Make and receive RTT phone calls in FaceTime on Mac
If you have hearing or speech difficulties, or want to call someone who does, you can use Real-Time Text (RTT) for your phone calls if your carrier supports it. When someone calls you, a notification appears on your Mac and you can take the call as an RTT call.
RTT calls you make and receive on your Mac use data plan minutes — mobile data charges may apply.
Note: To make or receive an RTT call, you must be using macOS Mojave 10.14.2 or later with Wi-Fi Calling through iPhone with iOS 12.1.1 or later. This feature is not available in all countries or regions or supported by all network providers. Depending on your network environment, an RTT call may be downgraded to a textphone call.
Make RTT calls from FaceTime on your Mac
Important: When making an emergency call in the US on your Mac, special characters or tones are sent to alert the operator. The operator’s ability to receive or respond to these tones can vary depending on your location. Apple doesn’t guarantee the operator will be able to receive or respond to an RTT call.
In the FaceTime app on your Mac, sign in and turn on FaceTime.
Set up your iPhone and Mac for phone calls and enable RTT if you haven’t done so already.
In the field at the top of the FaceTime window, enter the email address or phone number of the person you want to call. You may need to press Return.
If you have a card for the person in the Contacts app, you can just enter the person’s name.
If you’re restricted to calls with only certain people, an hourglass icon appears next to those people you can’t call.
Click next to the person you want to call, then choose RTT Call or RTT Relay Call.
Choose RTT Relay Call when you need to call someone who may not have RTT capabilities — this connects the call to a person who can assist you. See Change Accessibility RTT preferences for more information about the RTT relay number.
After the other person accepts the call, click RTT, then start typing.
If you selected Send Immediately in Accessibility RTT preferences, the recipient sees each character as you type. Otherwise, press Return to send the message.
Answer RTT calls on your Mac
On your Mac, when a notification appears in the top-right corner of the screen, do one of the following:
Accept an incoming call: Click Accept, then click RTT. (RTT is available even if you haven’t enabled it.)
Decline a call: Click Decline.
Tip: If the call came from someone you don’t want to receive calls from, you can block the caller.
Decline a call and send a message using iMessage: Click next to Decline, choose Reply with Message, type your message, then click Send. Both you and the caller must be signed in to iMessage.
Decline a call and set a reminder to call back later: Click next to Decline, then choose how long you want to wait to receive a reminder. When the time comes, you receive a notification — click it to view the reminder, then click the link in the reminder to start the call.
If your Mac has a Touch Bar, you can use it to accept a call, decline a call, decline and send a message, or decline and set a reminder.
You can’t receive a call from someone who’s restricted by communication limits in Screen Time but it appears as a missed call in the FaceTime window or in Notification Centre.