Anyone ever use this service? You can call almost anyone in the world (i think) without paying a dime. It is meant for deaf people but the operators don't care if you use it for prank calls. The serivice is created through American and Canadian tax dollars so why cant we use it too, right?
What happens is you connect to an operator and they relay what you type to the person on the other end and then they type back to you what the person replied.
USE THESE RULES OR THE OPERATOR WILL GET PISSED OFF AND DISCONNECT YOU FOR NOT USING THE SERVICE PROPERLY. But if you do the call right they dont care if its a prank or not.
Heres what happens:
- You enter the phone number to dial and connect
- It will find an available operator and connect you with him/her(almost always a her)
- She will dial the number, and tell the person you are calling about Spring Relay and how it works
- You type what you want
- The operator reads what you typed to the person you called
- The operator types out to you what the person you called is saying
A few things to take into consideration:
* The operator ALWAYS says what you type. It can be racist, sexist, or downright wrong, she will say it
* This service is completely FREE!
* This works great for prank calls
so here's a little primer.
1) when you use the service, you MUST write "ga" when you're ready for a response from the voice person. "GA" means "go ahead." However, that does NOT mean "say 'ga' after every sentence" - because if you say it, be prepared for a response.
2) if you DO use "ga" and then keep typing, guess what? The voice person doesn't get a chance to respond. You can always interrupt them. They can never interrupt you.
3) "sk" means "stop keying" and is the relay equivalent of "goodbye." "qq" is the way a question mark is designated in relay - this is because before relay was done online, it was a service for TTY users.
4) You might think it's hilarious when you make the operator voice "The operator likes big hairy balls" - might even think it upsets the operator. Guess what? We're pretty much bored with it. I wish someone would come up with a new gambit.
5) when the operator types "explaining relay," this is the script: "You are talking to someone who is using a computer. The person will be typing and I will read everything that is typed. When you hear the words 'go ahead,' it is your turn to respond. Please speak more slowly and in the first person as you are talking directly to the person. When you are finished speaking and ready for a response, say 'go ahead' to signal the other person to begin typing. Relay will begin now."
6) Yes, it's free. It's completely free. It's taxpayer money, comes from the FCC because of the Americans With Disabilities Act. Yes, you can make international calls for free (too all nations except pakistan, india, ghana, and a couple others I forget).
7) Yes, they can log your IP. Legally they can't. In reality they do. However, they cannot use it in any way. You can launch a terrorist threat from IP relay and the operator has to keep it completely confidential - no telling people in the breakroom, or significant others, or pets, or therapists or anything. So I'd say it'd be much better to make bomb threats than cheap phone sex pranks.
8) if you follow these rules - using the right ga and sk stuff, for example - the operator will do a much better job of voicing your call, maybe even getting into the prank. Otherwise, you'll get a monotone crappy conversation out of it. Do it right and we'll even get a kick out of it.
Just FYI.
i just go finish calling myself 
i put the opperrator threw hell 
(HOLDING ...,