A person who is Deaf, Hard of Hearing, DeafBlind, or has a speech disability can use a text telephone/teletypewriter (TTY) to type his/her conversation to a Relay Operator, who then reads the typed conversation to the other party.  The Relay Operator relays the other party’s spoken words by typing them back to the TTY user.

This relay service is available in English-to-English and Spanish-to-Spanish.

The Relay Hawaii Customer Profile allows you to store your relay call preferences and helps speed up call processing.

How Does TTY Relay Work?

It’s simple!

Just dial 711 (or 877-477-5990 for English or 877-447-7261 for Spanish) on your TTY and a Relay Operator will answer with “Aloha Relay Hawaii OPR 8234” (for Relay Operator identification), “F” or “M” (for Relay Operator gender). 

Type in the area code and telephone number you wish to call, and type “GA” (“Go Ahead”).  The Relay Operator will dial the number and connect you to the other party. Type your message on the TTY. Type “GA” (Go Ahead) at end of each message.  The “GA” indicates that it is the other party’s turn to respond.

  • 1

    The TTY User types her/his conversation to the Relay Operator.

  • 2

    The Relay Operator reads the TTY user’s typed message aloud to the other party.

  • 3

    The other party listens, then speaks.  

  • 4

    The Relay Operator types the other party’s spoken words to the TTY user.

To conclude the call, type “GA to SK” (“Stop Keying”) to indicate that you are ready to hang up.

Video : How does a TTY Relay call work?

Here’s how a TTY user named Emeka communicates with a standard phone user, Mary.