106 Text Emergency Call, commonly known as simply 106, is the Australian national emergency telephone number to be used in life threatening or time critical situations for those with a speech and / or hearing impairment who use telecommunications device for the deaf (textphone or teletypewriter (TTY)). It is run by the emergency telephone operator for the National Relay Service (NRS); formerly the Australian Communications Exchange (ACE), a non-profit organisation that provided the relay services component for the NRS. 106 can only be used by people with a TTY / textphone, or a computer with terminal software (TTY imitation software) and a modem. 106 calls are given priority over other calls handled by the National Relay Service. 106 is a free-to-call number.