OVERLAND PARK, Kan., June 27 /PRNewswire/ -- Sprint today announces that it has completed another milestone in enrolling Sprint's telecommunications relay service (TRS) in the FCC's Telecommunications Service Priority (TSP) Program. Sprint TRS, communications services available for individuals who are deaf or hard of hearing or have a speech disability, is comprised of a network of 14 call centers geographically disbursed throughout the United States. Effective June 17, 2005, the Sprint call centers in Syracuse, N.Y., and Holyoke, Mass., were successfully activated under the TSP Program.
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Unlike other TRS providers, the Sprint TRS network is designed to reroute traffic to other Sprint Relay centers across the country to continue uninterrupted service with minimal customer impact. However, if a national or regional emergency caused service to be disrupted and the New York and Massachusetts centers could not receive or place calls, Sprint's participation in the TSP program means that local exchange carriers would be required to restore service to the New York and Massachusetts centers as rapidly as possible consistent with the priority status assigned to the center.
"As a part of Sprint's dedication to providing a variety of reliable and effective communications services for individuals who are deaf or hard of hearing, we recognized the urgency to ensure reliable communications during emergency situations," said Mike Ligas, region vice president - Sprint Relay. "Sprint is proud to voluntarily comply with the FCC's TSP program."
In early June, Sprint announced the TRS call center in Lemoore, Calif.., is active in the TSP program. Sprint is on target to enroll remaining TRS call centers by the end of 2005.
In 1988, TSP program was established to prioritize the restoration of telephone service to critical facilities and agencies at times when telecommunications companies are typically overburdened with service requests, such as after a natural disaster. In the event of a regional or national crisis, the program restores telephone services most critical to national and homeland security on a priority basis.
Sprint Relay Portfolio of Services
Sprint has 15 years of experience in providing relay services to persons who are deaf, hard of hearing or deaf-blind or who have a speech disability to communicate with hearing persons on the phone. Sprint offers relay services through an intelligent platform to the federal government, 30 states, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico and New Zealand. Sprint's experience in the field provides the assurance that all Sprint Relay services will meet or exceed Federal Communications Commission requirements for telecommunications relay services (TRS). Relay service is available 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, with no restrictions on the number of calls placed or call length. For more information, visit http://www.sprintrelay.com/ .
Sprint Government Systems Division ( http://www.sprint.com/government ) is based in Reston, Va., and offers the full range of Sprint product and service offerings for federal and state government customers.
About Sprint
Sprint offers an extensive range of innovative communication products and solutions, including global IP, wireless, local and multiproduct bundles. A Fortune 100 company with more than $27 billion in annual revenues in 2004, Sprint is widely recognized for developing, engineering and deploying state- of-the-art network technologies, including the United States' first nationwide all-digital, fiber-optic network; an award-winning Tier 1 Internet backbone; and one of the largest 100-percent digital, nationwide wireless networks in the United States. For more information, visit http://www.sprint.com/mr .
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