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Media Contact: 
Will Wiquist, (202) 418-0509
will.wiquist@fcc.gov
For Immediate Release
FCC, SORENSON REACH SETTLEMENT FOLLOWING OUTAGE OF 
VIDEO RELAY SERVICES
Company to Pay Fee and Reimburse Public Fund Used to Support 
Communications for Americans with Disabilities
  --
WASHINGTON, September 29, 2017—The Federal Communications Commission today
reached a settlement with Sorenson Communications following a preventable service outage that
affected a communications service utilized by Americans with disabilities. Under the terms of 
the settlement, the company has agreed to provide enhanced notices to consumers during outages, 
and pay $2.7 million to reimburse the Telecommunications Relay Services Fund and a $252,000 
penalty. 
Video relay service, a form of telecommunications relay service, enables people who are deaf, 
hard-of-hearing or speech disabled to make calls over broadband through intermediaries using 
American Sign Language and video equipment.  VRS is funded through the Telecommunications 
Relay Service Fund.  
To qualify for reimbursement, VRS providers must comply with the Communications Act and 
FCC rules, which require that services be able at all times to handle any type of call normally 
provided by carriers, including 911 calls.  In 2016, Sorenson failed to renew its domain name, and
on June 6, 2016, Sorenson’s website’s domain registration was deactivated.  As a result, 
consumers’ calls made through this domain failed to connect, resulting in a service outage.  
Service was not fully restored until June 8.  The Commission’s investigation found the outage
was preventable.  The FCC’s Enforcement Bureau investigated this incident and reached today’s 
settlement with the company.  
The FCC has established specific quality requirements for TRS Fund-supported services.  These 
requirements ensure that persons with hearing or speech disabilities are able to stay connected 
with friends and family, and access critical services such as 911, in a manner similar to persons
without hearing or speech disabilities.  
The settlement, formally known as a Consent Decree, is available at: 
https://apps.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DA-17-941A1.pdf  
More information on video relay services is available here: 
https://www.fcc.gov/consumers/guides/video-relay-services
###
Office of Media Relations: (202) 418-0500
ASL Videophone: (844) 432-2275
TTY: (888) 835-5322
Twitter: @FCC
www.fcc.gov/office-media-relations
This is an unofficial announcement of Commission action.  Release of the full text of a Commission order constitutes
official action.  See MCI v. FCC, 515 F.2d 385 (D.C. Cir. 1974).