Originally Posted by cateyes

No, TTY/TDD is not obsolete yet... it is still being used nowadays. Many deaf and HOH people who are on very limited incomes, cannot afford DSL or cable modem for VP and Internet and pagers or cell phones, so they are still using TTY. People who don't use TTY anymore are the ones who can afford DSL/cable or pager/cell phone.

I know that many deafies prefer VPs over TTY because of their limited English skills and they bury their TTY in the closet. I myself don't use TTY often but I'd like to point out that using TTY instead of VP has several advantages for those who don't have PC or any technology things but only have TTY.

1) When you use TTY to call a business for an important conversation, you have the printed paper as evidence to back you up in case of a dispute. You also have it to remember what they said in case you forget later on. Using relay service on VP will not give you anything to keep as evidence. You tend to forget what the VRS operator said later.



2) Many hearing people don't like to use relay service because it's too time consuming, too annoying and no confidentiality. My parents (who have no VP or email) prefer to use TTY to call me - they really don't like a third party involved.

3) When I used VRS to call a business, the VRS opr could not find the desired dept. through the automated messages. Out of curiousity, I used TTY to call the same business and the CRS right away connected me to the desired dept in a second.

4) I use my cellphone for emergency only but I couldn't afford the plan, so, I called T-Mobile thru CRS to switch to the lowest priced plan available and I was given $29.99 a month. Later, I still couldn't afford this plan and when I found that T-Mo has a direct TTY line, so I called them by TTY (out of curiousity to compare the difference) and talked to a very nice T-Mo rep. He offered me their old plan $19.99 for 60 minutes (the cheapest one but they don't offer it anymore) which I happily accepted. He said that if I had called thru relay service, they will not give me this $19.99 plan. He said deaf customers would get better deals if they use TTY to call T-Mo. I'm not sure why but I guess the reps who use TTY are sympathetic toward deaf customers or thankful to them for not using relay service. I noticed that this rep was very courteous and patient with me during the TTY call whereas in the past, the other reps were impatient and abrupt during relay service calls.

Now you see how useful a TTY can be. I think everyone should hold on to their TTYs even if they don't use them anymore ... one day it may come in handy, who knows. Use it as a back up if you don't have access to VP, Internet or pager while on the road or at home.