Hearing-impaired phone users get new 24/7 voice-to-text service

A NEW 24-hour service that translates text into voice and voice into text for phone customers who are hard of hearing has just been launched.

The system works by taking people’s calls and turning the words into texts, making it possible for people with hearing problems to understand what is being said on the other end.

The Irish Text Relay Service calls are relayed through agents who perform the translation. And it is available to customers of Eir, Sky, Tesco Mobile, Three, Virgin Media and Vodafone.

When a caller phones a person with hearing difficulties and says, ‘Hello’, the ITRS agent will then text the word ‘Hello’ to the person with the hearing problem and continue on translating the conversation into text for them.

If they have difficulty speaking because of their hearing imbalance, they can text the agent with what they want to say to the other person and this will be converted to spoken word.

ITRS customers can make and receive text relay calls through their PC, laptop or smartphone.

A spokesman for telephone regulator ComReg said: ‘To use the ITRS app you must first register the phone number you will be using to make and receive calls on the app. Go to www.itrs.ie and click on the section “How do I use it?” to find the details of how to register.

‘Once registered, you can then dial 1800 207 900 on your registered phone. The ITRS website offers a step-by-step guide.’ The Irish Deaf Society also has a Facebook vlog showing how it works.