What is a teletype enabled phone?

Question

I'm filling out an online form and after the field to enter the phone number there is a checkbox that says "This phone is TTY (Teletype) enabled". I'm wondering what makes a phone a teletype enabled phone?

Answer 1

It use to be you did have to have a SPECIAL PHONE, but with all the modern Technology now, there are things that can just be added to a regular phone to turn it into a Teletype Phone and the Deaf ( Hearing Impaired ) person can also use it . You can also go to ADCO Hearing Products, or Harris Communications, on the WWW and see the different things that they have now that you can slip over a regular phone for a Deaf person to be able to use it also.

Also due to modern Technology the Deaf are able to use Cell Phones as most are now equipped to be set up to use it as a TTY Phone, all they have to do is set it up in the phone setup steps like other things on the Cell Phone, and the Deaf can already use the Cell Phone as a Text Messenger since the Mobile Phone is set up to use Text Messages to begin with.

Now all we have to do is find a GENIOUS out there that can set up the Teletypewriters to work on DIGITAL PHONE LINES ..  they will NOT WORK at all on these lines at this time . If the Digital Phone Line has an Anolog Filter on it then the Deaf can use them, but if you know of a Deaf Person that has their eye on getting a PURE DIGITAL Phone line PLEASE inform them that their Teletypwriters WILL NOT WORK on PURE DIGITAL LINES .

Have learned that lesson the HARD WAY in the past TWO MONTHS . If you ever encounter it, don't give up, it's lots of stress and lots of calls, lots of appts, and lots of yadda yadda yadda, but don't give up because you WILL find a NICE TECH that will help you figure this out, even though all the other Tech's say " there is nothing wrong " .

I don't know about other Digital Phone Companies, but Comcast Digital Phone  WILL NOT put the FILTERS back on that Time Warner had on these Digital Phone Lines in order for the Deaf to be able to use their Product like everyone else . And as far as I've been able to find out Comcast WILL NOT make any SPECIAL CIRCUMSTANCES to the Deaf to put the FILTERS BACK ON THEIR LINES so they can have these Customers or keep the ones that have had their service with Time Warner for years, but now have to change because Comcast has gone PURE DIGITAL and removed ALL FILTERS from the Lines once they took over Time Warner Cable, which won't allow the Deaf to use their Teletypewriters on these Digital Lines.

I think Comcast and any other Digital Phone Company should advertise that their Digital Phone Lines WILL NOT work on Teletype Phones for the Deaf or Hearing Impaired    ( which ever wording they'd like to use ) plus ask ALL NEW SUBSCRIBERS  if they would be using a Teletype ..or both .. and make sure the Customer knows this before they sign up for their Service,  so there won't be any misunderstandings down the road on WHY the Teletypewriters and other Teletype Phones  AREN'T WORKING once they have set their Service up for New Customers .

Now where is that GENIOUS we need to fix this Digital Phone Line trouble so the Deaf can use the Product ?  We need you badly !          ( chuckling )

Answer 2

That's a special phone for hearing impaired.

Like this - http://www.iltsource.com/TTY_Phones_s/30...

The hearing impaired caller usually calls an operator who then completes their call and reads what is being typed - and then types back the responses.

Answer 3

TTY (teletype) is how people who are hard of hearing (HH or deaf) communicate over telephone using "text", instead of voice like the rest of us.  Or, that is how they did it mostly before PC's, email, and IM text messaging became popular.  It could be said that the deaf were the first people to use text messaging before the rest of us even knew what text messaging was - they just did it with a TTY.