprint delivers nationwide domestic and international TRS, including traditional 711 services/state relay services for 35 states plus Federal Relay Service, Puerto Rico, Virginia Island and New Zealand.