Telephone conversation with a deaf person...

I just experienced my first ever telephone call with
a deaf person, and it was, for lack of a better word - neat!

It was so educational and interesting. I had no idea
how this sort of thing worked, but what a fantastic
invention!

An operator assists in typing and translating
the messages back and forth, while you say "Go ahead"
when you are finished talking, and vice-versa.

The only drawback is they cannot hear your enthusiasm,
so you feel the need to add certain words to let the person
know you are happy they called.

What a great thing! :-)

I agree, Wuvie! It is a great invention. I had my first ever call quite a few years ago though. I was working at a Pizza place and the person wanted to order for take out. They didn't know the menu though, so I had to go through it with them. It was time consuming, but I didn't mind doing it. I just had to remember to let the operator know when to send the message and then wait for a response.

Several years ago we had a call like that. We were selling our car and it took me a minute to figure out what the operator was explaining. It worked very well and they came and bought the car. I thought it was neat, too. Holly

Yes cool it called"Relay Service"
for deaf people to call from computer also use TTY to call too that I always use that for years with no problem that reallybig
help for deaf people's need to call.

RedRose are you deaf? I don't want to offend, but would like an explanation of how this TTY or Relay works. Thanks, no offense meant, and hopefully none taken.

If Redrose doesn't mind I'll jump in here. We have "Relay Iowa" here. A co worker where I work is deaf and uses this system, actually she went to internet a couple months ago. What happens is that instead of calling the intended person, YOU call the "relay operator" (this number is giving to you when you call a deaf person). The operator dials the phone number you give him/her and then types your conversation to the deaf person who receives it on at small prompter with words going across the bottom. The deaf person types their message back to the operator (or the operator contacts the deaf person via internet - a camera on the operator and a camera on the deaf person - and they sign their conversation). The operator relays (speaks) the message to the hearing person. It seems to work quite nicely.

I worked as a 'relay operator' from 03-05 until Sept. when they decided they no longer needed my services. grrr! on them. Anyway...

If you want to call a deaf person, the relay service, regardless of the company serving that state (CSD -my former employer, Hamilton, ATT or MCI), can be reached by dialing 711 anywhere in the US and some of Canada - not sure how much. The relay company serving that state will get the call. If you prefer to use a particular company, then you would need to find the 800 number that company uses for the state you are calling from. It will be in your phone book.

The relay operator will say the state, also regardless of where they are actually located - CSD calls all go thru a central location and and are then sent to the next available opr, regardless of location. So we could handle a SD call and then a HI call and then IN, etc. The greeting comes across the computer screen so that we know what state greeting to say.

Many seniors use the service and this is called VCO - Voice Carry Over. (The person can speak but not hear.) In that case, we open the mic so that they can speak directly to the caller/callee and when they say "Go Ahead" or "GA", the hearing person begins talking and we begin typing. They also say "GA" when they are finished talking so we can open the mic again for the deaf person. It is helpful to the opr to mention that the person you are calling is VCO so the mic can be opened immediately when they answer.

Some deaf folks are using the internet to call instead of thru the phone. There is a longer transmission time and there is also lots of abuse thru the internet with non-deaf people. Kids do trash talk and porn and scammers from overseas contact people trying to buy items from stores and thru classified ads with stolen credit cards, fake money orders and bank drafts. And some hearing people use it in order to avoid paying a phone bill. The FCC needs to allow oprs to notify people of suspected fraud - they do allow limited warnings but the scammers seem to know the new criteria just about as soon as it is implemented and know how to get past the rules.

Internet relay is upsetting to me because of the abuse of tax payers money. You may not realize it but every tax payer is paying for the relay service. A fraction of every cent that you pay on your phone bill is collected by the feds and put into an account to pay for the relay service. Each relay company then submits the number of minutes of relay serviced provided per year and is paid out of that fund. If more and more non-deaf peeps use internet relay, the percentage of fees put into the federal acct by tax payers will have to continue to go up. Why do tax payers have to pay for hearing people's phone calls on the internet? Including overseas scam calls and porn calls? The FCC has to find a better way to regulate or monitor internet relay so it is used for it's intended purpose.

Video relay involves the caller and callee to each have a video phone hooked up to their tv. It is a small box that sits on top of the tv with a camera. High speed internet is also required. Two deaf parties then sign to each other, rather than going thru a relay opr. When talking to a hearing, non-signing person, a video opr will speak the deaf person's msg.

Some hearing people have TTY machines so that they can 'speak' privately to a deaf person. Both parties have a TTY machine. The deaf caller will type to the relay opr, first the number to be dialed, then type TTY to TTY and the opr will connect them. The conversation then does not show on the opr screen. The opr is locked out of the system and has to move to another station to continue processing calls. The advantage is a private conversation. The disadvantage is perhaps slow typers? :)

Regarding not hearing the enthusiam, I can tell you that the company I worked for stressed, very strongly, adding how the caller sounds. (sounds impatient, sounds crabby, sounds hurried, sounds tired, sounds sleepy, etc.) Those words are typed in parenthesis so the deaf person always knows that is the opr's observation. Also, be aware that ALL background noises are included (if the opr is doing the job correctly) and if you complain that this is taking too long or you don't have time for a relay call right now, etc., those words will also be typed -if the opr hears them. And some people say, oh, don't type that and we would have to say, sorry, the opr has to type all words heard. Some peeps got angry at us and learn quickly to just say the msg. :) People will talk to the opr and we ask them to "please address all conversation to your caller, not to the opr. The opr is not part of the conversation." Some peeps think we are crabby but we're not, we just relay the conversation of two people, not ourselves. :)

And that's pretty much how it works. Hope that helps. :)

Hi Kooger, Well I learned some stuff! Did not realize the taxes involved. I am confused when you say the transmission time is longer on the internet. The conversation between the operator and deaf person is live, I would think it would be faster?

Yes the transmission time for a relay call on the internet is quite a bit longer than over the phone. Whenever we had a person unfamiliar with internet relay, we would advise them that "the transmission time is longer and it may or may not be a deaf person as anyone with a computer, anywhere in the world, can access internet relay if they find the relay 800 number. All conversations are live, yes. I'm not sure about all systems, but from what we understood, the transmission from the caller did not start until 100 characters would be typed. Hmmm, maybe that was from a cell phone, I'm not sure. Calls thru the internet can be made from a cell phone also. Anyway, it tends to come across the opr's screen in groups of type. As I said, I'm not sure exactly, I just know from working as an opr that the transmission time was delayed thru the internet. We sometimes could tell immediately that it was from overseas (probably a scammer) just by the longer transmission time and the odd characters and numbers at the beginning of the call.

I geuss I'm thinking there is no typing involved with the employee where I work. She and the "operator" sign to each other and the operator verbally relays the message to the hearing person...In this case the hearing person(s) calling doesn't even know that the internet is involved. Sorry, I was not on the same page. By the way I hope you are enjoying this beautiful weekend, probably won't have too many more of these!

Kooger,
Thanks for sharing all that info. I really didn't get to read through all of it right now, but I will get back to it. I think it's very interesting and wonderful that the oprs type EVERYTHING they hear, including background noises. That is so awesome. Then the deaf person gets the full experience of the phone call. They can "hear" if a party is going on in the background, or a crying baby and need to let the other caller go.

An interpreters job is not to be there, not to put themselves into the conversation. You'd think most folks would just understand that as a given. It's a shame anyone was rude to you or any other opr. Just because they say something stupid that they immediately regret it's not the opr's fault, lol! It sounds like you were a wonderful opr and like your company made a bad choice in letting you go, I'm sure the people who use this service miss you lots.

Thanks for the info!
Heather

Dianne, I didn't know you worked as a TTY operator. That's fascinating information. I didn't know about all the services offered. As an employee at a call center, I took one call from a customer who contacted us via a TTY service. That was interesting, especially having to repeat back all the item numbers and particulars for her to type for the customer.

Did you mean me, GW? :) That is what I did - Communication Assistant is the correct term. My upcoming surgery had a lot to do with the termination, I believe. They called me in and did the deed 2 hours after I gave them my surgery date. Coincidence? They insist not but the other reason was extremely flimsy and even included a lie from my supervisor. They're loss -- I was a GOOD operator and employee.

Meridell - that certainly sounds like videophone to me - correct, no typing is involved. Definitely faster than TTY.