New Zealand Relay

New Zealand Relay In 2004 the NZ Government set out to establish a national relay service for the Deaf, Hard of Hearing, and Speech Impaired communities of New Zealand.

New Zealand Relay is a free, government-funded service that enables Deaf, Hard of Hearing, and people with speech communication difficulties to make & receive phone calls. Such a service would enable people in these communities to keep in touch by phone without needing the assistance of friends or family. The service is now operated by Concentrix, based in Auckland with the NZ Relay support centre

currently operating 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. New Zealand Relay employs approximately 42 people. This is a combination of video interpreters who support NZSL interpreting, and 24 Relay Assistants who work rostered shifts to ensure our services are staffed at all times day and night; plus a further 6 support staff. We offer specialised services to help each of the communities we support. You can find information on all of the services we offer at www.NZRelay.co.nz. If you’d like to know anything more about the New Zealand Relay Service please contact our Helpdesk on 0800 4 713 713 (TTY) or 0800 4 715 715 (Voice). Alternatively, you can e-mail us at [email protected]

Our transparency statement and social media terms of use can be found here: mbie.govt.nz/smterms

18/12/2025

Hello! We’re excited to announce that we’re now recruiting for our revamped Deaf Quality and Promotions role.

This role is incredibly important to NZ Relay. It helps ensure our service is high-quality, accessible, and easy for people to connect with. It also plays a key part in sharing Deaf culture within our workplace and ensuring the Deaf community is represented in everything we do. The right person will bring their own strengths, talent, and lived experience — and truly make the role their own.

Historically this has been a part-time role, around 20 hours per week, with a hybrid work-from-home and Auckland office arrangement. However, for the right person, both the hours and the location are negotiable — including the possibility of working fully from home.

As we head into the Christmas period, we’re planning to hold interviews and complete onboarding in January 2026. If you think this role could be a great fit for you — or someone you know — You’ll find more information and the application link in the comments below.

Deaf Quality & Promotions Advisor | Auckland, New Zealand | Concentrix

WE HAVE MOVED! Kia ora, everyone.We want to share an update with our NZ Relay community.Many people know that, for a lon...
02/12/2025

WE HAVE MOVED!

Kia ora, everyone.
We want to share an update with our NZ Relay community.
Many people know that, for a long time, our NZ Relay team was based at Unitec in Mt Albert.
Some of you visited us for various reasons like open days, site tours or for help during the Skype to Teams transition.
We want to let you know that we have now moved.
Our team is no longer located at Unitec.
We are now working from new offices in Freemans Bay, Auckland.
But nothing else has changed.
You can still contact NZ Relay the same way you always have.
Our team is still here to support you.
We just want to make sure the community knows we have moved, so no one turns up to the Unitec site expecting us to be there.

If you have questions, feel free to contact us.
Thank you for your support — and thank you for using NZ Relay.

21/09/2025

Due to unforeseen circumstances, NZ Relay’s Video Interpreting Service is operating with reduced staff, impacting the availability of interpreters for making phone calls. Thank you for your understanding.

31/07/2025

Kia ora all, this is the second video (Part Two) about the use of AI-generated transcripts/live captioning during calls with NZ Relay’s Video Interpreters on MS Teams.

In Part One, I covered automatic captions sometimes spelling words incorrectly. If you’ve not watched that video, please do watch it. This video is about NZSL and English phrases and how they are different.

We are bringing this up because maybe one day you might read the captions and wonder why the English phrase is different to what has been signed (either by the Deaf person, or by the interpreter).

Also, I thought, this is a great opportunity to share with you all, about the complex interpreting role. Deaf people rarely have the opportunity to truly learn what is involved in NZSL-English interpreting (yet we use NZSL-English interpreters all the time!), and I wish I had all day to cover this, so - sorry for this short video!

NZSL and English will never be 100% the same (e.g. word for word) due to many things, particularly grammatical and vocab differences, and also the context. NZSL interpreters are qualified to interpret between the two languages, which includes cultural mediation. However they interpret it, the meaning is always the same as the source message.

Here at NZ Relay, there is an extra layer to consider: phone calls means the hearing and Deaf persons cannot see each other, so often the video interpreter has to add more information, to ensure the call goes as smoothly for both parties.

Some simple examples include the NZSL sign BUBBAH – there is no direct equivalent in English, so the NZSL interpreter will pick whichever English word/phrase best suits the context. So maybe you sign BUBBAH, but the interpreter has to voice many words, so you will read many words on the captions! Similarly, there are English words that have no direct equivalent in NZSL, such as “[insurance] broker”, so maybe the interpreter will fingerspell this, or break it down into “PERSON EXPERT, NEGOTIATE INSURANCE FOR YOU” for the English word “Insurance Broker”.

I hope that this brief explanation gives some insight into why you may read a different phrase in the captions to what was signed.

Thank you for watching this video; don’t forget to check out the Part One video if you’ve not watched it yet.

28/07/2025

Kia ora all, this video is to talk about the use of AI-generated transcripts/live captioning during calls with NZ Relay’s Video Interpreters on MS Teams. There is two videos on this topic, and this is the first video (Part One).

MS Teams has the inbuilt ability to turn on live (automatic) captions, which allows you and the interpreter to see what is spoken in the Teams call*. There are also other ways to get AI-generated live (automatic) transcriptions/captions, but we won’t go into detail here.

NZ Relay supports your use of automatic captioning during your call with a video interpreter; as the notes can be useful records for yourself, relating to your call.

However, we want to ensure you are fully informed that AI-generated content is not 100% accurate. There will be spelling mistakes, especially due to the NZ accent, or te reo Māori words/names - the AI machines are unfortunately not yet 100% perfect for New Zealand accents or te Reo Māori.

We are making this video because there have been a few times where the Deaf person will read the automatic captions and think “that’s not what I signed or spelt” (e.g. name or address) and interrupted the call to correct the interpreter. When in fact the interpreter understood the Deaf person and voiced correctly into English; it was the captions that were incorrect.

This interruption impacts the flow of the call with the hearing person, who may not understand what is going on, and why the Deaf person and the interpreter are discussing the captions.

To ensure your call with the hearing person goes smoothly, we recommend you ask the hearing person to repeat back the name or address, to check it is correct.

Thank you for watching this video. Watch out soon for Part 2 video on the same topic.

*note: this only works if the interpreter is not muted, and does not access the hearing caller’s audio as this is separate to MS Teams.

28/07/2025

Kia ora, I (Catherine) wanted to give the NZ Relay community an update. I’ve worked here at NZ Relay for over 4 years, joining the team when Concentrix started providing this service.

It’s been an amazing time, meeting many of you whenever I visited the community, to promote our services, and providing in-person as well as online support. I’ve also enjoyed working with the team here: the leadership team, the team of RAs, and the team of video interpreters.

I feel the time is right for me to move on. Tomorrow (Tuesday 29 July) is my last day at NZ Relay. I will miss working here with the team, and working with you and for you all.

What’s happening next? My role will be advertised soon – so watch this space! Maybe you’re interested in applying, and will become the next face here on social media for NZ Relay!

If you have any questions or need support to access any of NZ Relay’s services – please continue contacting NZ Relay through its helpdesk. The team here will look after you.

Bye for now, see you around in the community!

23/06/2025

Reminder of statuses (colours) of our NZ Relay interpreter profiles on Teams :)

16/06/2025

Kia ora, now that NZ Relay has moved to Microsoft Teams, we have observed consistency and accuracy in the status of the NZ Relay Teams profiles.

This means we can now return to a more accurate status/light system which reflects who is available for your call:

Green = Available to take your call

Red = Busy, on a call with another Deaf person

Orange = Away, on a break.

Offline = No interpreter logged into this profile.

05/05/2025

REMINDER - Open Day at NZ Relay office.

If you want to visit the office - you need to let us know. Please RSVP here: https://forms.office.com/r/D6XV0BbJPm

See you Thursday, and Sunday!

01/05/2025

See you on Zoom tonight at 7pm!

29/04/2025

You're Invited to NZ Relay's Open Day – Celebrate NZSL Week With Us!

Join us at one of two Open Days at NZ Relay!

Come along to explore our space, meet some of the NZ Relay team, and get in-person support as we help you make the move from Skype to Microsoft Teams.

🗓️ Thursday 8 May & Sunday 11 May
🕚 11:00am – 1:00pm (both days)
🔐 RSVP Required - please fill out this form https://forms.office.com/r/D6XV0BbJPm
📍 NZ Relay @ Unitec, Carrington Rd, Mt Albert (exact details provided upon RSVP)

Finger food will be provided.

Bring your device (smartphone/tablet/laptop) and your Skype/Microsoft log-in details — we'll guide you through the changeover to Teams in person.

Can't bring a device along? That's OK, we will have a computer available for you to use on the day!

Whether you're curious about NZ Relay or just need a hand with the tech, we’d love to see you there!

28/04/2025

REMINDER: Two community Zoom meetings today (Tuesday), at 1-2pm, and 7-8pm. See you then!

Address

172/139 Carrington Road
Mount Albert
1025

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