Sprint IP Wireless Relay for BlackBerry Users with Hearing Impairments

Sprint has launched a new Sprint service that allows customers with hearing and speech impairments to use wireless relay services on their BlackBerry phones. The service, which started earlier this year as a trial, is the first of its kind on BlackBerry devices.

In order to communicate with other phone users, customers need to download a free application, available at www.sprintrelay.com/download/. This enables users to make relay calls without the need of a TTY (text telephone) or computer. All the user has to do is select a contact from the address book or enter a phone number with text instructions to a Sprint IP Relay Operator. Customers can edit and save their conversations and store a number of personal preferences such as the fonts used, operator gender, language preference (English or Spanish) and conversation window options.

"Sprint is a leader in providing relay services and we're continuing that tradition by being the first to launch this service for Blackberry customers," said Mike Ligas, director of Sprint Relay. "The application is very flexible and extremely easy to use, giving the customer a number of convenient and customizable ways to personalize their conversations."

Sprint IP Wireless is available on devices with BlackBerry 4.0 or later, that operate on the Sprint network.