GoAmerica to provide TRS in California

[Miss-Delectable]

http://www.businessweek.com/ap/financialnews/D8H73RM80.htm?campaign_id=apn_tech_down&chan=tc

GoAmerica Inc., a communications service provider for the deaf, hard-of-hearing, and speech disabled, said on Tuesday its telecommunications relay service (TRS) will be used in California under a state contract held by Nordia and two other companies.

Nordia, which also provides services for people with hearing and speech problems, used its own TRS service called myrelay.com, but will now switch to GoAmerica's i711.com TRS service.

TRS allows the deaf to use a web-enabled handheld device or computer to place calls connected to a relay operator. The relay operator calls the requested number, reads the deaf caller's text message to the recipient, and then types the other party's response back to the deaf caller.

 

[guido]

So there are now 4 relay providers for California? Verizon, Sprint, Nordia, and now GoAmerica?

Geez.

 

[Brian]

So there are now 4 relay providers for California? Verizon, Sprint, Nordia, and now GoAmerica?

Geez.

Looks like that way. Wonder what Nesmuth got to say about this...

 

[Nesmuth]

California is where healthy competition and consumer choice rules!

Richard

 

[Brian]

California is where healthy competition and consumer choice rules!

Richard

I bet it is... Wish we could do the same here in Georgia and elsewhere...

 

[Dennis S.]

California is spending a ton more tax money to manage 4 vendors instead of just one.

 

[Brian]

California is spending a ton more tax money to manage 4 vendors instead of just one.

Do you know how much money are being spent on the four providers?

 

[Nesmuth]

California is spending a ton more tax money to manage 4 vendors instead of just one.

Not really, it's all about use, choices, and survival of the fittiest.

Richard

 

[Dennis S.]

Do you know how much money are being spent on the four providers?

I used to be a on a certain state's relay advisory board. The news I got was:

1) The relay providers are split up so that one of them controls the relay traffic to each of the other services. In other words, one company gets paid for every call, and then the other companies get paid for every minute of relay service they provide.

If it was just one relay service provider, you don't have to pay that one company's overhead to "direct" the calls to other companies. That's a pretty large savings, if I remember correctly.

2) California accepted all bids, which means that if someone bid high, California accepted it. With one relay provider, you have to bid competitively and hope you get the best price out of all the others who bid. With many providers, that means that there was less pressure to keep costs low, and that means that profits for those companies will be higher than they should have been.

 

[Nesmuth]

Dennis,

Does this mean if my daddy gets me a frisbee on my birthday he has to get my sister and brother a frisbee too? Is that what youre saying how the California relay system works?

Richard