RIT Messenger System Training: Consideration for TTY Users

Subscribers may use the RIT Messenger System with a Telecommunications Device for the Deaf, also called TDD or TTY. TTY users have access to most capabilities except for the Speed up/Slow down and Step Ahead/Step Back features of the system. Each TTY subscriber or caller who wishes to communicate with the RIT Messenger System needs a standard, stand-alone, acoustically coupled TTY and a touch-tone telephone. Devices that bypass the touch-tone keypad, such as computers and non-dialing TTY modems, are unable to issue commands to the RIT Messenger System.

Subscriber Operations

Name Record by Subscriber

Any subscriber who interacts with the RIT Messenger System primarily using a TTY should record his or her name using a TTY. TTY subscribers have 12 seconds to type their name. The names of TTY users should not be voiced.

Logging In With a TTY

The RIT Messenger System answers in the system announcement set, not the TTY announcement set. There are two methods subscribers can use for logging in to the system:

  1. Dial the RIT Messenger System extension number 5-7878. a. Wait about five seconds (long enough for the system to answer) OR When you see what is obviously a voice pattern on the TTY LED (Light Emitting Diode) signal strength indicator, dial your login ID and password. (This LED pattern is closer to steady "on" as opposed to the ringing pattern which is intermittent on/off corresponding to the ring back pattern the TTY is receiving from the handset.) b. After you login, the system should switch to the TTY announcement set if the TTY is your login announcement set. If there is no response, wait a few more seconds and dial the login ID and password again.
  2. Dial your extension. TTY subscribers can use [*] [R] to log in from a call answer call to their extension if their login announcement set and their Call Answer Primary Announcement Set are TTY. a. Dial your personal extension number XXXXX. b. The RIT Messenger System answers with your mailbox's TTY call answer greeting. c. As soon as you see your greeting begin to display on your TTY you may dial [*] [R] and then log in to the system. (Dial [*] [R], then your extension and [#], followed by your password and [#].)

Mode Synchronization

TTY users should follow these guidelines when recording greetings, messages, names and custom announcements to keep the receiving TTY in the appropriate mode.

Some TTY's have both a letters key and a numbers/figures key for switching to the indicated mode. If the first character in your recording is a letter, press the letters key before you type anything else; or, if the first character in your recording is a number or figure, press the numbers/figure key before you type anything else.

Most TTY's do not have a letters key and a numbers/figures key. If you do not have separate letters and numbers/figures keys, synchronization of modes is more convenient, but can be accomplished in the following way:

  • If the first character you need to type is a letter, enter a slash (/); then press the space bar a few times before you start typing. This causes the system to reset to letters mode.
  • If the first character you need to type is a number or figure, type (X); then press the space bar a few times before you start typing. This causes the system to reset to numbers/figures mode.

Fixing RIT Messenger System Transmission Problems

If TTY subscribers see what they consider to be more than the normal number of typing errors in information displayed by RIT Messenger, the transmission from the system may be too soft. Dial [4] to make the transmission louder.

If the RIT Messenger System does not pick up the touch-tone key presses, transmission from the system may be too loud. Dial [7] to make the transmission softer.

Considerations for Administering TTY Subscribers and the TTY Announcement Set

Correcting inappropriate mode shifts

A receiving TTY may be placed in the wrong mode under the following circumstances:

  • The TTY user dials ahead or dials through an RIT Messenger System announcement received from the system.
  • A TTY message or greeting received from the system was recorded without appropriate reset codes.
  • Although this problem can be annoying, resetting the receiving TTY to the correct mode is a fairly straightforward process. On TTY's that have specific mode-reset keys, press the appropriate key. Do the following on TTY's that do not have mode-reset keys:

    Type any number or figure to shift a TTY that is in letters mode to numbers/figures mode

    Type any letter to shift a TTY that is in numbers/figures mode to letters mode.

Considerations to Accommodate Hearing Callers to a TTY Mailbox

In the example below, Mary Jones is deaf and has limited speaking abilities. She would like one personal greeting that would include both a voice and TTY message. For those deaf subscribers who want to redirect their voice calls, we recommend the following:

A speaking person records the first part of Mary's personal greeting, which is very short. If the TTY announcement set is the login announcement set for Mary Jones, the greeting prompts are in TTY. The speaker removes the handset from the TTY acoustic coupler when the GA prompt displays on the TTY, voices the greeting, and then returns the handset to the acoustic coupler either to record the TTY part of the greeting or to wait for more prompts. Part of the voice greeting for Mary Jones could be: "This mailbox belongs to Mary Jones. To leave a voice message, press "0" now."

Pressing "0" would send the caller to the extension of a hearing person who can take a message for Mary Jones. The second part of Mary's personal greeting is in TTY. The TTY part of the greeting needs to be recorded during the same recording session as the voice part. (In other words, Mary's greeting contains both a voice part and a TTY part. The voice part is first and very short so that it does not cause a long delay in the TTY greeting seen by the TTY caller. The TTY part immediately follows the voice part.)

Dual Language Mailbox Reminder

For the Dual Language mailboxes that receive both voice and TTY calls, we recommend that subscribers give options for voice users to [Press *1] and then the default mailbox is the TTY mailbox.



* requires an RIT Computer Account

Getting Assistance
