A Sendai-based company is offering a free remote video relay service for people with hearing problems in areas hit by last year's massive earthquake and tsunami, employing the expertise it has developed in a business venture largely unknown in Japan.

PLUSVoice Co. started the free service, in which sign language interpreters help people in Iwate, Miyagi and Fukushima gain access to information via videophones, shortly after the disasters struck.

After months of voluntary efforts, PLUSVoice obtained financial aid in September from the Nippon Foundation, a Tokyo-based nonprofit organization promoting cultural exchanges and communication support, enabling the company to continue what its president calls its "mission."