Pilot on Android · Canada

Call anyone. No operator in the middle.

You type, they hear a natural voice. They talk, you read live captions. The person you call just answers the phone.

Join the pilot Fund the infrastructure
  • No relay operator
  • No interpreter on your private calls
  • Nothing to install for the person you call
Maple Street Pharmacy Live captions · 01:24
  1. Pharmacist · spoken Maple Street Pharmacy, this is Dana. How can I help?
  2. You · typed Hi, I'd like to refill a prescription.
  3. Pharmacist · spoken Sure. Will you pick it up, or should we deliver?
Suggested replies PickupDeliveryYesNo
  1. You · tapped a reply Pickup Reading aloud

Nothing is said until you tap. Suggested replies come from what they said.

On hold? Your phone flashes and vibrates when a person picks up.

Why OpenTurn

Relay puts a stranger on every call.

Today many Deaf people make phone calls through a relay service: an operator or interpreter sits in the middle and passes on every word. It works, but you wait for someone to be free, and it's never just you and the person you're calling.

Today, with relay

YouOperatorThem
  • You wait until an operator or interpreter is free.
  • A third person hears your private business.
  • Text relay assumes you're fluent in written English.

With OpenTurn

YouThem
  • You call when you want. No one to wait for.
  • No one else is on the line: just you and them.
  • Type, tap a quick phrase, or pick a saved line. You set the pace.

How it works

A normal phone call. Your way.

The person you call answers an ordinary phone call. They don't need an app, a video link or an interpreter.

  1. Type, tap a phrase, or pick a saved line

    Write what you want to say, or tap a quick phrase like “One moment”. Saved lines for the pharmacy or the bank are ready before you call.

  2. They hear a natural voice

    Your words are read aloud in a clear, natural voice, lower or higher. You see when your message is being read.

  3. You read what they say

    Their words appear as live captions while they talk, big and clear, in the size you choose.

Calls go to any number in Canada or the US.

Real life

Made for the calls you actually make.

Refill a prescription

Pick the pharmacy preset before you call. When the line says “For the pharmacy, press 1”, it shows up as a button you can tap.

Sort out a bank charge

On hold for twenty minutes? Put the phone down. It flashes and vibrates when a person picks up.

Book a doctor's appointment

When they ask “Does Tuesday at 10 work?”, Yes and No are already there to tap.

Order dinner

“Pickup or delivery?” Tap the answer. Your saved lines cover the rest.

Video call your family

See each other while you talk. Their speech becomes captions, and what you type is read aloud. Both of you use OpenTurn.

Coming next

Coming: At the doctor's, or in a meeting

One phone on the table. They speak and you read; you type or sign and the phone speaks.

Coming: With hearing family at home

Talk across the kitchen table with your hearing family, no interpreter needed.

Coming: At the drive-through

Order at the speaker box. Your order is spoken, and you read what they say back.

Coming: Deaf to Deaf, in sign

Video calls made for signing: full screen, smooth enough for fast signing.

Built for the call

Everything you need while the line is open.

Quick phrases

One tap, and it's said. Edit them to sound like you.

WaitCan you repeat?YesNoOne momentThank you

Saved lines

Ready-made lines for the pharmacy, the bank, appointments, deliveries and pizza. Pick them before the call.

Suggested replies

Yes, No, Pickup or Delivery, picked from what they just said. Nothing is said until you tap.

Phone menus become buttons

“Press 1 for the pharmacy” turns into a button. Only options you were actually offered, never made up.

On hold and voicemail

See when you're on hold, get a flash when a person comes back, and a tip when you reach voicemail.

Captions your size

S, M, L or XL. Marked when it's a recording or an automated line, not a person.

Calls that hold on

Lose your connection for a moment? The call survives a 30-second drop and reconnects.

Alerts you can see

Calls and alerts flash the screen and vibrate. Nothing depends on sound.

Privacy

Private by design. Honest about limits.

What we keep, and what we don't

  • No recordings. No transcripts. We don't save what you say or what you read. Our phone provider keeps a normal call record: numbers, time and length. Our server logs your user name, a partly hidden number, timings and message lengths, never the words.
  • Your things stay on your phone. Saved lines, contacts and quick phrases stay on your phone, encrypted.

What OpenTurn can't do yet

  • OpenTurn can't call 911. Use your phone's own dialer, or Text with 9-1-1 if you're registered.
  • The other person isn't told it's an AI voice yet. An introduction that tells them is planned.
  • Canada and US numbers only. Premium numbers like 1-900 are blocked.
  • Call audio is processed in the US today. Our speech and voice providers are US-based. Moving this to Canada is part of what funding builds.

Why it matters

Phone calls still decide who gets help.

Health care, banking, government services and work still run on the phone. For many Deaf and hard-of-hearing people, each of those calls is a barrier.

1.6 millionCanadians aged 15 and over have a hearing disability.
64.7%of them face communication barriers.
25.5%of people with any disability find calls to customer service or government hard.
~25,000people use a sign language at home.

Sources: Statistics Canada, Canadian Survey on Disability 2022; 2021 Census.

Roadmap

Where OpenTurn is going.

What works in the pilot today, what we're building next, and the bigger goal that funding makes possible.

Now, in the pilot: Phone calls without an operator

  • Calls to any number in Canada and the US, on Android
  • Live captions and a natural voice
  • Quick phrases and saved lines
  • Suggested replies
  • Hold, voicemail and phone-menu detection
  • Video calls between OpenTurn users

Next: Beyond the phone call

  • In-person mode: one phone on the table for doctor appointments, business meetings, hearing family, drive-throughs and counters
  • Deaf-to-Deaf video calls made for signing: full screen, smooth enough for fast signing
  • Accounts and sign-in
  • Canadian hosting
  • French
  • iPhone
  • An introduction that tells the other person it's an AI voice
  • Google Play

Later, the funding goal: A Deaf-led sign language AI lab

  • Voice to sign: an AI signer signs what the hearing person says, in ASL or LSQ, so you watch sign language instead of reading text
  • Sign to text: sign instead of typing
  • Built with Deaf signers, who govern the sign-language data
  • Incoming calls to an OpenTurn number
  • Plain-language captions

For government

Public infrastructure for accessible calling.

Relay services in Canada are publicly funded, and they still put a third person on every call. OpenTurn is a direct alternative, built with Deaf users, not for them. Funding builds what it takes to go beyond the pilot.

What funding builds

Build a Deaf-led sign language AI lab

Research and build voice to sign, with an AI signer, and sign to text, in ASL and LSQ. Deaf signers govern the data.

Build Canadian infrastructure

Host the service in Canada with the capacity for many calls at once, and move call processing to Canada.

Get ready for government use

Work toward Protected B, accessibility to WCAG 2.1 AA, and both official languages.

Fund Deaf-led testing

Pilots and design reviews with Deaf users, so decisions are made with them, not for them.

Where we are today. A pilot on Android with a small group of testers. Call audio is processed by US-based providers today; moving it to Canada is part of what funding builds.

Talk to us about funding

Get involved

Two ways to be part of it.

Join the pilot

For Deaf and hard-of-hearing people with an Android phone.

Fund or partner with us

For government, organizations and funders.