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A foot in both camps A consumer perspective of UK & USA Telecommunication Relay Services David Rose, MA - Consultant: Deaf and Disability Matters Email.

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Presentation on theme: "A foot in both camps A consumer perspective of UK & USA Telecommunication Relay Services David Rose, MA - Consultant: Deaf and Disability Matters Email."— Presentation transcript:

1 A foot in both camps A consumer perspective of UK & USA Telecommunication Relay Services David Rose, MA - Consultant: Deaf and Disability Matters Email address: davidroseuk@uwclub.netdavidroseuk@uwclub.net ITU Conference, Geneva, Switzerland Nov 25th, 2011 ©

2 A consumer perspective  10 years visiting USA from UK  Different pace of development of relay services in USA & UK  Standards  Funding

3 USA Telecommunication Relay Services Iphone relay Video relay services Captioned Telephone

4 Such sophistication! What a choice!

5 Make a CapTel Call via the Web or Mobile Device! Free Sprint Wireless Captel App provides word-for-word captions for your wireless device

6 Telephone Numbers for Relay Users - USA  All deaf and hard of hearing users have a 10 digit telephone number  Allows hearing people to call directly to deaf people easily  Allows deaf job seekers to list an actual phone number on their CVs, etc

7 Video relay services in USA Started in 2002 Due to competition, rapidly developed High performance standards Wide range of products to suit deaf customers

8 Relay Conference Captioning - USA  Allows deaf people to participate in conference calls  Captioned Telephone - similar to a voice carryover relay service in near real-time captions  Specialised Telecommunications Assistance Programs

9 Relay Services in USA & UK In USA, 25 Relay Service companies with multiple services such as web, traditional, and video ( 5 are deaf- led companies). All funded by FCC TRF In UK, there are 3 VRS providers: o Sign Video: deaf-led social enterprise o Sign On Screen – Deaf Connections, charity o Sign-Now, private company BUT …………………..

10 What do we have now in UK (or not……) ? o We dial 16 digits number to call via Text Relay - Hearing people get confused…. o Relay Conferencing Captioning -We don’t have it …. o Captioned Telephone (CapTel) -It stopped 4 years ago…..no funding available

11 And…. o VRS services are not available 24/7/356 o VRS is limited to those with Access to Work budgets or those can afford to pay o No healthy competition in the marketplace to provide top-notch services

12 Numbers in UK?  100,000 BSL users  9 million are hard of hearing Are they getting a good relay telecommunication service now? The answer is NOT YET….

13 What we as consumers can do about it? Deaf Access to Alternative Relay Telecommunications (DAART) – a new consumer group set up in September 2010 - for equal access & to complement TAG

14 What do we want? DAART is open to suggestions for expansion of services providing they meet the following conditions:  Sustainable long term funding  Fully functional equivalent TRS  Set up an independent Telephone Relay Fund (TRF) for management & development of a modern TRS  Contracts be a minimum of 3 – 5 years

15 Also…..  Services are available 24/7/365  Must keep up with technology developments  Ensure all deaf, deafened, deaf blind & hard of hearing community members can benefit  No more than the cost of normal phone call

16 And finally…..  0.5% funds be generated from telecom industry or by any other means  Appropriate terminal equipment to access different types of relay services  Consumers as stakeholders must be involved in the entire process

17 DAART Equal Access to the Telecoms Now You can learn more about DAART: o Facebook o Twitter o www.daartcampaign.co.uk www.daartcampaign.co.uk o Mission & Campaign Policy Statements, Response to Govt. Consultation Papers, & Consumer Views


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