Specialist Task Force 325:
Harmonised Relay Services

Who we are:

What we do :

The STF is funded by EC/EFTA to produce an ETSI Standard for harmonised relay services. The standard will set out the requirements for the provision of all kinds of relay services offered in all networks.
It will identify those new types of text phone services that are IP based and make recommendations on how they should be handled.

A questionnaire was circulated to Relay service operators to determine which services are being offered and the standards of service that are achievable. A Technical Report is also being written which describes the background work in the preparation of the standard.

Invitations have been sent out to a number of contacts asking whether they wish to be stakeholders in the project and to have an opportunity to comment on the work as it proceeds. If you wish to be involved please contact us.

A brief presentation of the aims of the work was made to a joint INCOM-TCAM eAccessibility subgroup meeting in Brussels in February.
A further presentation was made to an ETSI Interoperability event in April.
The questionnaire has been given its first trials with service providers in the UK

A presentation of the work of the STF was made by the STF leader at the 21^st International Symposium on Human Factors in Telecommunications (HFT 08) in Kuala Lumpur under the title of "The harmonisation of relay services in Europe.

At this symposium W Mellors was surprised and gratified to be presented with the Knut Nordby Design for All accessibility award.

Read our Terms of Reference

Why we do it:

Profoundly deaf, deaf-blind and speech-impaired people are unable to use ordinary telephones and so they are locked out of the voice telephone network by their inability to hear and/or speak. They have been able partly to overcome this problem by using text telephones or videophones, but to achieve the accessibility as desired by the Council Resolution of February 2003 some facility is required to enable them to converse with telephone users who only have voice telephones.

Such a facility can be provided by a relay service that can convert between text and speech, normally by means of a human intermediary.

It is also necessary to provide for "spoken to spoken" relays (which translate from a speech impaired user) and to videophone relays which can be used by those whose preferred method of communication is by signing.

The work is intended to contribute to the eEurope 2005 action plan in the area of eInclusion and to respond to the policy objectives set by the European Parliament and Council, aiming at an improved access for people with disabilities to the information society. Furthermore, the ETSI Standard (ES) will increase social cohesion and improve e-business by permitting Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) to communicate with disabled customers.

The provision of this ETSI Standard (ETSI ES) will assist regulatory authorities in their task to ensure the harmonized application of the regulatory framework throughout the Community as called for in Article 1 of Directive 2002/21/EC.

It will provide a tool to enable regulators to ensure that all citizens have access to a universal service specified in Directive 2002/22/EC and will also permit them to promote the interests of the citizens of the European Union by addressing the needs of disabled users as called for in Article 8.

The standard will assist the implementation of Directive 2002/22/EC which, in Article 7, requires member states to take specific measures for disabled users to ensure access to publicly available telephone services including access to emergency services, directory enquiry services and directories, equivalent to that enjoyed by other end-users.

The standard will promote innovation by providing a standard that can be referenced in public procurement processes and so will enable operators and manufacturers to provide cost effective services and equipment

Time plan for the work:

The completed standard is due for delivery to the HF Committee in September 2008 and should be published in January 2009 after members’ vote.

How to contact us:

If you  would like more information, please contact the STF leader: wjmellors@btconnect.com