Which relay service?

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fj40owner

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I work for a small relay service provider. I am interested in providing the best possible relay service available, however, I am not deaf and really have no ties to the deaf community outside of work, so I am afraid my perspective on what makes a superior relay service is from a hearing person's point of view rather than a deaf persons. Because of this, I would like to ask a few questions, and hopefully by doing so we can provide a better service for you.

First off- who is your preferred relay service provider and why? (the why is important)

Which of the following are (or are not) important to you on a relay call?
speed
Acuracy
sentance structure/punctuation
use of GA/SK
on automated menus, offering to immediately search for a live rep
offering additional calls
abbreviating (or not abbreviating)
using emotion in calls (i.e. raising our voice to hearing person if you are yelling)
interpreters speaking with and/or answering questions for clarification for you
Announcing (or not announcing) call as a relay call

What is your absolute biggest pet peeve about relay calls? (and what can we do to fix it)

Lastly (and this to me is the most improtant question), What do YOU want from a relay service provider? What will keep you coming back for more?

I'm sure that I am missing something from the list above. Please, speak your mind. Tell me what you like- what you want, and I will do my absolute best to provide you with it.
Thank you. :)
 
Are you talking about a voice-over relay or about CapTel types of things?

I've just been looking into signing up for one of the CapTel programs; probably will use Hamilton. I tried it out at a recent convention, on a phone call to my husband.

Accuracy is most important; speed is a close second. On his end, he said there was a noticeable lag between when he stopped talking and when I responded.

Abbreviations - commonly accepted abbreviations - "st" for street or saint, in context, are fine, as they contribute to speed. Just don't get cute with the teen-age texting type abbreviations - 'I C U R @ home..." type of things.
 
speed and accuracy.

the time delay is about 8-13 seconds. bad. and it's always a chore to get jobs done with relay service. On the average - it may take a hearing person about 5-10 minutes thru phone call. For deaf people, it may take up to 30 min or even longer for same task.
 
I dont know if your relay service requires for password and username that i need to regist. i hate that i never remember it. I like the old system before.
 
Thank you for the responses so far. Just to clarify- Our service will provide call captioning (i.e. Cap-Tel) as well as IP based relay (like I711 or Sorenson). Feedback in either of these 2 areas would be extremely beneficial. We hope to eventually expand our services, so I'm not opposed to video relay or even unpioneered services you'd like to see provided in the future. Thanks you again for the responses so far- keep them coming, please! :)
 
Frisky Feline said:
I dont know if your relay service requires for password and username that i need to regist. i hate that i never remember it. I like the old system before.
Click to expand...

Frisky, not sure which kind of relay you are referring to but the state relays that are used with a TTY are still around. You can get to them by dialing 711 anywhere in the US then just give the number of who you are calling.

Others of the CapTel variety you can check "remember me" and it saves a "cookie" on you computer or smartphone and you don't have to enter it all each time. You do have to remember you user name.
 
Jane B. said:
Frisky, not sure which kind of relay you are referring to but the state relays that are used with a TTY are still around. You can get to them by dialing 711 anywhere in the US then just give the number of who you are calling.

Others of the CapTel variety you can check "remember me" and it saves a "cookie" on you computer or smartphone and you don't have to enter it all each time. You do have to remember you user name.
Click to expand...

I use relay service online only.
 
Beach girl said:
Are you talking about a voice-over relay or about CapTel types of things?

I've just been looking into signing up for one of the CapTel programs; probably will use Hamilton. I tried it out at a recent convention, on a phone call to my husband.

Accuracy is most important; speed is a close second. On his end, he said there was a noticeable lag between when he stopped talking and when I responded.

Abbreviations - commonly accepted abbreviations - "st" for street or saint, in context, are fine, as they contribute to speed. Just don't get cute with the teen-age texting type abbreviations - 'I C U R @ home..." type of things.
Click to expand...

I remember you starting out with your search for a new cell phone. I have been in a similar hunt. I am in a Verizion 3G area and thus can't use voice & data at the same time. But what I have just done is get a Droid 2 smartphone and use the browser in that with Hamilton Web CapTel instead of a computer browser. The number for my old dumbphone cell phone is put in as my number and then, of course, the number of the person I am calling is entered in another box. My old phone rings, I answer that, they call who I want, then the captions of what the person I called says show up on the Droid. Hope this makes sense — feel free to ask questions if it does not. Friends that I have used it with do report some lag. We have come to me saying something right when I first see a pause in the ringing to make sure I don't get hung up on. Not perfect but we have found it useable.

I certainly agree with you about Abbreviations. A U thrown in every now and then does not throw me but too much does.
 
I use Sprint and am mostly happy with it, https://www.sprintip.com/call.jsp

The only problem is I never found a quick reference and don't understand the abbreviations that are used and how to use them, I sort of figured out that GA means go ahead, but that's it.
 
I'm a huge fan of Purple VRS. Purple was the company to offer VRS on Mac computers over 5 years ago. Their services are top of the line, and the interpreters are very skilled and personable. When they first launched an iOS app, I was very excited. I was especially happy to hear that it could be used on 3G, 4G and LTE networks.
 
I like using the AT&T Relay service through AOL because they support real-time updating; e.g. you see what the person says in real time and likewise whatever you type in goes directly to the voice user.
 
The reminder I gave of the State Relay Services used with a TTY and dialing 711 (at post 6) still being around still applies.

For cell service the technic that I described at post 8 can still be done. I think that the phone used for the browser side needs to be a “smartphone” in order to have full browser capabilities.

But . . . since Sprint has come out with Wireless CapTel by Sprint (see Wireless CapTel by Sprint | Sprint CapTel for more information) I only need one phone. This is because this app will run on any Android phone that has the OS at 2.2 or higher and is in a 3G area. It does not have to be a Sprint phone or using Sprint as your carrier. I am on PagePlus a MVNO that uses Verizon towers. Saying something before all of the captioning of the other persons greeting still applies to keep them from hanging up because of the slight lag between when they finish speaking and when you get to the end of the captioning of it.
 
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