How CapTel Works

CapTel phones work with a free Captioning Service to provide captions of everything your callers say.

You dial the other person's number, exactly the same way as with any other telephone. While you dial, the CapTel phone automatically connects to the captioning service. When the other party answers, you hear everything they say, just like a traditional call. At the same time, the captioning service transcribes everything they say into captions, which appear on the CapTel display window. You hear what you can, and read what you need to.

CapTel: How CapTel works

When people call you, they need to dial the captioning service first and enter your telephone number in order for you to see captions during the call.**

**NOTE: If you use CapTel 800i or CapTel 800 in 2-Line mode, your incoming calls will automatically be captioned (people don't need to call the service first).

What Equipment & Services are Needed?

  1. CapTel Telephone
    A special telephone designed to work with the captioning service to display captions during your telephone calls. The phone does not, all by itself, translate spoken words into captions. It can also be used as a traditional telephone, without the captions feature.

  2. CapTel Captioning Service
    The captioning service transcribes the caller's spoken words into written captions, using voice-recognition technology. The captioning service is free to users, its cost is covered by the Telecommunications Relay Service (TRS) funds as part of Title IV of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).

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