This topic provides an outline description of answering a call through the Text Relay service and direct text-to-text. It is not intended specifically for the user to teach themselves to answer a call, but is aimed more at support personnel who may not be familiar with using a textphone, so that they are in a position to know what to expect and to provide tuition to their users.

When the telephone rings, you can answer it by pressing the Escape key or a sequence of letters followed by ENTER (letter "a" by default), depending on how you have the system set up. WTC will intercept the call, and if it is a call from a textphone or through Text Relay and is successfully answered, will display the modem's "CONNECT" message when it is ready for communication over the 'phone line. If the caller is not a textphone or Text Relay, or an error occurs, the modem will eventually send its "NO CARRIER" message (modems may try to establish a call for up to a minute or more before giving up and sending "NO CARRIER").

When a connection is established through Text Relay, the modem's "CONNECT" message is displayed, followed by a series of messages from Text Relay to introduce the call. The "CONNECT" message may appear almost immediately after you issue the answer command, but usually there is a delay of a few seconds, possibly half a minute or so, while the modem establishes the communication. The Text Relay messages usually culminate in the caller saying their first part of the conversation followed by "ga", after which you are in one-to-one contact and Text Relay plays no further part except as noted in the section on making a 'phonecall. Sometimes, Text Relay simply says "Call connected ga", and it is up to you to acknowledge the caller before they say anything.

If the call is from a textphone, but through Text Relay, the introductory Text Relay messages usually conclude with "call connected text-to-text ga". This message indicates that you are now in direct contact with the caller, who has also received this notification from Text Relay. It is usual for the caller to wait until the called party starts the conversation. In the case of a call from a textphone made direct by dialling your number, not through Text Relay, the only information available to both parties is that the call has been successfully connected. When you receive the modem's "CONNECT" message on your Braille display, you can start talking to the caller, such as by asking who it is. It is usual for the caller to wait until you say something first, this confirms that you have answered the call and are present in person, as well as avoiding possibly typ8ng at the same time and neither party able to read meaningful information.

Hanging up an answered call is precisely the same as hanging up an originated call. If the call is direct text-to-text, you sign off by agreement with the calling party and either WTC automatically hangs up because the other person has, or you press Escape to hang up. In either case, you will receive the modem's "NO CARRIER" message on the Braille display. If the call is through Text Relay, Text Relay may acknowledge the call termination before the connection with Text Relay is dropped and "NO CARRIER" appears. It is usual to end a call with a series of "sk"'s to indicate that you have completely finished speaking.

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Answering a Telephone Call