by Kathryn Hill on February 8, 2008
Text 4 Deaf is a web-to-text message service that allows users to send a text message from the web site to a cell phone belonging to an individual or a group. The recipients can return the messages via their cell phones, and the messages will be delivered to the sender via Web.
Text4Deaf is a web-based service that allows two-way web texting – from the web to the phone and back. With other services, recipients can only reply to the sender’s phone or email address – not ideal for real-time planning or collaboration. It also offers unique features like Group Messaging, Scheduled Messaging, Reminders and SMS Forwarding.
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by Kathryn Hill on February 8, 2008
Officials in Los Angeles are looking into implementing a text message system for 911 emergency services that would allow people to send not only text messages, but also photos and videos from their cell phones when immediate assistance is required.
Officials told the L.A. Police Commission that they were beginning to seek money to install the new system, which they believe could aid crime fighting by providing callers with alternative methods for alerting authorities and police with new visual evidence.
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by Kathryn Hill on October 4, 2007
GotVoice is a service that converts voicemails to text and sends them to you via email or text messages. It’s a paid service, but very useful if you’re deaf and need to be in contact with hearing people who don’t do Relay services, email or text messages.
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.
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.
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.
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.
by Kathryn Hill on March 29, 2007
I’ve recently started using Twitter (I’m “Kosmonaut“) which is a mini-blogging and social networking service that allows users to type short messages (140 characters or less) using mobile phone SMS, the Twitter web interface, and/or Instant Messenger. These messages are brief and generally answer the “what are you doing?” question, though the messages can be used to relay information such as “I’m going to be at Bar X at 9:30, come join me.” Messages are delivered to other users who have added you as a “friend,” and can be customized to only go to people you select as friends. You can also specify Twitter message delivery to go to your IM, SMS, RSS, or email as you wish, and you can turn off delivery from people who are too chatty for your tastes but still want to keep them friended.
I’ve found it to be pretty useful in that it’s a good way to send immediate information about plans and organizations to a group of people in a condensed format; instead of 20 messages, you only have to send one. As a deaf person, I see this application as being very helpful at large venues like SXSW, E3, the Sundance Film Festival, SIGGRAPH, etc where information is usually passed around via word of mouth. In these largely hearing environments, the deaf and hard of hearing can miss out on “what’s cool,” “must see!” and where the good parties are. Twitter has the capacity to be the proverbial “ear to the ground” in these situations and make the communication playing field a little more even for the deaf.
In addition, I discovered that Twitter has an earthquake alerting system for the San Francisco Bay area. This is a good idea. In emergency situations, televisions, telephones, and the Internet may not work. In these kinds of situations, information usually comes over a radio, but that does not work well for the deaf. When other technologies fail during a disaster, mobile phones and SMS are often the last ones standing. Therefore, why are they not utilized more?
I started looking for more “emergency alert” Twitters, and did not find any others, but I see great potential here. If you know of any more emergency Twitters, please let me know.
by Kathryn Hill on March 15, 2007
Spinvox is a new service that provides speech-to-text service for voice mails. Voice mails are typed up and emailed or text messaged to subscribers for a fee. While deafies get this service free already with IP-Relay and i711, what makes Spinvox stand out is that they’re working on Skype integration.
by Kathryn Hill on March 4, 2007
The Motorola Talkabout T5SMS is a two-way radio that has a QWERTY keypad and utilizes text messaging. Very useful for deafies at Burning Man or anywhere a two-way radio comes in handy. Link: opens as PDF. Taken from here, but the site appears to be down, and I don’t see the T5SMS model on Motorola‘s web site. Odd.
