What is a textphone and how can it help?

A textphone is a telephone device that sends text instead of voice. Textphones have full qwerty keyboards and visual displays which are often only one or two lines. Everything typed at a user’s end is sent character by character to the textphone at the other end of the line. This is called real-time text.

Because both users’ text shares the same screen, users must take turns when typing.

Textphones can only connect directly to other textphones but there is a free service called Text Relay (external link) which uses relay assistants to enable access to the voice phone network. 

Two additional services provided by Text Relay are voice carry over (VCO) and hearing carry over (HCO). Voice carry over allows you to use your voice to speak to the person at the end of the line and then receive the reply in text. Hearing carry over allows you to type to the person at the other end and then hear their reply.

There is a specifically designed device to enable voice carry over, called the Screenphone, developed by Action on Hearing Loss. After you have spoken your message, the caller’s conversation comes back on the screen via a Text Relay operator. 

Our Computing section has information on software which allows computers to be used as textphones.

What should I look for when buying one?

Look for a model that plugs directly into the phone socket. Some textphones use an ‘acoustic coupler’, which means they have a cradle into which you place a voice phone handset. The textphone then uses a speaker and microphone to convert between text and audio.

Modern handsets often sit awkwardly in the cradle and the textphone can get confused by background noise and even the sound of its own printer.

If you require VCO or HCO, you will need a textphone with a handset. Screenphone is suitable for VCO. It is possible to plug a standard PS/2 computer keyboard into a Screenphone to use it as a textphone.

Phone lines used in businesses may be either analogue or digital, but most phones designed for accessibility are analogue.

Digital phone systems normally have an option of supporting a limited number of analogue devices, such as fax machines. A textphone or Screenphone can be similarly treated like a fax machine.

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