U.S. General Services Administration
Federal Relay (FedRelay)
Program Update: Telecommunications Relay Service (TRS) will be replacing FedRelay at NO COST to agencies.
To ensure FedRelay customers experience improved access, enhanced service and no loss of coverage, GSA is working closely with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to transition users to the FCC's Telecommunications Relay Service (TRS) and GSA's Multiple Award Schedule (MAS).
TRS offers a suite of telecommunications services that help individuals with hearing or speech disabilities communicate with government agencies and conduct official business.
The current FedRelay contract ends on May 15, 2021. Agencies who have current task orders can extend them an additional 6 months until November 15, 2021. To prepare for transition, agencies should ensure that their FedRelay accounts are current and address any outstanding invoices. Transition updates will be posted at gsa.gov/fedrelay.
GSA initiated the required market research to prepare for the next generation of FedRelay and determined that for the majority of relay services, TRS would deliver the greatest value while enhancing services provided. Additionally, TRS coms at no cost to agencies. The FedRelay services not offered by TRS, Relay Conference Captioning and Video Remote Interpreting, are already available on the GSA MAS Language Services SIN 541930, at lower pricing.
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