I am a Relay Opr. I am no longer angry. No, I do not HATE deaf people. Ask me questions about relay service, phone calls, etiquette, or the hearing world in general! Hopefully it will make everything smoother when I'm making a call for you someday!
Ask a Relay Opr!
- Thread starter AngryOpr
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Hear Again
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1. how does a deaf, hoh or deafblind relay user handle hearing people who continue to talk over them while they are typing a response? i've had situations where i was in the middle of typing when all of a sudden the ca overrode me by typing what the hearing person said even before i've had a chance to finish typing. i thought it was the policy of all ca's to inform hearing people that the deaf, hoh or deafblind person is still typing?
2. how often are abbreviations used in relay changed and what determines when these changes are made? there have been times where i have been unfamiliar with a few abbreviations because i was unaware of their existence. since i read relay conversations with a braille display, i find it much easier to have the ca type words out completely so that i can understand what is being typed.
2. how often are abbreviations used in relay changed and what determines when these changes are made? there have been times where i have been unfamiliar with a few abbreviations because i was unaware of their existence. since i read relay conversations with a braille display, i find it much easier to have the ca type words out completely so that i can understand what is being typed.
Frisky Feline
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Yay no more anrgy. 
Oh yes. every time, i make a call to someone, and then the relay operator had to explain to the hearing person about your job . i am so curious what did the relay operator explains to hearing people? they often hang up when they thought the relay operator was a telemarketer.:roll:
I sometimes ask the relay operator not to explain to the ignorant people before they wouldnt hang up on. I dont know if it 's working that way.
first: what did you tell them about relay operator's job.
second: does relay operator feel comfortable when i ask them not to explain the relay operator's job??
i sometimes ask operator like, how does this persons voice tone sound like etc do relay operator dont mind or do mind?
im sure i have many questions that will come to me.
Oh yes. every time, i make a call to someone, and then the relay operator had to explain to the hearing person about your job . i am so curious what did the relay operator explains to hearing people? they often hang up when they thought the relay operator was a telemarketer.:roll:
I sometimes ask the relay operator not to explain to the ignorant people before they wouldnt hang up on. I dont know if it 's working that way.
first: what did you tell them about relay operator's job.
second: does relay operator feel comfortable when i ask them not to explain the relay operator's job??
i sometimes ask operator like, how does this persons voice tone sound like etc do relay operator dont mind or do mind?
im sure i have many questions that will come to me.
B
Bend My Ear
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Hello, I work with "AngryOpr" and decided to field a few of these questions. I can only speak for my personal experience at my job, and my center specifically. I will do my best to answer questions.
1.) If I understand you correctly then you're asking if operators are told NOT to "type over" the deaf individual placing the call? If I understand, then yes. We are not supposed to type over the one placing the call as that leaves it in their ultimate care. What I mean is, when there is a PERSON on the other end of the line we are not supposed to type over you. If it is an automated machine sometimes we must so you do not miss information. For instance: You are still typing conversationally to answer an automated systems questions such as "What is your SSN" or something of that sort. If you say for example "555 55 5555 and I'm calling to find out why my phone bill is so high? I haven't been using long distance numbers and I just want to speak to someone about it."
Technically that would be what you said to the machine, and that would not work. We are to act as human phone lines, not "Intelligent" phone lines. Even if we know what you are getting at, we are forbidden to "aid" you in getting it accomplished as per FCC regulations. We input what you type, AS you type it. If it does not work, depending on the operator, they will either put in parenthesis a question. This is to signify that we are speaking to you or describing some event (i.e. sounds, tone, background noise, etc).
2.) Again, I only know what goes on in my center, and even what I know then is limited. We are trained for a week and then put out on the call floor. We are not told and discouraged from asking about the technical parts of our software and procedures as they are company secrets and if leaked, other companies may steal the idea (Or so I understand) Its all very cloak and dagger.
Anyway, as for what abbreviations are changed, etc. I don't know. I am aware of a few common abbreviations (common as defined by what we are told in training) such as: apt = apartment, appt = Appointment, lol = Laugh out loud, jk = Just kidding, so on and so forth...
Our software tells us very few things about who you are and what kind of system you are using. Specifically ours tells us what software client type you are using and your screen name. Other than that, we have absolutely no idea what kind of aids you are using (such as the mentioned braille screen, hell, I've never even seen one of those and I've been doing this job for over a year. Didn't even know they existed to be frank.)
In place of that, we have an instructions box that comes up with every call. I have seen the interface of our companies PERSONAL applet and what goes into placing a call from it. There is a field you can input some things about how you want us to sound, do/not explain relay, etc. We depend on those instructions fields if there is something specific you guys want us to do.
Hope that answers your questions. Look forward to reading more.
1.) If I understand you correctly then you're asking if operators are told NOT to "type over" the deaf individual placing the call? If I understand, then yes. We are not supposed to type over the one placing the call as that leaves it in their ultimate care. What I mean is, when there is a PERSON on the other end of the line we are not supposed to type over you. If it is an automated machine sometimes we must so you do not miss information. For instance: You are still typing conversationally to answer an automated systems questions such as "What is your SSN" or something of that sort. If you say for example "555 55 5555 and I'm calling to find out why my phone bill is so high? I haven't been using long distance numbers and I just want to speak to someone about it."
Technically that would be what you said to the machine, and that would not work. We are to act as human phone lines, not "Intelligent" phone lines. Even if we know what you are getting at, we are forbidden to "aid" you in getting it accomplished as per FCC regulations. We input what you type, AS you type it. If it does not work, depending on the operator, they will either put in parenthesis a question. This is to signify that we are speaking to you or describing some event (i.e. sounds, tone, background noise, etc).
2.) Again, I only know what goes on in my center, and even what I know then is limited. We are trained for a week and then put out on the call floor. We are not told and discouraged from asking about the technical parts of our software and procedures as they are company secrets and if leaked, other companies may steal the idea (Or so I understand) Its all very cloak and dagger.
Anyway, as for what abbreviations are changed, etc. I don't know. I am aware of a few common abbreviations (common as defined by what we are told in training) such as: apt = apartment, appt = Appointment, lol = Laugh out loud, jk = Just kidding, so on and so forth...
Our software tells us very few things about who you are and what kind of system you are using. Specifically ours tells us what software client type you are using and your screen name. Other than that, we have absolutely no idea what kind of aids you are using (such as the mentioned braille screen, hell, I've never even seen one of those and I've been doing this job for over a year. Didn't even know they existed to be frank.)
In place of that, we have an instructions box that comes up with every call. I have seen the interface of our companies PERSONAL applet and what goes into placing a call from it. There is a field you can input some things about how you want us to sound, do/not explain relay, etc. We depend on those instructions fields if there is something specific you guys want us to do.
Hope that answers your questions. Look forward to reading more.
B
Bend My Ear
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Yay no more anrgy.
Oh yes. every time, i make a call to someone, and then the relay operator had to explain to the hearing person about your job . i am so curious what did the relay operator explains to hearing people? they often hang up when they thought the relay operator was a telemarketer.:roll:
I sometimes ask the relay operator not to explain to the ignorant people before they wouldnt hang up on. I dont know if it 's working that way.
first: what did you tell them about relay operator's job.
second: does relay operator feel comfortable when i ask them not to explain the relay operator's job??
i sometimes ask operator like, how does this persons voice tone sound like etc do relay operator dont mind or do mind?
im sure i have many questions that will come to me.
Yes, I must state again that I can only speak for myself, but by now I'm sure that's understood.
When we make the introduction as a relay operator for the call we explain to them how the service works. We do NOT tell them this is a call from a deaf or hard of hearing individual unless the person on the other end asks or is completely baffled by the concept of relay (It happens A LOT), but ideally we leave the proclamation that the person calling is deaf up to the person calling. Its a bit of a tricky slope that every relay operator has to figure out on the fly as things happen. It can be impossible sometimes, but I will tell you this much: saying, "Do not explain relay" will NOT HELP if the person you are talking to is not understanding. If for instance all you want to know is what time a buisness closes, type just that in the instruction box and more likely than not the relay operator will get that information for you in the way THEY would if they were calling for themselves. Done, easy. It has nothing to do with the other people not liking deaf individuals, but that communication is made strange by the change in speed and the fact that there is a process now involved in what would otherwise be automatic, so to speak.
This day in age with high speed internet, and schedules, and timeliness, etc people suffer from what is called "Hurry sickness" They are no longer used to being patient and waiting for things to happen naturally. Its been programmed into ever facet of life. If you are a deaf person, take a day and watch hearing people interact at the mall. Very rarely will you see someone easy-going and slow. Everything in hearing society is dictated upon the speed at which something is accomplished. Its just a cultural thing I suppose.
Now say for instance you place a relay call to a business with hearing people. You are calling a place of business (founded on timeliness and deadlines) which translates into hurry, hurry, hurry. Its too subtle sometimes to really notice, especially if you are a hearing person and do it without thinking about it (re: conditioning) so when there is a silent pause in between speaking on the phone (while the deaf person types) it makes things awkward and uncomfortable to do. I could go on, but I sense I have gotten off topic...
As for asking about tone and things of that nature, where I work we are encouraged to help our customers however we can, but there are strange lines we cannot cross about "aiding" the call. Simply put, what tone means to one person differs slightly to another. There are a thousand reasons for this so I'll just leave it at that. Speaking language is incredibly complicated. Its very difficult to explain because it doesn't have a description.
The idea seems to be make customers happy by making the call go smoothly, but don't make the call go smoothly. I know that reads confusing, but what I mean to imply is that there are no solid, "no question" guidelines in how we "Make the call go smoothly." If the operator does something that the deaf person doesn't like within this grey area it doesn't matter what the OPERATOR'S intentions were. More likely than not, they are using their common sense and are trying to help, but some <-- important to notice I said "some" -- relay users (WHO ARE INSANE AND CRUEL, there are just as many nut job deaf people as nut job hearing people) they become outrageously offended and need only to report it to the operators supervisor and then an operator walks a fine line with their JOB ON THE LINE. It can be very draining and extremely difficult sometimes. Thankfully its the exception, not the rule as the saying goes.
Let me know if any of that makes sense. I know ASL has a different syntax than English and I only know English. I know very little about ASL and I've worked here for over a year. I don't know if that speaks to the job itself or just something about me. Anyway, hope it helps. Next question?
B
Bend My Ear
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When someone DOESN'T use those indications (i.e. "ga" , "sk", "ga to sk") it is irresponsible for several reasons:
1.) It is infuriating as an operator to feel like whoever placed the call is not putting forth as much effort in getting the message across as you are. ITS YOUR PHONE CALL! It screws up our call flow because the hearing person will more often than not ask whats taking so long with you typing because we are waiting for the signal. ("ga", etc) Sometimes the hearing person will feel awkward waiting and want to start up a conversation with the operator and since we cannot chat with them (being a human phone line and all) we have to read a scripted response like "I'm sorry, I cannot get involved in the call. Direct all questions to the person you are speaking with" and just because of how the response is written it sounds mean and foul to the hearing party. Then they think that we are being jerks and do a list of mean things in return such as: Not listening to use give instructions on relay, speaking too quickly on purpose, cursing at us (happens to me a lot), etc.
DO NOT FORGET TO USE THESE SIGNALS, and furthermore if an operator asks you if you mean to type "ga" don't bite their head off. I realize I am not speaking to everyone with that last comment. There are plenty of polite mannered and respectable relay users who don't need this advice.
Furthermore: When are finshed speaking to someone and you are getting ready to hang up YOU DO HAVE THE POWER TO SAY "SK"!
I do not understand why it is so common with relay users to say things like
"Ok, I'm going to get off the phone now. Bye! GA" !!!
If you are finished, INDICATE THAT BY TYPING "sk"!
Otherwise the conversation ALWAYS goes like this:
Deafie: See you later ga
Hearie: Okay, thanks for calling (pause) ((This is where I ask if thats a "ga") ga
Deafie: Alright then. See you later! ga
Hearie: Okay, talk to you then. (pause) ((I ask again)) ga
Deafie: Later ga
Hearie: Okay, I'm going to go now ga
Deafie: Okay bye ga
(OPR now repeat this for another 5 minutes. It happens in about 50 percent of relay calls.)
One last thing: If you are addressing the operator when you type something MAKE IT CLEAR YOU ARE ADDRESSING THE OPERATOR!
We type a certain way when we address you so theres no mistake that its US talking to YOU and not what we heard on the line. THIS IS IMPORTANT, otherwise we are forced to read something like:
Deafie: Thaz wht I mnz ga
(OPR I did you mean "That's what I mean qq ga)
Deafie: Yes! Thats what I said ga
Hearie: What do you mean thats what you said? ga
See how that can happen? Its not that we can't figure out that you may be talking to us (sometimes we can't because what was said makes no sense anyway) but we are REQUIRED BY LAW to read it like that if that's how its typed!
With any luck, this is now clear. Hope it helped.
Hear Again
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hearing people are guilty of doing the same thing.
one thing i like to do is to tell the sighted-hearing person i'm talking to that they can end the call by saying, "ga or sk" or "sksk."
Hear Again
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i always make it known that i'm communicating to the ca by placing my comment and/or question in parenthesis and directly addressing him/her.
for example, i'll type something like (ca: spell last name) or (ca: is hearing caller still on the line?)
AlleyCat
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Ok .. I had assumed you did tell the person on the other end that this was a call from a deaf person. Because so many times when I make a call to a place that I haven't called before, they hang up on me before I get to say anything. I assumed the minute they heard it was a call from a deaf person that was all it took for them to hang up. So why exactly are they hanging up on us, then? Can you walk us through the actual placing of a call to the point that we start talking, assuming they haven't hung up on us yet? This is a common problem for many of us.
Hear Again
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thank you for answering my questions.
i wanted to clarify an example of the ca typing over me.
for example, a conversation might go like this:
hearing person: what is your social security number?
me: (starting to type) xxx-...
hearing person: (while i'm still typing) could you also let me know your date of birth?
me: (continuing to type) xxx-xx-...
hearing person: hello?
me (continuing to type) ....-xxxx.
hearing person: i'm sorry. what is your social security number and date of birth?
it's very confusing because i'm only able to read one braille line at a time. i always tell the ca in my instructions to them that i'm deafblind and use a braille display, but this doesn't always eliminate the confusion/problems i have with a sighted-hearing person on the other end of the line.
fyi, many deafblind people (like myself) communicate through relay by using a device called a telebraille.
you can learn more about it here
tabularasa
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While I think Bend My Ear did a decent job of fielding questions, I did want to add some things.
Do remember that some relay services do things differently; I've learned that lesson just from dealing with people crossing over as well as experimenting with other relays myself.
One major thing I want to say is just like relay services, relay operators are different also. Where Bend clearly becomes angry when one doesn't use "GA," I couldn't care less. The only thing I would ask is that the Deaf/HH caller tells ME, the operator, before placing the call that they will not be using it. That way, no one's waiting around wondering what's going on. At the same time, I agree that everyone should use SK when ending their call just because we, as an opr, can't disconnect without it. (That's REALLY why "bye ga" gets annoying. We know you want to say bye, but we can't disconnect the call unless you type "sk" or the hearing party disconnects.)
So, with that out of the way, I was going to weigh in on one other thing.....
Do remember that some relay services do things differently; I've learned that lesson just from dealing with people crossing over as well as experimenting with other relays myself.
One major thing I want to say is just like relay services, relay operators are different also. Where Bend clearly becomes angry when one doesn't use "GA," I couldn't care less. The only thing I would ask is that the Deaf/HH caller tells ME, the operator, before placing the call that they will not be using it. That way, no one's waiting around wondering what's going on. At the same time, I agree that everyone should use SK when ending their call just because we, as an opr, can't disconnect without it. (That's REALLY why "bye ga" gets annoying. We know you want to say bye, but we can't disconnect the call unless you type "sk" or the hearing party disconnects.)
So, with that out of the way, I was going to weigh in on one other thing.....
tabularasa
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This is a case of relay companies, for the most part. I've noticed also that there are some companies that just don't abide by the Deaf/HH comes first rule, and they'll type over you. It seems to be primarily AIM, because the text isn't appearing on the screen UNTIL YOU HIT ENTER. So there are these super long pauses of no text where one might keep typing something they think you need to know. I'm not speaking for myself, just generally. I understand your frustration and I've found the best way to deal with it is to actually type TO THE HEARING PERSON that you want them to wait until you've said GA before they respond, rather than telling the operator.
On the hearing side of it I have to say that sometimes it's just necessary to interrupt. A hearing conversation flows back and forth very, very quickly, and it's difficult to adjust to the talk/pause/talk/pause/talk/pause etc. that comes with relay. So as an example, let's say this:
Hearing: Welcome to Fishland, how can I help you qq ga
Deaf/HH: Hi, this is Jane, I want you to give a message to Harold. Tell him Jane called and I will meet him later tonight at the restaurant we were talking about. Let him know I need to pick up my kids from school and run to a few band practices and I'll be there about 7, okay qq ga
(Let's say Harold's not there and the hearing person was trying to tell you that about 15 words into what you were typing; perhaps they wanted to say "Harolds not here, let me give you his cell." But instead of saving you and themselves the time, they have to wait for the whole message to come out before they can tell you it was worthless.)
That would be why hearing people attempt to interrupt. It's THEIR normal call flow. I know this isn't the exact instance you were talking about.
What you were referring to would just be just any person's mistake. Like, the hearing person asked for your name, but knowing relay has a delay... threw in real fast "and your SSN." The same as a Deaf/HH even after "ga" may delete the ga or type something really fast after it. You know?
As far as the delay and the hearing person not knowing whether you're there or not I have no idea. That could be anything from AIM to ignorance and a lot inbetween.
Hear Again
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This is a case of relay companies, for the most part. I've noticed also that there are some companies that just don't abide by the Deaf/HH comes first rule, and they'll type over you. It seems to be primarily AIM, because the text isn't appearing on the screen UNTIL YOU HIT ENTER. So there are these super long pauses of no text where one might keep typing something they think you need to know. I'm not speaking for myself, just generally. I understand your frustration and I've found the best way to deal with it is to actually type TO THE HEARING PERSON that you want them to wait until you've said GA before they respond, rather than telling the operator.
On the hearing side of it I have to say that sometimes it's just necessary to interrupt. A hearing conversation flows back and forth very, very quickly, and it's difficult to adjust to the talk/pause/talk/pause/talk/pause etc. that comes with relay. So as an example, let's say this:
Hearing: Welcome to Fishland, how can I help you qq ga
Deaf/HH: Hi, this is Jane, I want you to give a message to Harold. Tell him Jane called and I will meet him later tonight at the restaurant we were talking about. Let him know I need to pick up my kids from school and run to a few band practices and I'll be there about 7, okay qq ga
(Let's say Harold's not there and the hearing person was trying to tell you that about 15 words into what you were typing; perhaps they wanted to say "Harolds not here, let me give you his cell." But instead of saving you and themselves the time, they have to wait for the whole message to come out before they can tell you it was worthless.)
That would be why hearing people attempt to interrupt. It's THEIR normal call flow. I know this isn't the exact instance you were talking about.
What you were referring to would just be just any person's mistake. Like, the hearing person asked for your name, but knowing relay has a delay... threw in real fast "and your SSN." The same as a Deaf/HH even after "ga" may delete the ga or type something really fast after it. You know?
As far as the delay and the hearing person not knowing whether you're there or not I have no idea. That could be anything from AIM to ignorance and a lot inbetween.
i don't know how to use aim, so when i use relay i either use my telebraille (and call 711) or ip relay.
i prefer to use my telebraille because the text of what is typed flows evenly without long pauses and fluctuations in the speed of what is typed. 711 ca's are also able to type at a much slower rate since i am not using a broadband connection like i am when using ip relay on my computer.
i also like 711 because i'm able to set up a profile which identifies me as someone who is deafblind, uses a telebraille and requires slower typing and no abbreviations.
i think what i'm going to do for my next relay call is to do as you suggested and ask the hearing person to wait until i'm finished typing before they respond. i may also tell the ca to please try and avoid typing over me since this causes alot of confusion on my part.
Babyblue
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is there a requirement on how many words per minutes the opr. Can type.
I'm asking this because I'm often asked to slooow down. When talking. It frustrates me because it interupts my train of thoughts. It is not like I speak 90 mph.
I'm asking this because I'm often asked to slooow down. When talking. It frustrates me because it interupts my train of thoughts. It is not like I speak 90 mph.
Hear Again
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personally, i don't understand why it's so difficult to use ga since some ip relay services automatically insert a ga after the enter key is pressed.
if a deaf, hoh or deafblind person refuses to use ga (provided they aren't a new relay user and have simply forgotten to type ga), i think that's just being lazy.
after all, (if they're using a service that doesn't automatically place a ga at the end of what is typed), how hard it is really to type 2 additional letters?
one other thing i wanted to add about slower typing is that i let the ca know in advance that i have severe cts (carpal tunnel syndrome) which may affect my typing accuracy and speed. this helps avoid confusion on the ca's behalf since it is expected that i will type slower and with some spelling errors.
tabularasa
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Yes. There is a MINIMUM typing speed operators have to have; it probably fluctuates some relay service to relay service.
Even though the operators can type pretty fast you have to realize how fast a lot of hearing people speak. We're trying to type every single word the hearing person is saying and that includes things we're not familiar with like proper nouns or friend/family slang. We have to clarify spellings so the Deaf/HH receives the message correctly and fully. When numbers are thrown in that makes things especially difficult.
I don't mean to be rude, but I think if you tested yourself, I'm sure you speak 90 WPM.
I got a degree in an interpreting program and was required to sign 160 and 180 words per minute. While listening to the recordings it didn't sound like the voice was moving very quickly at all, and for the most part it wasn't that difficult to keep up... so imagine TYPING 180 WPM, every word. Every umm. Every uhh. Every cough, sneeze, sniff, whatever. It's everything. It's background noise and side conversations. ALL that can be difficult to keep up with if the person is speaking too quickly. I mean.. a human being can only type so fast....
Hear Again
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you actually type side conversations? this must differ from relay service to relay service because the one i use always types (side conversation) instead of the full conversation itself.
tabularasa
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I think the people that tend to use ga less are probably just those from a younger generation. You know.. the kids that really haven't used a TTY or TDD. Also, the AIM users... because in their normal AIM conversations I doubt they "ga" after everything, so using the same medium is just a force of habit.
However, I do think that people that DON'T use "ga" should expect to be interrupted, because neither the operator nor the hearing party knows when they're finished, so it's a toss up. Sometimes it makes communication smoother and faster; if it's on AIM however, then both people usually get lost because the Deaf/HH person is 1 or 2 lines behind the conversation.
I've found that I like the people that let me know if they're Deaf/Blind or slow typers. That way I know they're going to type slower or make spelling errors. Plus, I can pay special attention to MY spelling to make sure it's extra correct.
You would probably be a good person to ask about this....
I have had people ask me to type slower and I never know what to do because I can only type as slow as the hearing person is typing. If I may make a suggestion, if you use IP relay and want the operator to type slower, perhaps tell the hearing person you're talking to to speak slower? I just don't know how else to handle that.
Hear Again
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that's a good idea. i'll definitely do that next time.
in the past, the ca (both with 711 and ip relay) have asked the hearing person to speak slower. sometimes they do, sometimes they don't.
when i ask a ca to type slower, i prefer that they type words so that the pace goes something like this:
hearing person: this is to confirm (ca pauses) that you have a (ca pauses) 10:30 am appointment (ca pauses) with dr. smith.
instead of:
hearing person: this is to confirm that you have a 10:30 am appointment with dr. smith.