Federal Information Relay Service (FIRS)

The Federal Information Relay Service (FIRS) is a system in which intermediaries facilitate conversations between speech and/or hearing impaired individuals, using standard telephones. FIRS ensures that the Federal Telecommunications System is fully accessible nationwide to speech and/or hearing impaired federal employees and members of the general public who need to access federal agencies. This accessibility requirement is mandated by the Telecommunication Accessibility Enhancement Act of 1988 (Public Law 100-542).

The General Service Administration (GSA), which operated FIRS internally for several years, recently awarded a contract to U.S. Sprint to begin providing the relay services on April 1, 1993. The contract is for a one year period with three one-year renewal options. The minimum dollar amount of the contract is one million dollars with a fifteen million dollar ceiling under which the federal government may order services. The telephone number that users contact to access FIRS remains the same: 1-800-877-8339 (V/TDD).