National Relay Service - Performance Report 2010-11

Introduction

Scope and structure

Key performance outcomes in 2010–11

Overview of the National Relay Service

What is the NRS?

Who delivers the NRS?

Who can be contacted via the NRS?

How does the relay service work?

Type and Read

Internet Relay

Speak and Read

Type and Listen

Speak and Listen

How is the outreach service delivered?

What is the ACMA’s role in the management of the NRS contracts?

Who pays for the NRS?

What is the NRS Plan?

Significant events in 2010–11

Extended contract arrangements

Brisbane floods, January 2011

Snapshot of the NRS

Call minutes

Access to emergency services via the NRS

Total emergency calls relayed in 2010–11

Number of NRS users

Inbound call types

Outbound call types

Access to all 13, 1300 and 1800 numbers via the Internet Relay service

Relay service provider performance in 2010–11

Performance standards for receiving standard relay service calls

Performance standard one—quarterly average call abandonment (standard calls)

Performance standard two—daily call abandonment rate (standard calls)

Performance standard three—106 text emergency and
Speak and Listen calls

The NRS Customer Consultative Committee

Outreach service provider performance in 2010–11

Performance targets

Data collection activities

Outreach service highlights for 2010–11

Helpdesk support

Quiet Signs of Love video

Appendix

Impact of the January 2011 Brisbane floods on the delivery of the
NRS and subsequent initiatives to improve its resilience

Introduction

This report has been prepared by the Australian Communications and Media Authority (the ACMA) in accordance with subsection 97(2) of the Telecommunications (Consumer Protection and Service Standards) Act 1999 (the TCPSS Act). This requires the ACMA to give a written report to the Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy on the performance of the National Relay Service (NRS) providers against the requirements of the NRS Plan as soon as practicable after the end of each financial year.

Subsection 97(3) of the Act requires the minister to table the report in each House of the parliament within 15 sitting days of receipt.

Scope and structure

This report has five parts:

> an overview of the service, which describes what it is and how it is delivered

> a statistical snapshot of the service

> a review of the performance of the relay service provider against obligations and commitments in the NRS Plan

> a review of the performance of the outreach service provider against obligations and commitments in the NRS Plan

> an appendix covering the impact of the January 2011 Brisbane floods on the delivery of the NRS.

Key performance outcomes in 2010–11

The ACMA considers the performances of both the relay service provider, Australian Communication Exchange (ACE), and the outreach service provider, WestWood Spice (WWS), are consistent with their obligations in the 2010–11 NRS Plan.

The relay service provider demonstrated a high level of performance against its three contract standards. Where the relay service provider did not meet required performance standards, rebates were applied in accordance with the contract. A two per cent rebate was applied against ACE’s revenue for delivering services in the second quarter, and a further one per cent rebate in the third quarter.

The outreach service provider’s performance was measured against 23 performance indicators in 2010–11, with minimum performance targets and aspirational performance targets set for each performance indicator. The outreach service provider met 18 out of 23 minimum performance targets, and 15 out of 23 aspirational targets.

While the outreach service provider did not achieve five of its 23 minimum performance targets, it exceeded the higher aspirational ‘stretch’ target for 15 of the performance targets. The ACMA considers that the overall inputs provided by WWS, and its activities undertaken throughout the year, do meet the contractual obligations required. This is confirmed by assessing WWS’s performance against an agreed framework to measure an ‘equivalence of effort’ across each of the set performance indicators. The 2010–11 NRS Plan for the outreach provider required a commitment of 1,850 Key Performance Indicator (KPI) units, but the final inputs delivered were equivalent to 2,014 KPI units, nine per cent more than the initial KPI unit target. Further details of the ‘equivalence of effort’ framework are discussed on page 15.

Overview of the National Relay Service

What is the NRS?

The NRS is a legislated consumer protection under Part 3 of the TCPSS Act.

The service provides people who are deaf or who have a hearing and/or speech impairment with access to a standard telephone service on terms and in circumstances that are comparable to the access other Australians have to a standard telephone service.

The NRS is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week and operates as a communication bridge for deaf, hearing-impaired and speech-impaired people in the community.

Who delivers the NRS?

The NRS is delivered under contract to the Australian Government by two entities. ACE is responsible for delivering the relay service component of the NRS, and WWS is responsible for delivering the outreach service component. These contracts commenced on 1 July 2006 and now expire on 30 June 2013.

ACE is a not-for-profit company with a particular focus on the deaf sector. Its head office and call centre are located in Brisbane.

WWS is a Sydney-based specialist consulting group with particular experience and expertise in working in the community and public sectors.

Who can be contacted via the NRS?

Calls via the NRS can be made to anyone, anywhere, although suitable billing arrangements must be in place before calls can be made to overseas and premium-rate numbers. Otherwise, calls within Australia can be made for the cost of contacting the NRS using its 13 or 1300 number, which is generally around the cost of a local call. There are also 1800 NRS access numbers—for NRS users wishing to contact freecall 1800 numbers. Users of the Internet Relay service must have access to an operating internet connection to contact the NRS.

How does the relay service work?

The NRS most commonly involves a relay officer converting text communication to voice, and voice communication to text, to enable text and voice users to have a telephone conversation.

The relay service provider is also named as an Emergency Call Person in the Telecommunications (Emergency Call Persons) Determination 1999 and operates a text emergency service on the number 106.

There are a number of call options available to suit different users of the relay service. These options are described from the perspective of someone who is deaf, hearing-impaired or speech-impaired, and who generally uses specialist equipment such as a teletypewriter (TTY) or an internet connection. However, the relay service is also used by voice callers with a standard telephone handset to contact someone who is deaf or has a hearing or speech impairment.

Type and Read

The Type and Read service (also known as ‘text-to-voice’) is for users who cannot hear and do not use their voice. The relay officer ‘becomes their voice’ and reads aloud what the user has typed (on a TTY or via internet connection) to the recipient of the call, then listens to what the recipient says in reply and types it back for the user to read.

Internet Relay

The Internet Relay service, introduced in 2007, is a form of Type and Read service. It allows people to make NRS calls from some internet-enabled mobile phones or a computer, using an internet browser or chat applications such as MSN or AOL Messenger. Since its introduction, Internet Relay has grown in popularity and, at the end of 2010–11, accounted for more than 47 per cent of call minutes made through the NRS.

Speak and Read

The Speak and Read service (also known as ‘voice carryover’) is for users who have a hearing impairment but prefer to use their voice to speak their side of the conversation, rather than type it. They can speak directly to the person they have called via the relay service. The relay officer listens to what the recipient of the call says in reply and types it back for the user to read.

Type and Listen

The Type and Listen service (also known as ‘hearing carryover’) is for users who have difficulty speaking or communicating but can hear. The user types their side of the conversation and the relay officer reads it aloud to the person they have called. The user can then listen directly to the other person’s reply.

Speak and Listen

The Speak and Listen service (also known as ‘speech-to-speech relay’) is for users who may have trouble having their speech understood over the telephone. The relay officer, who is experienced in listening to people with speech impairments, will re-speak all or part of the conversation as required. No specialist equipment is required to use this service.

How is the outreach service delivered?

WWS has established a national network to undertake training and information activities, raise awareness through marketing campaigns and commission research studies, with the Australian Federation of Deaf Societies and specialist social marketing consultants as subcontractors. The network includes:

> seven information and education officers across Australia who provide face-to-face information and training sessions

> three customer service officers, who staff a national helpdesk for NRS users, assisting with information, troubleshooting and managing the NRS presence at conferences

> a project coordinator and marketing coordinator, to help plan outreach events and distribute information and promotional material.

What is the ACMA’s role in the management of the NRS contracts?

The ACMA continued to undertake contract management responsibilities for both NRS contracts in 2010–11. This included:

> maintaining relationships with both contractors

> monitoring and assuring contract compliance

> providing necessary approvals under the contracts (including the approval of government branding on all NRS materials and the approval of the NRS Plans)

> developing appropriate performance standards.

The ACMA also maintained certain legislated responsibilities for the NRS in 2010–11, including collecting the NRS levy, monitoring the performance of the two providers and reporting to the minister annually on their performance. Further details of these functions are set out below.

Who pays for the NRS?

The NRS is funded through a levy on eligible telecommunications carriers. Carriers holding a carrier licence, with gross telecommunications revenue of $10 million or more and covered by the ACMA’s most recent annual eligible revenue assessment, are liable to pay the levy each quarter. The proportion of the levy costs payable by each eligible carrier is calculated based on its share of total eligible revenue in the relevant year.

The ACMA is responsible for collecting the NRS levy on behalf of the Australian Government. The quarterly NRS levy is based on a forward estimate of providing the relay and outreach services in the current quarter, adjusted by the actual cost of providing the NRS in the relevant preceding quarter.

The total cost of providing the NRS in 2010–11 was $18.2 million (including GST). This was an increase of about five per cent on $17.3 million in the previous financial year. The annual relay service cost varies, as it is based on a set rate for every outbound call minute delivered in the year.

The payment to WWS for outreach activities was within the capped 2010–11 budget of $3 million (including GST) for the outreach program.

What is the NRS Plan?

Subsection 95(2) of the TCPSS Act requires each NRS provider to prepare an NRS Plan that must include at least the following:

> timetables for supply of the NRS

> performance standards to be met by the NRS provider.

Before preparing its NRS Plan, each NRS provider must consult with the ACMA about the content, including the nominated performance standards. Each NRS Plan must then be submitted to the ACMA for approval.

The NRS Plan is compiled annually by the ACMA from these component NRS Plans, and is available on the NRS website at Each NRS provider gives the ACMA quarterly reports on its performance, which the ACMA uses to regularly review and discuss the delivery of the NRS with both providers. The ACMA also prepares this annual report on the NRS providers’ performance under the NRS Plan.

Significant events in 2010–11

Extended contract arrangements

The ACMA undertook successful negotiations with each of the current NRS providers to enter into extended contract arrangements over a two-year period. The extension of these contracts now allows for an ongoing delivery of the service from 1 July 2011 until 30 June 2013.

The ACMA (on behalf of the Commonwealth) exercised an option to extend the contract with ACE and made a variation to the contract with WWS.

Brisbane floods, January 2011

The delivery of the NRS was seriously interrupted for nearly 24 hours on 12–13 January 2011 because of extensive flooding in the Brisbane area, which prevented staff from safely accessing the relay facilities. Further details of the interruption and improvements to arrangements under consideration can be found in the Appendix to this report.

Snapshot of the NRS

Call minutes

The total cumulative time duration of successful outbound calls made from the relay service each year is a key element in monitoring the demand for and delivery of the service. In addition, call minutes are the basis of payment to the relay service provider, where a fixed amount is paid for each call minute relayed. The use in Australia of the number of call minutes relayed by the provider is the standard method of payment for such services in other parts of the world.

Use of the NRS has remained at a consistent level over the last five years. The number of call minutes (3,204,383) relayed in 2010–11 was 1.4 per cent greater than in 2009–10 (3,160,003) and only 4.2 per cent below the peak call minutes in 2007–08 (see Figure 1).

By the end of 2010–11, about 47 per cent of outbound call minutes were generated by users who contacted the NRS via Internet Relay. This demonstrates the continued growth in the take-up of this part of the service, up from about 40 per cent in 2009–10. However, the increased use of Internet Relay appears to be a substitute for other methods of access (such as TTY), as the overall call minutes relayed by the NRS have remained relatively stable during the increased take-up of the Internet Relay service. The increasing popularity of the Internet Relay service since its inception in 2007 is tracked in Figure 2.

Access to emergency services via the NRS

The relay service provides access to emergency services in four ways (see Figure 3):

> Emergency calls received via the 106 text emergency service—from TTY users

The relay service provider is named as an Emergency Call Person in the Telecommunications (Emergency Call Persons) Determination 1999 and operates a text emergency service on the number 106. The 106 text emergency service is only available for users with a TTY.

In 2010–11, there were 175 genuine calls to Emergency Service Organisations (ESOs) via the 106 text emergency service. This compares to 227 genuine calls in 2009–10 and 333 in 2008–09. This reduction may reflect the increasing popularity of the Internet Relay service.

> Emergency calls received via requests for Triple Zero (000)—from TTY users

The NRS also relays call requests from TTY users seeking access to the Triple Zero (000) emergency number. In 2010–11, there were 146 genuine calls to emergency services seeking access to Triple Zero for TTY users. In these circumstances, TTY users are contacting the NRS via normal access numbers and requesting the call be relayed to Triple Zero, rather than dialling the 106 text emergency service number that is designated for emergency purposes.

> Emergency calls received via requests for Triple Zero (000)—from Internet Relay users

Calls to Triple Zero are also relayed for Internet Relay callers, as such users are unable to access the 106 service. There were 177 genuine emergency calls from Internet Relay users in 2010–11.

> Emergency calls received via requests for Triple Zero (000)—from Speak and Listen users

There were 13 genuine requests to access Triple Zero services from Speak and Listen (speech-to-speech relay) users in 2010–11.