Return to About the National Relay Service (NRS)
Video transcript
| Captions and voiceover | Visual (includes Auslan interpreter signing the spoken words to the right of the video frame) |
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Before the video is played the following static images are shown: To the left of the screen is the logo of National Relay Service. The logo comprises of a navy-blue rectangle with the word National in white, a red rectangle with the word Relay in white, a white rectangle with the word Service in white. The rectangles are stacked on top of each other with the red rectangle off-centre to the right. An Auslan interpreter stands to the right of the video frame). A white “play” symbol sits in a red button in the middle of the video frame. |
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Visible in the video at all times is from left to right across the top:
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The National Relay Service (NRS) |
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If you are d/Deaf, hard of hearing and/or have a speech impairment, you can make and receive calls using the National Relay Service (or NRS). |
Logo of National Relay Service |
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The NRS has specially trained staff called Relay Officers who can help you during a call. |
Photograph of a smiling, seated Relay Officer indoors in an office setting. He is wearing a headset and looking down at a computer screen (which is not visible) |
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Depending on the type of call, a Relay Officer will change voice to text or text to voice and translate Auslan to English or English to Auslan. |
Photograph showing the same Relay Officer now talking into the microphone of the headset while looking at the screen of lap top computer. The back of lap top computer is visible and the Relay Officer is typing on the keyboard. |
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Relay Officers stay on the line throughout your call to help it go smoothly, but they don’t change or get in the way of what is being said. |
Photograph of a seated woman in a café looking at the screen of a mobile phone and pressing some keys. |
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Here, a Relay Officer is relaying a conversation from text typed by an NRS user to a hearing person and back again. |
A young Deaf man is standing in a white kitchen, holding a tablet and typing and looking at the screen in turn. The screen splits to also show a seated Relay Officer talking into the microphone of the headset he is wearing while looking at the screen of a lap top computer and typing. The screen splits into three parts. In the third part, a woman seated in a living room is talking, nodding and listening, holding a mobile phone to her ear. |
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Depending on the way you like to communicate and the equipment you have, you can choose from different NRS call types. |
Logo of National Relay Service The following stylized images appear one by one to surround the NRS logo and form a circle: NRS Chat – a navy blue tablet, desktop computer and smartphone each with a green chat bubble on its screen. SMS Relay – a navy blue mobile phone with two chat bubbles in grey and green on its screen. SMS Relay (Text and Listen) – the SMS Relay icon plus an image of a green ear. NRS Captions – a navy blue tablet, desktop computer and smartphone each with a green telephone handset and speech bubble on its screen. Video Relay – a navy blue tablet, desktop computer and smartphone each with green hands signing on its screen. Voice Relay – a navy blue tablet, mobile phone and landline phone. On the screen of the tablet and mobile phone is a green ear and speech bubble. TTY (Type and Read) – a navy blue teletypewriter which looks like a landline telephone with a small screen and keyboard. The handset rest on its cradle and the word ‘Hello’ appears on the screen. TTY (Speak and Read) – a navy blue teletypewriter which looks like a landline telephone with a small screen and keyboard. The handset is off its cradle and the word ‘Hello’ appears on the screen. TTY (Type and Listen) – a navy blue teletypewriter which looks like a landline telephone with a small screen and keyboard. The handset is off its cradle and a green ear sits above the teletypewriter. Once the complete circle is formed, the interpreter points to the circle. |
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If you like to type your side of the conversation on a smartphone, tablet or computer, you can use NRS Chat. |
Image of a smartphone. On the screen of the phone is an NRS Chat conversation which shows the following from top to bottom:
The send button is clicked and the bottom white bubble turns navy blue. 3.14 pm and a tick appears under this bubble. Above this image is an image of NRS Chat. |
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In NRS Chat calls, you type your side of the conversation; the Relay Officer speaks your typed text to the other person, and then types their responses for you to read on your screen. |
A Deaf young man stands in a white kitchen behind a kitchen bench. He is holding a tablet and is typing. The screen of the tablet is not visible. The screen divides to also show a Relay Officer sitting in front of a lap top computer. He is typing on the keyboard looking at the screen (which is not visible) and speaking into a headset that he is wearing. The screen divides into a third panel showing a woman listening, nodding and talking while holding a smartphone to her ear in a living room. |
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If you like to type and read text you could also use SMS Relay, which works with any mobile phone and does not use the internet. |
Image of a mobile phone. The following text bubbles appear on the screen of the phone in this order:
On the bottom of the screen is a blank white field with the following instruction in grey Type your message and a “send” symbol. Above this image is the image of SMS Relay. |
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In SMS Relay calls, you text your side of the conversation and read the other person’s responses, texted to you by the Relay Officer. |
A young Deaf man is sitting in a café, holding a mobile phone, typing into the phone and reading what is on the screen in turn. The screen is not visible. The screen divides to also show a Relay Officer sitting in front of a lap top computer. He is typing on the keyboard looking at the screen (which is not visible) and speaking into the microphone of the headset he is wearing. The screen divides into a third panel showing a hearing woman listening, nodding and talking while holding a smartphone to her ear in a living room. She has a magazine on her lap. |
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There is also an SMS Text and Listen option, where you can listen to the call as well as send and receive texts. |
The image of SMS Relay (Text and Listen) appears. Photograph of a smiling woman wearing earphones and holding a mobile phone, looking at the screen of her phone. |
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If you like to speak your side of the conversation and read the other person’s responses in captions, you could use NRS Captions. |
The image of NRS Captions appears. |
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In NRS Captions calls, you speak directly to the other person. You can listen to their responses and read them on your screen as captions. |
A hard of hearing woman is sitting in front of a laptop watching the screen (which is not visible) and talking on a mobile phone. The screen divides in two to also show a Relay Officer sitting in front a lap top computer. He is typing on the keyboard looking at the screen (which is not visible) and speaking into the microphone of the headset he is wearing. The screen divides into a third panel showing a woman sitting in front of a laptop in an office setting, talking on a mobile phone. The camera zooms in to the screen of the hard of hearing woman’s lap top. Captions are visible on the screen. |
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If you use Auslan, you can use Video Relay to make calls with the help of an Auslan interpreter over Skype. |
The image of Video Relay appears. Underneath is an image of computer screen with a Skype logo on the screen. The logo consists of a blue circle which sits on top of a diagonally set blue oval. A white “S” sits inside the circle. |
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In Video Relay calls you sign your side of the conversation. The Relay Officer will sign the responses of the other person back to you. |
A young, Deaf man is standing in a white kitchen signing toward a tablet sitting on a kitchen bench. The screen splits to also show an Auslan Interpreter wearing black standing and greeting the Deaf man. The screen divides into a third section which shows a hearing person in a café talking on her mobile phone which she holds to her ear. |
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If people find you hard to understand on the phone you can use Voice Relay. |
The image of Voice Relay appears. |
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With Voice Relay, you speak directly to the other person and listen as well. A Relay Officer will repeat any of your words that might not be clear to the other person. |
A woman sitting is in front of a laptop and talking on a mobile phone. The screen divides to also show a Relay Officer speaking into the microphone of the headset he is wearing. The screen divides into a third panel showing a woman sitting in front of a laptop in and office setting talking on a mobile phone. |
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If you don’t have a mobile phone or access to the internet, you can make calls with a teletypewriter (a TTY). |
Photograph of a teletypewriter (TTY). It has a square shaped white keyboard and small LCD screen. Across the top is a black handset sitting on its cradle with a cord. |
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With a TTY you can either:
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Photograph of a seated woman in a kitchen typing on a TTY and watching the screen. Photograph of another woman in a kitchen holding handset of a TTY to her ear and using the keyboard. |
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The NRS also has a free app you can use on the go. |
Photograph of a woman seen from behind holding a smart phone in her hand. The screen shows a page from the NRS app. The words “Welcome to the National Relay Service” are followed by two blank fields: “Your registered phone number “and “Password”. A red Login button appears below. |
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With the app you can use:
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Image of a smartphone on which the following images appear in sequence from the top of its screen downwards against a navy blue background:
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You can download the free app from the Apple App Store or the Google Play Store. |
To the right of the image of the smartphone appear:
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There are no extra costs for using the NRS. |
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If you access the NRS through phone calls or text messages, you pay your normal charges for calls and messages. |
The following images appear in sequence:
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A call through a TTY costs the same as a phone call. |
The following images appear in sequence:
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If you access the NRS through the internet you will pay normal data costs under your internet or phone plan. |
The following images appear in sequence:
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A call through NRS Captions may have both call and data costs. |
The image of NRS Captions appears. |
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You can find more information about the different NRS options on Access Hub including videos about:
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The url: ”accesshub.gov.au” appears. An image of desktop monitor sits underneath. The images of NRS Chat, NRS Captions, Video Relay, SMS Relay and a red rectangle with rounded edges with the words ‘Register now’ appear in succession on the screen. |
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On Access Hub you can also find information about using the NRS to contact emergency services. |
The following images in black appear from left to right, dropping from the top of the screen:
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Except for calls made through Video Relay, the NRS is available 24 hours a day, every day. |
An image of a clock appears – black with a white face. The arms of the clock move clockwise through the whole clockface. |
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Video Relay is available 7am to 6pm Australian Eastern Standard Time Monday to Friday except for national public holidays. |
The Image of Video Relay appears. Underneath these words appear in black: “7am-6pm Monday to Friday (Eastern Standard Time) except for public holidays”. |
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The NRS Helpdesk can help you to get started, give you tips for using the NRS and help you with any call problems. The Helpdesk is open Monday to Friday from 8 am to 6 pm, Australian Eastern Standard Time. There are a number of ways to contact the Helpdesk. |
Image of phone and phone number 1800 555 660 Image of fax and number1800 555 690 Image of mobile phone and number 0416 001 350 TTY and number 1800 666 630 Image of envelope and email address: helpdesk@relayservice.com.au Beneath these images and numbers there is an image of a desktop computer and a Chat window connecting to the Helpdesk on its screen The image of the Chat window is replaced by an image of a red and black clock showing the hour 8 am. The hands of the clock move forward to 6 pm. Under the clock these words appear: “8 am 6 pm Monday to Friday (Eastern Standard Time) except for public holidays”. |
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Visit accesshub.gov.au to find information about the NRS and other communication options to best suited to you. |
Then url “accesshub.gov.au” appears in black |
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The logo for the Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development, Communications and the Arts. On the left-hand side the logo shows the Australian Government crest in black and white. On the right-hand side in black are the following words “Australian Government, Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development, Communications and the Arts.” |