Telephony

Posts about deaf technology in all telephony systems.

Salt Lake City airport installs video phones for the deaf

by Kathryn Hill on April 30, 2007


Partnering with Sorenson Communications, the Salt Lake City airport became the first airport in the United States to install video phones for deaf and hard of hearing travelers.  The video phones are located on each side of Salt Lake City International Airport’s two baggage claim areas, and the service is free.

To use a videophone booth, a deaf or hard-of-hearing individual enters a private booth equipped with a Sorenson VP-200 videophone connected to both a television and high-speed Internet. He or she enters the phone number of the hearing individual being called. Through the Sorenson Video Relay Service, a qualified ASL interpreter appears on the screen, connects the individuals and relays the conversation between them. The hearing party receiving the call uses a standard phone line.  (via Sorenson press release.)

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IP-Relay

by Kathryn Hill on April 30, 2007


I’m going to be writing about Relay services a lot this week to increase public awareness to the different types of Relay services and how they work. In this post I’m going to talk about the service I use, and why.

I use IP-Relay for almost all of my telephone relay needs. I started using them in 2005 when they announced their new AOL Instant Messenger (AIM) service, which worked effortlessly and meant that I could make phone calls from both my desktop computer and my TMobile Sidekick. In the past, deafies made Relay calls using a TTY, which was quite cumbersome; one, you had to make extra room on your desk for the TTY, and two, it was hard to multitask between the TTY & your personal computer if you were at work, and three – the TTY screens are small, usually just one line of text. Lastly, if you were out and about, it could sometimes be difficult to find a place to plug in the TTY so you could make a phone call. Think about it – most pay phones aren’t near power outlets.

In the early part of the 2000′s, telephone companies came out with Java-enabled online relay services that allowed deafies to make Relay calls using their desktop computer – here’s an example of the one provided by IP Relay. These were a little bit more convenient than using a TTY as you could continue working at your computer while you made a phone call, but I remember the Java application crashing a lot.

The new AIM service works great; all I had to do was add the user name “My IP Relay” to my AIM buddylist and I simply click on that screen name and type “CALL” in the window that pops up to start a phone call. It looks like this when I start a call:

I simply type back and forth to the Relay operator in the Instant Messenger window and the operator relays my typed words to the hearing person I am calling, and types the hearing person’s spoken words back to me. The interface is very useful as I can switch between applications while having the conversation and keep working, or I can look up things related to the conversation in an email window or browser window. I can cut and paste text in the AIM window; this was something I couldn’t do with a TTY or with the Java-enabled internet relay. I can save the chat windows on my computer.

In addition, since my TMobile Sidekick has AIM installed on it, this also means I can make wireless Relay calls on my Sidekick. No more carrying around a TTY, and no more having to hunt for a place to plug one in when I’m out. I’m constantly on the go, and having the ability to make wireless phone calls with ease is the bee’s knees. I love how the progression of technology gives me more freedom and independence.

When IP Relay announced their AIM Relay service, they also announced a new way for deafies to receive phone calls from hearing people. In the past, to connect with a deaf person via Relay, a hearing person would have to call the 800-number for the state relay service and then tell the operator to call the number of the deaf person they were trying to reach. IP Relay now allows deaf users to register for their own phone number; deafies get a phone number with an area code that is local to them, and can share the number with anyone. When a hearing caller wants to connect with them, they dial that number and are automatically connected with the Relay operator, and the deaf recipient automatically receives an Instant Messenger window on their computer or mobile device announcing the incoming call. There’s no need to tell the operator to dial any extra numbers and there are no additional steps; the hearing caller simply just starts talking. If the deaf recipient is away from their computer or does not have instant messenger turned on, the hearing caller can leave a voice message, and the IP Relay operators will type it up and email it to the deaf recipient. Very convenient and very accessible.  IP Relay works with MSN Messenger and Yahoo Messenger as well.

The service is free and is funded by Telecommunications Relay Service Surcharges.

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Video Relay Service

by Kathryn Hill on April 29, 2007


In 2001, there was a commercial on television from a major ISP that was advertising broadband Internet services – I can’t remember exactly which one, but I think it was SBC. In the commercial, a woman is sitting at her window watching a new family move in next door. They have a son who is deaf and the woman sees the mother and son using sign language with each other. She sat down at her computer and looked up web sites with sign language instructional videos, trying to learn a few words so she could say hello to her new neighbors. The next day she baked a pie and took it next door, handing it to the deaf boy and signed, “I baked a pie for you.” Unfortunately, she has a dialup Internet connection, and the sign language videos she watched over the Internet had some lag, so she got her signs wrong. She unknowingly signed “I baked a dog for you” instead. The boy dropped the pie and ran away in terror while she stood there perplexed, wondering what went wrong.

In recent years, more people have moved from dialup to broadband, and Internet speeds have gotten faster and technology has improved to the point where it’s possible to download and view more videos and movies on the Internet without troublesome lagging and slow speeds. This has been a very positive trend for deafies who prefer to communicate in sign language as they can now sign to each other smoothly over the Internet using webcams.

Video Relay Service (VRS) is one example of the many technologies that deaf people have benefitted from in the age of streaming media. A Relay service is an utility that deaf people use to make telephone calls to users that do not have a TTY. How it works:

  1. An individual that communicates by American Sign Language, or another mode of manual communication, such as Signing Exact English, Pidgin Signed English, Linguistics of Visual English, uses a videophone or other camera-enabled device, such as a webcam to connect via broadband Internet to a Video Relay Service.
  2. The caller is routed to a sign language interpreter, known as a Video Interpreter (VI). The VI is in front of a camera or videophone.
  3. The VRS user gives the VI the number to dial, as well as any special dialing instructions.
  4. The VI places the call and interprets in normal mode as a neutral, non-participating third-party. Anything that the phone user speaks is signed to the video user, and anything signed by the video user is spoken to the phone user.
  5. Once the call is over, the caller can make another call(s) or hang up with the interpreter.

Telephone users can contact a Deaf, Hard-of-Hearing, or Speech-Disabled person via VRS. To initiate a VRS call the hearing person calls the VRS, and are connected to video interpreters who contact videophone users directly.

(Taken from Wikipedia.)

Here’s a partial list of VRS providers:

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911 centers need to upgrate to accommodate new technology and be accessible to the deaf

by Kathryn Hill on April 29, 2007


I’ve posted about this before, and I’m going to keep posting about it, especially after reading this article in the New York Times:

In Bessemer, Ala., city employees could not get through to their own 911 system when a colleague had a seizure, at a time when the city and others like it are struggling to upgrade their systems at a cost of hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Yet even the newest systems cannot adequately handle Internet-based phone services or text messages, which emerged as the most reliable form of communication during Hurricane Katrina.

“Everyone expects 911 to work perfectly 100 percent of the time,” said Patrick Halley, the governmental affairs director for the National Emergency Number Association, whose state-by-state tracking shows that New York, New Jersey and Connecticut are in the forefront of adopting new technology. “And the public doesn’t really care about 911 until they go to use it and expect it to work perfectly and it doesn’t.”

They’re aware of the problems that the current system causes for the deaf:

Experts are laying the groundwork for what they call Next Generation 911, which will better handle Internet-based calls, text messages, cellphone photos and other forms of communication already in common use.

“Deaf people are using text messaging,” Rick Jones, the operations director for the national association, said by way of example. “They can’t talk to 911.”

I hope the new changes come soon – and well before someone desperately needs them.

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Floridians can now receive hurricane warnings via SMS

by Kathryn Hill on April 26, 2007


Mobile FYI has launched a text messaging hurricane alert system for Florida hurricanes.  Very useful for both deafies and hearing people.

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CapTel – captioned telephone

by Kathryn Hill on April 17, 2007



CapTel is a captioned telephone service that is useful for people who have good speech but cannot hear well – hard of hearing or late deafened people, for example.  To use this service, one must purchase a CapTel phone. The CapTel user will speak directly to the person they are calling; both parties will hear each other’s voices and speak directly to each other like a normal phone conversation between two hearing people. When the CapTel user dials the CapTel phone, it automatically connects to the CapTel operator, regardless of what number is dialed; for incoming calls, the callers must dial the CapTell toll-free number and then enter the numbr of the CapTel user. The CapTel operator will be in the middle of the conversation, much like a Relay conversation, except unlike a Relay call, there is no interaction with the operator at all – users will not know the operator is there. The concept is similar to VCO on Relay calls, except there is no typing required on the CapTel user’s part and the CapTel user hears the voice of the person they are speaking to. Behind the scenes, the CapTel operator listens to the spoken words said by the hearing person, and then transcribes it using voice to text technology. The transcription shows up on the display of the user’s CapTel phone as captions to read while simultaneously listening to the person on the other line.CapTel users report that the captions sometimes contain errors; items such as names of people and places can be misspelled, and if the person on the other line speaks with an accent, the operator can have difficulty providing an accurate transcription.

CapTel phones can be amplified up to 35 decibels to help hear the conversation better. If the CapTel screen is difficult to read, it can be connected to a personal computer using an USB port and the captions can be read on a monitor.

CapTel service is free in almost all states. The cost of the captioning service is covered by Telecommunications Relay Service (TRS) funds as part of Title IV of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). CapTel can currently be used with a VoIP service such as Vonage.

Upcoming plans involve the FCC making the CapTel service available over the Internet as IP Captioned Telephone, meaning that the specialized CapTel phone will not be required, and users can use Skype to make captioned phone calls. IP Captioned Telephone plans to be available in late 2007.

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Emergency notification service for email and SMS

by Kathryn Hill on April 17, 2007


The Emergency Email & Wireless Network provides SMS and email notification services that notify subscribers about local, regional, and national emergencies such as natural disasters, Amber Alerts, breaking news, and Homeland Security information. They also offer a bird flu alert. The service is free in exchange for agreeing to receive messages from sponsors.

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Jott’s potential to transcribe podcasts is unrealized

by Kathryn Hill on April 9, 2007


Jott, which I blogged about earlier today, has another feature where users can leave a short voice message that will be typed up and posted to their blog.  It only allows about 30 seconds of spoken text, which is a shame; if the time was unlimited, this would solve the issue of a lack of text transcripts available for podcasts.

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Jott – getting the hearing & deaf in touch via voice-to-SMS

by Kathryn Hill on April 9, 2007


Text messaging is a wonderful tool for the deaf and hearing impaired. I was one of the first people among my peers to have a cell phone that had SMS/text messaging. Since I’m text-heavy, I made sure to invest in a phone that had a QWERTY keyboard. I excitedly sent text messages to all my friends, only to have them complain that sending a reply on their slower numeric keypads was too much trouble for them. The texting fad hadn’t caught on yet at that point.

Nowadays, almost everyone I know has embraced text messaging, apart from a select few who are either using antiquated cell phones or have cell carriers that charge extra for text messages.

That’s where Jott comes in – among several features, it also offers “hands-free messaging.” Jott is very useful for people who can’t send text messages on their phone for whatever reason.

How it works: sign up for a Jott account (it’s free) and add the Jott number to the speed dial on your phone (877 568 8486.) Next, import your contacts into your Jott profile. Each contact is assigned a name (“Mom,” “Cthulhu,” etc.) Groups can even be assigned. To send a text message, simply dial the number, state the name of the contact or group you wish to address, and leave a voice message. Your message will be typed up and SMS’d/texted to your recipitent. Easy!

Now hearing people who previously could not sty in touch with their deaf friends or family members because they couldn’t send SMS/text can now do so.

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SimulScribe – voice mail transcribing service

by Kathryn Hill on April 3, 2007


SimulScribe is a voice mail transcribing service that is primarily aimed at hearing people who are too busy to listen to their voice mails. For a small fee, voice mails are transcribed into text and either emailed to the subscriber, or sent in text message format. These services are provided free already by IP-Relay and i711, so I am not convinced the deaf market would be interested in this service, but you never know.

EDIT 04/05/07: It occurred to me that this would be an useful service for deafies who have Skype.

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