U.S. General Services Administration
Federal Relay (FedRelay)
Update To The FedRelay Transition
Phase I of the transition is complete. Most agencies have extended their FedRelay task orders to allow agency users to continue utilizing FedRelay services through November 15th, 2021. This means that while each agency conducts their transition activities, users will have service available via the GSA FedRelay contract.
The FedRelay transition consists of two parts, transitioning to the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) Telecommunications Relay Service (TRS) program as well as transitioning to GSA’s Multiple Award Schedule (MAS) 541930 – Language Services. The service breakdown is as follows:
| FCC TRS | GSA MAS |
| Video Relay Service (VRS) | RCC (Captioning Services) |
| Captioned Telephone Service (CPTS) | Video Remote Interpreting (VRI) |
| Internet Protocol Captioned Telephone Service (IPCTS) | |
| Internet Protocol Relay (IP Relay) | |
| Speech to Speech (STS) | |
| Text Telephone Relay (TTY) |
In order for agencies to begin transitioning to the FCC’s TRS Program, they will need to appoint a Relay Official to collect user registration information for the verification/validation process. If you need the Relay Official Appointment letter or to see if your agency has appointed a Relay Official yet, please contact the FedRelay Program Office at federalrelayservices@gsa.gov.
In order for agencies to begin transitioning to the GSA MAS 541930, they must create a Statement of Work (SOW) and send to the selected vendors (Draft SOW templates have been sent out). Once proposals are received and an award is made, agencies will need to submit a task order to their selected vendor before users can begin using services. GSA encourages agencies to include Deaf and Hard of Hearing users in your acquisition planning activities. If your agency needs another copy of the GSA Multiple Award Schedule (MAS) Ordering Guide or the draft Statement of Work template, please contact the FedRelay Program Office at federalrelayservices@gsa.gov.
GLOSSARY:VRS (Video Relay Service), CPTS (Captioned Telephone Service), IPCTS (Internet Protocol Captioned Telephone Service), IP Relay (Internet Protocol Relay), STS (Speech to Speech), TTY (Text Telephone Relay), Video Remote Interpreting (VRI)
Type of contract: Single award, indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity (IDIQ).
Period of performance: The current period of performance ends 5/15/2021.
Ceiling: $101.7 Million.
Task Orders: Direct-order, direct-bill.
For more information on FedRelay, you can download the contract [PDF] or view the brochure.
Note: Section 889 Part B Clause
Clause 52.204-25 Prohibition on Contracting for Certain Telecommunications and Video Surveillance Services or Equipment [AUG 2020] has been incorporated into the Federal Relay IDIQ.
FedRelay Services
FedRelay is a fixed-price contract. Six services are offered. Customers pay per service minute. Please follow the instructions below for each service.
Text Telephone (TTY)/American Standard Code For Information Interchange (ASCII)
A deaf or hard-of-hearing person uses a TTY or personal computer to type a conversation. A relay operator voices the typed conversion to a hearing person, and then types the hearing person’s spoken response to the TTY user.
Speech To Speech (STS)
A person with a speech disability or voice synthesizer speaks directly to the called person. A specially trained relay operator acts as the speech-disabled user's voice by listening and repeating the speech-disabled user's dialogue if necessary.
Captioned Telephone Service (CTS)
A deaf or hard-of-hearing person dials another party using a captioned telephone. The CTS phone automatically connects to a captioning relay service center, where a specially trained relay operator transcribes the called party's responses into text (captions). Captions appear on a display on the CTS phone.
IP Relay
This is a web-based version of TTY/ASCII service. Service is available seven days a week, 24 hours a day (24/7).
Relay Conference Captioning (RCC)
Deaf and hard-of-hearing individuals can participate in teleconference calls. Real-time text is streamed to the user’s internet-connected computer. RCC can caption telephone conference calls, large conferences, web conferences, or small meetings. RCC also offers Spanish-to-Spanish, Spanish-to-English, and English-to-Spanish captioning (reservation times change based on language).
Video Relay Service (VRS)
A deaf person signs to a video interpreter using a video camera. The video interpreter voices the conversation to a hearing person on a standard phone, and the video interpreter signs back to the deaf person on a computer or television screen. VRS also offers Video Relay Interpreting (VRI) for interpretation between individuals in the same location.
How to Order
To order FedRelay services, agency contracting officers (COs) place a task order directly with Sprint to set up an ordering and billing arrangement. See the FedRelay website for more information.
View prices of services on Sprint's Contract Line Item (CLIN) tables [PDF].
Sprint is the contract service provider under the new Federal Relay contract. We have conducted a Certification and Accreditation (C&A) of Sprint's systems in accordance with:
- Federal Information Processing Standards (FIPS) Publication 199 [PDF]
- National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) FISMA Publication 800-60
- GSA IT Security Policy
Training
Federal Relay Service Webinar Presentations: FedRelay can provide webinar training about the current services offered for deaf, hard of hearing, and speech-disabled Federal Government employees. The presentations are held on WebEx Meeting and do not require passwords.
The shortcut for this page is gsa.gov/fedrelay