It was announced on August 7, 2008 that the non-profit Communication Service for the Deaf (CSD) call center in Jacksonville, Florida would be closing. The center will close on October 12, putting 114 people, many of whom
are hearing impaired, out of work.

Based in South Dakota, CSD acts as a third-party communicator between the deaf and those of good hearing.
The Jacksonville center takes calls from people across the country. Using the teletype system, call center employees relay conversations through texting from one caller to another. The free service is paid for by the state.

According to Dimenet Hot News, CSD's Communications Director Rick Norris said that the Jacksonville closing is partly a result of budget cuts and also because new technology (such as voice command and text-to-speech functionality on wireless communications devices) has reduced the need for the text relay service.

The gradual demise of TTY has been predicted for a while now. This news seems to provide some evidence to support that prediction.

For brief news coverage of the closing of the CSD center in Jacksonville, see:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ocdacnewsletter/message/142

http://jacksonville.bizjournals.com/jacksonville/stories/2008/08/04/daily30.html