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FCC Regulations and Requirements

Captioned Telephone Service is regulated and funded by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). FCC regulations regarding Internet Protocol Captioned Telephone Service (IP CTS) may change at any time. The information here is the most up-to-date in keeping with current FCC regulations.

In order to use Hamilton® CapTel® service, Hamilton requires that individuals must provide certification that they have a hearing loss and need Internet Protocol Captioned Telephone Service (IP CTS) to communicate over the telephone. This may be done through one of the following methods:

  1. Pay a minimum of $75 for the equipment.
  2. Obtain the equipment through a governmental agency (ie: Equipment Distribution Program).
  3. Obtain certification from an Independent Third-Party Professional stating that the individual has a hearing loss that necessitates captioned telephone service to communicate with others on the telephone (download the certification form here)

Once an individual receives and installs the Hamilton CapTel Internet-based phone, they will be prompted to go through a simple registration process. If an individual would like to establish a Hamilton CapTel account for using Hamilton CapTel on a PC/Mac, Smartphone or Tablet, they will be asked to go through the same registration process. All individuals using IP CTS will be asked to self-certify the following, under penalty of perjury:

  1. He/she has a hearing loss that necessitates the use of captioned telephone service;
  2. understand that captions on captioned telephone service is provided by a live captioning assistant who listens to the other party on the line and provides the text on the captioned phone;
  3. understand that the cost of captioning each Internet Protocol Captioned Telephone call is funded through a federal program; and
  4. will not permit, to the best of his/her ability, persons who have not registered to use Internet protocol captioned telephone service to make captioned telephone calls on their registered IP captioned telephone service or device.

Should you have any questions about the certification process, please contact the Hamilton CapTel Customer Care team.

Hamilton CapTel Corporate Office
1006 12th Street
Aurora, NE 68818
Phone: 877-455-4227
E-mail:

Live Chat is available during the following hours:

Monday – Friday:
8:30 AM to 12:30 AM Eastern

Saturday, Sunday:
11:00 AM to 6:30 PM Eastern