Access for 9-1-1 and Telephone Emergency Services

Q: If a PSAP has only received a few TTY calls per month over the past year, why does it need TTYs at every call-taking position?

A: Most PSAPs receive many silent open line calls, which may be TTY calls. In order for call takers to know if silent calls are TTY calls, each call taker will need TTY equipment to query every silent call with a TTY. It is possible that call takers have been receiving more than a few TTY calls per month, but have treated them as silent lines or hang-ups rather than TTY calls. This is likely if the call takers have not been querying all silent lines with TTYs. Some of those silent lines or hang-ups may have been TTY users waiting for a TTY response.

Historically, many persons who use TTYs have not had confidence in the accessibility of 9-1-1 services and have not attempted to make direct TTY calls to their PSAP. The number of TTY calls each PSAP receives is likely to increase in the future, as PSAPs become more accessible to TTY users, and as TTY users learn of PSAPs' improved accessibility.