General Disability Support

Our Website

Our website has been extensively tested in efforts to make sure it is accessible to people with a disability. If you have problems with any aspects of its design or usability, please contact us.

Alert Codes

When you call our 123 service our staff can automatically see details about the number you are calling from. The first thing we see is an "alert code" which is a screen with brief but important information we need to know about a customer before we make any changes to their account. That might be information telling us that the customer receives a particular service that affects their ability to receive other services.

It could also say that the customer is blind and cannot read their account, or that they have a speech impairment and should be asked to repeat what they are saying if we cannot understand them. It could also advise us that a customer has a head injury and has difficulty retaining information, so that we know to offer to send out written information if this is appropriate.

If you would like us to know anything important about you that would help us to meet your needs, then you can contact us to have this information added to your account.

Using Telecom Broadband

Using the Internet opens up millions of information sources - all of which you can access from your own home. Find out more about using Telecom Broadband - there's no waiting to connect to the Internet, and your home phone can be used at the same time.

Buying a phone

We've got a great selection of the latest home and mobile phones, that you can view and purchase right here. Take advantage of the convenience of the charge going onto your next residential bill and the phone being delivered to your door. With a full range of colours and styles to suit your home, it couldn't be easier to have the best in home phones.

Check out the great range of phones, compare the features and styles to find the phone that best suits you and your household.

Other Communications Tools

• Text Messaging is a quick and easy way to send instant text messages between mobile phones.
• Pagers can be a cost effective way to communicate when you are on the move. Pagers are either alphanumeric (receiving letters and numbers); numeric (receiving just numbers) or tone pagers (simple beep alert). Alphanumeric and numeric pagers may be especially useful for Deaf people.
• BuzzMe Pagers are alphanumeric pagers. They can also receive @BuzzMail email messages. Their advantage is that they have no connection fee and no ongoing monthly access fees. The call to the BuzzMe pager is charged to the caller and the receiver is charged for the message received via their home account.
• Minicall Pagers receive numeric messages (such as a telephone number or a coded message). Like BuzzMe pagers, Minicall Pagers have no connection fee or ongoing rental costs. Call costs only apply to the person calling the Minicall pager.
  

  Emergency 111 calls

  Calls to emergency services can be made by dialling 111. A Telecom operator answers the call and will connect you to the service you require - either Police, Fire or Ambulance.

  Deaf customers can contact emergency services by faxing 0800 16 16 10 or using TTY on 0800 16 16 16. These calls go directly to the Police, who can pass details on to other emergency services as required.

  

  Emergency-Only Service

  If you are not able to have an ordinary fixed line telephone connection for some reason but need access to emergency services, you may be able to have an emergency-only line connected. This is only done on the recommendation of a doctor or police and is at no cost to you. However, you will be unable to make or receive any other calls using this telephone line.

  

  Stay connected to 111 services

  If you or a member of your household has a serious medical condition, then let us know so we can provide you with the right support to help you manage payment of your account. Apply now to be placed on our Essential Service register to ensure you stay connected to 111 services. To register you will need to download and complete the Medical Dependency form with your doctor.

  

  Payphones

  Our payphones have a range of features designed to make them easier to use.

  • There is a raised pip on the digit 5 on the keypad to aid keypad navigation
  • The display screen has large sized characters to make reading them easier
  • The handset features an inductive coupler device to assist users of hearing aids with a T switch
  • The handsets also feature volume control for incoming speech
  • The instruction notices feature diagrammatic as well as written instructions
  • The booths housing payphones are designed to be wide enough to accommodate a wheelchair.
  

  Smartphone Services

  There is a range of enhanced services that can help you manage your phone usage. Some of them are outlined here, along with suggestions of how they may be useful to people with special needs.

  Smartphone services are available in most, but not all, areas. Contact us to find out whether a service you are interested in is available in your area.

  • Call Minder - Whether you're out, on another call, on the internet or not able to get to the phone, Call Minder will take messages for you. You can listen to your messages from almost any touch-tone phone in the country - free of charge. Depending on the way your Mailbox is set up you may be able to control how long the phone rings before diverting to your mailbox.
  • Call Waiting - You'll always know when there's another call while you're on the phone when you have Call Waiting. You can also switch between calls.
  • Caller Display - Check out who the caller is before you pick up the phone so you can greet the caller personally or choose to not answer the phone, knowing Caller Display will record the call details for you. Also, you will be able to see who has called when you have missed calls. You will need a Caller Display compatible phone or a separate display unit.
  • Hotline is a service that automatically dials a pre-determined number when the handset is removed from the phone for longer than eight seconds. This can be useful for people to summons help if they are likely to fall ill or be unable to make a call. You could nominate these calls to go through to a neighbour, family member or caregiver.
  • Dual Number - Dual Number lets you have a 'public' and a 'private' number on a single line. You can divert your public calls to another service and only answer calls from people who have your private number.
  • Call Diversion - When you're out and about, or simply don't want to take calls, redirect home calls to your mobile phone or another number.
  • FaxAbility - FaxAbility can provide you with an additional number for your line. The FaxAbility number rings with a different sounding ring to the main number, so you can tell which number has been dialled. This can be especially useful for Deaf people sharing a household with non Deaf people. The non-Deaf people would easily be able to identify an incoming fax call, and know that it will be automatically answered by the fax machine. A FaxAbility-compatible fax machine is needed to use this service. The FaxAbility number can be used as a secondary phone number. For example, if you are a Home Business customer you can advertise the main line number for business calls, and the FaxAbility number for personal calls and tell these calls apart by the ringing tone. Different sounding rings could also be used to identify calls for different members of the household. Although FaxAbility provides an additional number, there is still only a single line, so only one call can take place at a time.
  

  Information about your account

  You can access information about your Telecom account in several different ways:

  • Referring to your monthly printed account - which is mailed to your nominated postal address
  • Telephoning us on 123. We can provide you with a wide range of information about your account and can even read you detailed information about toll calls you have made if this is how you would prefer to receive your information. This may be especially useful for blind customers.
  • Service Express on 0800 000 000 where you can access:
    • Your account information including balances and unbilled calls
    • Your Telecom mobile included minutes balance
    • Tutorials on Smartphone services such as Call Minder and Call Waiting
    • A wide range of other information about our products and services
  • Online at Your Telecom. Your Telecom is the personalised part of www.telecom.co.nz where you can get a view of your residential accounts, including details of your unbilled calls. You can also receive an email reminder when your bill is ready to view.