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Institutions bridging the gap of hearing disability | Business | Chron.com - Houston Chronicle
A trip to the bank often means that Kim Clemente, who’s deaf, must write notes to tellers to converse.
“Writing back and forth is a pain,” said Clemente, who works as a baker.
Now, she can go to a Frost Bank computer screen and contact a live interpreter who can answer her questions in her language, American Sign Language.
San Antonio-based Deaf Link recently began providing its Video Remote Interpreting services at four of the bank’s Houston branches.
With this video-conferencing service, Frost’s deaf and hard-of-hearing customers can hold a conversation with a person who knows about the San Antonio-based bank’s services instead of relying on friends and relatives to provide interpretation.
Son is interpreter
A few weeks ago, one customer visited the bank and had an 8-year-old son serve as an interpreter, said Catherine McGaughey, a Frost bank Bellaire branch manager.
“Now they don’t have to schedule visits to Frost,” said Michael Houston, Deaf Link’s national deaf liaison and outreach director. “They’re now going to have the opportunity to have independent living.”
Other banks provide some services for people with disabilities. Wells Fargo and Chase, for example, offer text communication for the hard of hearing via telephone lines.
‘Right investment’
Frost’s new service allows bankers to communicate with their deaf and hard-of-hearing customers and potentially sign up more clients in this community.
“We sure want their business,” said Patti Jo Bliss, a Frost senior vice president and the mother of a deaf son. “It’s the right investment for Frost.”
Clemente, who was not a Frost customer when she tried out the service recently, said she will consider switching her account to the bank.
She plans to let her deaf network know about the Frost service.
Attracting hospitals
About 36 million American adults have lost some hearing, according to the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communications Disorders.
Four-year-old Deaf Link now works with hospitals and other businesses to provide such services. Businesses must buy the equipment and pay $3 a minute for the video-conferencing service, which Houston said is cheaper than paying a deaf interpreter $250 for at least two hours of work.
A trip to the bank often means that Kim Clemente, who’s deaf, must write notes to tellers to converse.
“Writing back and forth is a pain,” said Clemente, who works as a baker.
Now, she can go to a Frost Bank computer screen and contact a live interpreter who can answer her questions in her language, American Sign Language.
San Antonio-based Deaf Link recently began providing its Video Remote Interpreting services at four of the bank’s Houston branches.
With this video-conferencing service, Frost’s deaf and hard-of-hearing customers can hold a conversation with a person who knows about the San Antonio-based bank’s services instead of relying on friends and relatives to provide interpretation.
Son is interpreter
A few weeks ago, one customer visited the bank and had an 8-year-old son serve as an interpreter, said Catherine McGaughey, a Frost bank Bellaire branch manager.
“Now they don’t have to schedule visits to Frost,” said Michael Houston, Deaf Link’s national deaf liaison and outreach director. “They’re now going to have the opportunity to have independent living.”
Other banks provide some services for people with disabilities. Wells Fargo and Chase, for example, offer text communication for the hard of hearing via telephone lines.
‘Right investment’
Frost’s new service allows bankers to communicate with their deaf and hard-of-hearing customers and potentially sign up more clients in this community.
“We sure want their business,” said Patti Jo Bliss, a Frost senior vice president and the mother of a deaf son. “It’s the right investment for Frost.”
Clemente, who was not a Frost customer when she tried out the service recently, said she will consider switching her account to the bank.
She plans to let her deaf network know about the Frost service.
Attracting hospitals
About 36 million American adults have lost some hearing, according to the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communications Disorders.
Four-year-old Deaf Link now works with hospitals and other businesses to provide such services. Businesses must buy the equipment and pay $3 a minute for the video-conferencing service, which Houston said is cheaper than paying a deaf interpreter $250 for at least two hours of work.