"This page is a digitally archived AccessInfo Announcement"
On December 20, 2023, the FCC released an Order modifying several Video Relay Services (VRS) rules that have been waived since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, as follows:
- Increasing from 50% to 80% the portion of a VRS provider’s monthly minutes that may be handled by communications assistants (CAs) working at home.
- Modifying the amount of prior interpreting experience required of VRS CAs who work at home from three years to one year.
- Allowing a VRS provider to contract for interpretation services (either with interpreting agencies or individual interpreters) for up to 30% of its monthly minutes.
- Permitting TRS Fund compensation of calls placed by registered VRS users to the United States from outside the country, for up to one year after leaving the country, as long as they notify their provider of such travel at any time prior to the first such call.
In addition, the Order clarifies how the Commission will calculate the annual inflation adjustment for Internet Protocol (IP) Relay compensation. Finally, the Order temporarily extends the current waivers of the requirement that CAs working at home have at least 3 years of interpreting experience and the prohibition on use of contract CAs until the effective dates of their rule modifications, and the waiver of the 50% cap on minutes handled by CAs working at home until six months after the effective date.
Link to the Report and Order and Order:
URL: https://www.fcc.gov/document/improving-efficacy-and-quality-video-relay-service-vrs
General information about Telecommunications Relay Services (TRS) is available at https://www.fcc.gov/trs. For further information about the VRS Improvements Order, please contact Joshua Mendelsohn, Disability Rights Office (DRO), Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau (CGB), at 202-559-7304 or joshua.mendelsohn@fcc.gov.