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Our file : 8665-C12-201403907

Ottawa, 6 May 2014

By email: Distribution list

RE: Data requirements for message relay service

On 22 April 2014, the Commission published Telecom Regulatory Policy CRTC 2014-187 on Video relay service. In its decision, the Commission indicated that it would consider whether a review of MRS is appropriate at a later date.

Commission staff is therefore seeking to understand what type of information is currently available in relation to message relay service (MRS) [1].

Commission staff therefore requests the following information:

Request #1

By 30 June 2014, companies are to identify which of the following indicators are currently being measured for (1) IP relay and (2) TTY relay:

Call Details

  1. Total number of incoming [2] calls (by month)
  2. Total number of calls relayed (by month)
  3. Total number of calls relayed per month sorted by (i) day and (ii) hour [3] and (iii) language
  4. Number of abandoned or unanswered calls per month sorted by (i) day and (ii) hour [4] and (iii) language
  5. Average wait time (averaged over one month)
  6. Average call duration (averaged over one month)

Customer Details

  1. Total number of MRS users (actual or estimated) detailed by month where possible
  2. Total number of customer complaints (annual) categorized by type of complaint (e.g. wait times, operator-related etc)

Operator details

  1. Number of operators and operator hours per week sorted by (i) English operators and (ii) French operators. If operators perform multiple functions, for example, provide general customer service in addition to providing relay services, the number of operator hours should be specific to the time spent on providing relay services.
  2. Average operator typing speed
  3. Average operator hourly wage rate for (i) English operators and (ii) French operators
  4. Operator qualifications/screening criteria for hiring process

Detailed Expenditures

  1. Monthly breakdown of expenditures, detailing:
  1. Itemized list of capital assets associated with IP relay and TTY relay and the annual equivalent cost that would be applied over the lifespan of the asset, or alternatively, the depreciation associated with the capital cost and financial expenses
  2. Direct operating expenses, with detailed breakdown for operator and network costs
  3. Third party expenses, detailing what the expenses cover (i.e. the terms of the contract). This could include the agreed upon quality of service standards, white-label services or products, the provision of branded websites and user interfaces etc.

Request #2

For indicators not already being measured, companies are to confirm by 30 June 2014 that they will start measuring the indicators [5] on or before 1 September 2014.

Request #3

For indicators that cannot be measured on or before 1 September 2014, companies are to indicate by 30 June 2014 the earliest date that the indicators can be measured [6] and justify why they cannot be measured on or before 1 September 2014.

In the instance it would be impossible, or deemed too onerous, to report on one of these indicators, identify the burden of measurement and justify why its measurement would be too onerous. If a certain level of detailed measurement of an indicator is not possible, indicate what level of detail is possible. This applies whether message relay services are provided directly to customers by your company or obtained through a third-party provider. Where your company provides relay services to resellers of local access services, and a detailed breakdown by reseller is not possible, the above information should be recorded and aggregated across companies.

If you have any questions with regards to this letter, please contact Kay Saicheua at (819) 934-1358 or kay.saicheua@crtc.gc.ca.

Sincerely,

ORIGINAL SIGNED BY /       

Nanao Kachi
Director, Social and Consumer Policy

Distribution List

Bell Aliant Regional Communications, LP norma.sherwood@bellaliant.ca
Bell Canada bell.regulatory@bell.ca
Bragg Communications Inc. (Eastlink) regulatory.matters@corp.eastlink.ca
Cogeco  telecom.regulatory@cogeco.com
MTS Allstream Inc. iworkstation@mtsallstream.com
Northwestel Inc. regulatoryaffairs@nwtel.ca
Rogers Communications Inc. regulatory.aff@fidomobile.ca; rwi_gr@rci.rogers.com;  
Saskatchewan Telecommunications <document.control@sasktel.com>
Shaw Telecom Inc. Regulatory@sjrb.ca
Télébec Limited Partnership reglementa@telebec.com
TELUS Communications Company regulatory.affairs@telus.com
Vidéotron regaffairs@quebecor.com

[1] MRS is to be read to include both teletypewriter (TTY) relay and Internet Protocol (IP) relay.

[2] Incoming calls refers to all calls received at the call-center requiring a relay operator.  This includes calls placed and received by the MRS user.

[3] Hourly call data is to be detailed by hour starting on the hour, for example 6h00

[4] Hourly call data is to be detailed by hour starting on the hour, for example 6h00

[5] separately for both IP relay and TTY relay

[6] separately for both IP relay and TTY relay

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