Media Contact: Mike Snyder (202) 418-0997 michael.snyder@fcc.gov For Immediate Release FCC GRANTS SECOND CONDITIONAL CERTIFICATION FOR IP CAPTIONED TELEPHONE SERVICE USING ONLY AUTOMATIC SPEECH RECOGNITION Certification Will Help Provide Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing Consumers with Options for Evolving Accessible Communications Services -- WASHINGTON, June 04, 2020—The FCC’s Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau today granted conditional certification to Clarity Products, LLC, to provide Internet Protocol Captioned Telephone Service (IP CTS) using only automatic speech recognition (ASR) technology. The second such grant, this certification enables the use of advanced technology to provide captioned telephone service for deaf and hard-of-hearing Americans. Conditional certification permits Clarity to receive Telecommunications Relay Service (TRS) Fund compensation pending verification that its service to registered users meets or exceeds the FCC’s minimum TRS standards. “Today’s action provides further opportunities for consumers in the new and expanding universe of automatic speech recognition for IP CTS,” said FCC Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau Chief Patrick Webre. “It’s thrilling to witness this advance in accessible technology, knowing its potential to enhance telecommunications services for hundreds of thousands of Americans who are deaf or hard of hearing.” Clarity applied for certification to deliver IP CTS using only ASR technology and without the aid of communications assistants normally employed in providing IP CTS. In June 2018, the Commission determined that automatic speech recognition is a permissible means of delivering captioned telephone service. By delivering ASR-generated captions on an over-the-top smartphone app, called CaptionMate, which can be installed on iOS and Android phones and tablets or accessed via a website, Clarity says it can reduce the cost and increase the speed of delivery of telephone captions, while providing a degree of accuracy comparable to captioning provided by communications assistants. CaptionMate will also enable users to pause the transcription of a call, display captions on multiple devices, select a language corresponding to that of the other party, view captions of both parties’ voices, share captions of the other party’s voice with that party, and rate captioning quality. The FCC determined that Clarity has sufficiently established that its proposed service will meet or exceed the FCC’s minimum TRS standards, including those for speed of answer, transcription speed, and accuracy and readability of captions. This was supported by comparative performance testing by the Commission’s TRS research contractor, MITRE Corporation. Clarity has also shown that its ASR-only IP CTS product will be capable of keeping captioned conversations confidential and handling emergency calls in accordance with applicable rules. ### Media Relations: (202) 418-0500 / ASL: (844) 432-2275 / TTY: (888) 835-5322 / Twitter: @FCC / www.fcc.gov 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).