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).