January 21, 2025 Launch of "Text Display Phone Service" (Service Name: "Yometel"), A New Telephone Relay Service

 The text display telephone service, called Yometel, will begin on Thursday, January 23, 2025. This is a new telephone relay service based on the Act on Facilitating the Use of Telephones by the Hearing Impaired, etc. (Act No. 53 of 2020) (hereinafter referred to as the "Act").

 After the Act came into effect on Tuesday, December 1, 2020, the telephone relay service was launched as part of the public infrastructure on Thursday, July 1, 2021.
 The telephone relay service is a service that enables two-way communication between persons with hearing or speech difficulties and those without such difficulties, using either sign language or text and voice. Available 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, the telephone relay service allows for emergency call connections and two-way dialing with the other party on a call. This service is essential for ensuring that people with hearing and speech disabilities can live and communicate with others independently.
 This time, the text display phone service (service name: Yometel) will begin on Thursday, January 23, 2025 as a new telephone relay service.
 Yometel targets people who can speak in their own voice but have difficulty hearing the other party due to hearing impairments or postnatal hearing loss. Yometel allows them to speak in their own voice and read the other party’s voice in text form.
 Yometel helps people with hearing disabilities live independently in their daily and social lives and enables them to make emergency calls. It is crucial to recognize the significance and convenience of the service early on.
 In accordance with Article 3, Paragraph 2 of the Act, the MIC will work in cooperation with the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare, other relevant ministries and agencies, telephone relay service providers, telephone relay service support organizations, and other entities to thoroughly promote public awareness. We also call for the cooperation of local governments, the telecommunications industry, consumer groups and other organizations nationwide.

<Key points>

• Yometel allows you to convey your message in your own voice and read the other party's voice in text form.
• Like the telephone relay service, Yometel can make emergency calls, is available for 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, and supports two-way dialing with the other party on a call.
• When you receive a call using Yometel, you will hear a machine announcement at the beginning of the call indicating that the other party’s message will be converted into text: "This is Yometel, a telephone relay service. Your voice will be converted into text and displayed to the other party. So, please speak clearly."(To listen to the actual voice guidance, click here.). To prevent misunderstandings by call receivers, Yometel should be widely recognized.

<Inquiry contact point>

• Telephone Relay Service Customer Center
  

  (Operating hours: 9:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., except during year-end and the New Year holiday)
  Official website: https://www.nftrs.or.jp/
  Email, sign language and text chat: https://www.nftrs.or.jp/contact
  Phone number: 03-6275-0912

• Text Display Phone Service (Yometel) Customer Center
  

  (Operating hours: 9:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., except during year-end and the New Year holiday)
  Official website: https://www.yometel.jp/
  Email, text chat and video calls: https://www.yometel.jp/contact
  Phone number: 0120-328-123