Relay Services

People who are d/Deaf, hard of hearing, DeafBlind or have difficulty speaking can make or receive calls to and from anyone through Louisiana Relay. Louisiana Relay offers numerous free calling options to communicate over the telephone.

TTY (Text Telephone)- The most common way to connect to relay – allowing a person who is deaf or hard of hearing to type their messages and read the other person’s responses.

Voice Carry Over (VCO)- Effective service for people who have hearing loss and use their voice on the phone.

Hearing Carry Over (HCO)- useful for people who can hear but who regularly or occasionally have difficulty speaking over the phone

DeafBlind Service (DBS)- allows people with combined hearing and vision loss to place and receive phone calls via a braille display

Speech-to-Speech (STS)- useful for people who have difficulty speaking or being understood on the telephone

CapTel (Captioned Telephone)- useful for individuals who have some amount of hearing loss, making it difficult to understand what is being said over the phone

Voice- allows standard phone users to communicate with individuals who are d/Deaf, DeafBlind or hard or hearing.

Spanish Relay- available for all of the calling options offered in Louisiana

Louisiana Relay Communication Assistants

When you connect through Louisiana Relay, a Relay Communication Assistant (CA) will process your call promptly, professionally and accurately. CAs are specially trained and instructed to convey the full content, context, and intent of Relay conversations in order to maintain functional equivalence for both parties on the call. CAs will type everything that is said or heard to the greatest extent possible, including all secondary activities that would normally be heard in a traditional telephone conversation (e.g., background noises, side conversations, other people coming on the line, etc.). For example, the CA may type background noises that are heard, such as “baby crying,” “dog barking,” or “talking in the background.”

Completely Confidential Calls
By law, Louisiana Relay CAs maintain strict confidentiality regarding all conservations as governed by the Federal Communications Commission. CAs do not participate in the conversations; instead they relay communication between both parties as if they are not present.

To learn more about Louisiana Relay or to make a call please visit 

Louisiana Relay: Overview