Document and Entity Information	3 Months Ended
	Mar. 31, 2015	Apr. 30, 2015
Document And Entity Information [Line Items]
Document Type	10-Q
Amendment Flag	false
Document Period End Date	Mar. 31, 2015
Document Fiscal Year Focus	2015
Document Fiscal Period Focus	Q1
Trading Symbol	TSYS
Entity Registrant Name	TELECOMMUNICATION SYSTEMS INC /FA/
Entity Central Index Key	0001111665
Current Fiscal Year End Date	--12-31
Entity Filer Category	Accelerated Filer
Class A Common Stock
Document And Entity Information [Line Items]
Entity Common Stock, Shares Outstanding		55,988,720
Class B Common Stock
Document And Entity Information [Line Items]
Entity Common Stock, Shares Outstanding		4,801,245