Was This a TTY Call?

[Jinx]

I received an odd phone call at work today. It was an AT&T operator claiming someone was trying to reach me. The caller would type their conversation, the operator would read it to me, and then type my reply. She (the operator) claimed this was via an AT&T website. Doesn't TTY require a TTY machine at both ends? And, is this now an updated form of TTY? - Jinx

[Tripler]

IIRC, TTY was always the format the deaf or hard-of-hearing would use to communicate over the phone -- almost like a TCP/IP format on the Internet.

Is it possible someone got the wrong number over the phone? The operator was just doing her job translating types to voice for you, while translating voice to TTY to the user on the other end. . .

Tripler
IIRC, there's fairly easily available hardware for TTY.

[Jinx]

Yes, it is very likely the caller had the wrong number as we acquired our offices from someone else who somehow failed to notify Verizon, I presume, about the switchover. And yet, I am sure the old tenant isn't being stuck with out bills. Anywhooo...somehow, we kept their old numbers, I guess? (We were a sub-contractor of theirs, but I am a new employee so the relationship is fuzzy.) - Jinx

[chestnutmare]

What you received is a "relay call". This is so that the deaf or mute can call a business that doesn't have TTY.

When I ran a retail store, I had one regular customer who was deaf and used the relay service to check that his special orders had arrived.

*Warning* People running the Nigerian and other Scams have been known to use relay services so that the call can not be traced. This does NOT mean that all relay calls are scams