This topic provides an outline description of making a call through the Text Relay service and direct text-to-text. It is not intended specifically for the user to teach themselves to make 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.

By default, when you enter a 'phone number to dial, WTC prefixes the UK Text Relay dialling code, so that the call goes through an operator and enables you to speak to hearing people using a standard telephone.

The intervention of the Text Relay operator is automatic and does not involve the user in conversation. When you dial a number, the first thing you will see on the Braille display is the accepted message, to confirm the dialling command has been accepted. A pause of maybe a minute or so follows, then if all goes well, the modem sends its "CONNECT" message,, and after that, the message "TXT dialling". This "TXD" message is from the Text Relay service, it confirms that WTC has made contact with Text Relay and they are now dialling the number you wish to connect to.

If, instead of "CONNECT", "NO CARRIER" is displayed when you dial a number, it means that WTC could not establish contact with text Relay. This is usually due to a temporary condition, just try the call again.

After you receive the message "TXD Dialling", you will usually receive quite a few "TXD Ringing" messages before the call is answered at the other end. If the line is engaged, you will receive something like "TXD Engaged sksk", and the call will be disconnected, so that the modem will then send the message "NO CARRIER". "sksk", or a longer series of "sk"'s, is usually sent to indicate that the person at the other end of the line has completely finished and that Text Relay is signing off, or in this case, that they never connected because the line was engaged.

Several more "TXD" messages are likely to be received before you are able to speak to the person you are calling. These messages vary slightly from call to call, depending on the circumstances, though one indicating that a Text Relay operator has joined the call is certain unless there are no operators available, in which case a connecting message is received, indicating that the call is on hold until an operator becomes available; it will be disconnected with an apology if no operator can be allocated to the call.

Once all the Messages from Text Relay are done, you are ready to send and receive text with the person you are calling. Exactly how things stand when information stops being sent to the Braille display can vary from call to call. Often, the last message received from Text Relay is "Call connected ga ". "ga" stands for "go ahead", and is standard textphone etiquette for one person to tell the other that they have finished speaking and to proceed with their next part of th conversation. The above message indicates that Text Relay has established contact with the person being called, and they are waiting for you to introduce the call. It is the more recommended procedure when a hearing person receives a call via Text Relay, but sometimes the called person will being the call by saying something themselves, and in that case the last thing on the Braille display when the flow of information stops will be what the called person said, followed by "ga". Thus, it is not possible to predict with absolute certainty what the user should expect before they can begin to type what they want to say, it is up to the user to read the incoming information and make a judgment.

Once you have begun talking to the person you are calling, messages from Text Relay play no further part in the call proceedings until it is terminated, except in certain situations where the operator needs to interrupt. Examples of operator interruption are when they are changing shift and the current operator is being replaced by another one, or when the operator is removed from the call to take a call to emergency services. The operator may also break in on the call to describe circumstances not apparent to the caller, for example, laughter or the rustling of papers; in these situations, you may receive the message "Note from operator", followed by the additional information they wish to relay.

The caller and called party discuss signing off from the call in exactly the same way that two hearing people in a standard telephone conversation would do. Ideally, they should both end with a series of "sk"'s when they have said their last word and are hanging up. The Text Relay operator will ordinarily notify the caller or called party if the other party hangs up, then Text Relay itself signs of with a "Thank you", or perhaps waits for the textphone user to hang up.

If Text Relay hangs up, WTC will automatically hang up also. You can hang up the call at any time, without waiting for Text Relay to end th call, by pressing Escape.

A call made directly to another textphone user, without going through Text Relay, proceeds exactly as above, but there are no Text Relay messages. The modem will send its "CONNECT" message when connection with the remote textphone is established. When the call is hung up, either by pressing Escape or because the remote party hangs up, this is confirmed with the "NO CARRIER" message, there is no "thank you" or additional information.

A call made to another textphone through Text Relay will be connected directly, but some Text Relay messages will occur at the beginning, as described earlier. The Text Relay messages for a textphone-to-textphone call usually end in something like "Call connected text-to-text ga", at which point you are talking directly to the remote textphone and there is no operator intermediating. If the call is hung up by the remote textphone user, Text Relay may detect this and send a notification message to your Braille display. The "NO CARRIER" message will be received when you yourself hang up.

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Making a Telephone Call