People with hearing and speech disabilities use the phone like everyone else – to find out about a product, make an appointment, reach a teacher, call a parent with a birthday party invitation, or simply to be neighborly.

• Have you ever made a call and had someone hang up on you?

• Do you want Oregon Relay to educate those who do hang up on you?

Many deaf, hard-of-hearing, deaf-blind, and speech-disabled people find that businesses, organizations, and individuals they call through relay are unfamiliar with the Relay Service. As a result, when the Relay Operator announces the call “This is Oregon Relay” to someone unfamiliar with this service, often, that person will hang up. Although not intentional, the hearing person who is receiving a relay call for the first time may hang up, thinking that a telemarketer is calling.