The Impact

Telecommunications relay services such as IP CTS are essential to the communities that rely on them. This is especially true for those in underserved communities, such as the Black community and those impacted by health disparities. Because these services are free to those who need them, IP CTS reaches across equity barriers to ensure that everyone can stay connected and communicate with family, friends, healthcare professionals, and emergency first responders. The impact of IP CTS is best illustrated through the voices of the hundreds of thousands of everyday Americans, including veterans, who rely on these services. Here are just a few of their stories.

IP CTS Helps Keep Americans With Hearing Loss Safe and Secure

For many seniors and others living with hearing loss, should it ever be necessary to call 911, caption phones are their solution.

Thanks to the IP CTS program, Americans with hearing loss are able to stay connected and secure in the event of an emergency.

Vietnam Veteran on IP CTS: “It benefits me… and it’s going to benefit you.”

Vietnam veteran Mr. Ronald Drach medically retired from the U.S. Army in 1967, following the amputation of his right leg as a result of combat action. Over the years, his hearing has gotten progressively worse, to the point where he wears two hearing aids.

Thanks to the IP CTS program, Ron is able to make appointments, conduct business and use the phone freely.

IP CTS phone lets senior keep in touch

Raya Gladstein discovered she had begun to lose her hearing more than 20 years ago when her children noticed she was having a hard time hearing them. An audiologist confirmed she had developed a profound hearing loss.

Once she discovered IP CTS, life changed for Ms. Gladstein, who had found it hard to use the phone.

“I did not have the interaction with my family and friends that the caption service has given me,” she says. “I would not talk to my family very often without the caption service.”

Thanks to the program, the 88-year-old now regularly talks to her family as well as her friends, catching up and planning birthday lunches.

IP CTS Helps Businessman Connect with Customers

For years, when Marcia Viezens got home from her 12-hour shifts as a nurse at an Arizona hospital, her husband Harry would be waiting—along with a long list of phone calls he wanted her to return.

“You’ve got to understand that for years I never used the phone,” says Harry. “Things have changed since I had this service in the sense that I can deal with the customer direct.”