AT&T Awarded Contract With State of California to Offer Relay Services

AT&T Awarded Contract With State of California to Offer Relay Services

AT&T* was awarded the majority share of the competitively bid, California traditional Telecommunications Relay Services (TRS) contract this week. This California Relay Services 3 contract is the largest in the nation, based on the total number of relay services minutes.

"We are proud of our long history of providing relay services and look forward to serving the deaf, hard-of-hearing, and speech challenged community in California," said Susan A. Johnson, senior vice president, AT&T Customer Information Services. "With more than 40,000 AT&T employees living and working in the state, our commitment to the citizens of California is deep," Johnson said.

The contract, which is expected to begin in June, spans three years with options to extend. The contract award for AT&T covers TTY Relay Service only and does not involve areas such as IP-based or video relay services.

"We are making a significant investment in employee resources and network infrastructure to enable new enhancements and features, in accordance with our vision to connect people with their world, everywhere they live and work," Johnson said.

"AT&T has committed to a host of enhancements in relay service that citizens of California have been asking for," said Jonathan Lakritz, manager of the California Public Utilities Commission's Communications Division, which has oversight of the State of California's Deaf and Disabled Telecommunications Program. "We are excited to be working with AT&T in this critical service delivery area," Lakritz said.

Relay users in California will be able to choose their service provider and will be encouraged to complete a customer profile to establish calling preferences, greetings, select a long distance provider, and more.

AT&T TTY Relay Service, offered since 1987, uses a special device that connects to a standard phone line and includes a keyboard and screen to display messages. It relies on a communication assistant to connect calls to standard voice users.

While not included in this contract, AT&T also offers the following relay services:

* AT&T IM Relay, offered since 2009, provides a specially-trained relay operator to read AOL AIM® instant messaging service IMs to hearing callers and types IMs which are displayed word-by-word as they are typed — making conversations feel more like calls experienced by hearing customers.
* AT&T Video Relay Service (VRS), offered since 2003, uses a high speed Internet connection and a web camera or video phone to connect users via a Video Interpreter. This allows users to experience facial expressions and gestures on both ends of the conversation and provides a natural fit for the use of sign language.


For more information on AT&T Relay Services, please visit www.att.com/relay.

*AT&T products and services are provided or offered by subsidiaries and affiliates of AT&T Inc. under the AT&T brand and not by AT&T Inc.

About AT&T

AT&T Inc. (NYSE: T) is a premier communications holding company. Its subsidiaries and affiliates – AT&T operating companies – are the providers of AT&T services in the United States and around the world. With a powerful array of network resources that includes the nation's fastest 3G network, AT&T is a leading provider of wireless, Wi-Fi, high speed Internet and voice services. AT&T offers the best wireless coverage worldwide, offering the most wireless phones that work in the most countries. It also offers advanced TV services under the AT&T U-verse(SM) and AT&T | DIRECTV(SM) brands. The company's suite of IP-based business communications services is one of the most advanced in the world. In domestic markets, AT&T's Yellow Pages and YELLOWPAGES.COM organizations are known for their leadership in directory publishing and advertising sales. In 2009, AT&T again ranked No. 1 in the telecommunications industry on FORTUNE® magazine's list of the World's Most Admired Companies. Additional information about AT&T Inc. and the products and services provided by AT&T subsidiaries and affiliates is available at http://www.att.com.

© 2010 AT&T Intellectual Property. All rights reserved. AT&T, the AT&T logo and all other marks contained herein are trademarks of AT&T Intellectual Property and/or AT&T affiliated companies.

Additional information about AT&T Inc. and the products and services provided by AT&T subsidiaries and affiliates is available at http://www.att.com. This AT&T news release and other announcements are available at http://www.att.com/newsroom and as part of an RSS feed at www.att.com/rss. Or follow our news on Twitter at @ATTNews. Find us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/ATT to discover more about our consumer and wireless services or at www.facebook.com/ATTSmallBiz to discover more about our small business services.

SOURCE AT&T Inc.