relay problems

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emilySUN

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Can someone tell me why I cant remember to tell the relay operator "ga".

I think I annoy them. Because i keep talking and forget to say ga. They always ask me if I know how to use relay. And I say sort of even though I've been using it for a long time.

And why do people always hang up on me when I use relay. My boyfriend hung up on me once and then he said he thought it was a telemarketer. People won't talk to me at stores either. They transfer me to the manager and say "um" a lot. Like they are worried by the RO. I like it when I get a male RO because I am female and then call someone and tell them my name (Emily). It is fun to confuse people. Ha.

I wonder what the ROs say when they are explaning relay. I have never asked anyone. I would like to know though.

One time I had a long conversation with someone and the person I was talking to wasnt making much sense. And the person kept talking and talking and the RO finally told me (I think there's a question in there somewhere). It was pretty funny.

I dont know why Im posting. I think I need sleep but Id rather talk. I think Im talking to myself at this point. Ha.
 
Woohoo! A real life RO! :wave:

Thanks for the post and the explanation of what I was confused about. I used to say "um" a lot until I took a speech course in college - that fixed that quickly! I do tend to type the word "uh" if I am thinking while I'm writing. I think the scripts should be combined too. I had a friend ask me once why I was using the relay service and could she use it too because she said it didn't say only people with hearing loss/speech difficulties could use it. That is surprising the RO could have lost his job for saying that. I thought it was very funny and I liked knowing that there was a human intermediary on the line, smile. I agree that the rules are very strict. I understand that the RO shouldn't get involved in the conversation but I think sometimes it is nice knowing the person there is human. And I appreciate what you do!

I probably don't even want to know what hearing teenagers say using the relay service. I'd imagine it's anything but pleasant LOL!!

I have one more question. If I do have something to say directly to the RO, how would I let them know that I am speaking to them instead of to the person on the line? Is that even possible?

Thank you again!
 
Keep in mind, once you connect to the other person, the operator is supposed to voice everything you type. However, sometimes I have to ask the operator a question like when I'm on hold for several minutes and there's no music, I ask (opr are we still on hold? ga).
 
OK this reminds me about something I've been wondering.

Relay operators are supposed to say everything the user types. What if someone starts cursing? Does the RO have to relay that? If so I can guess what the kids prank calling have to say :)
 
I kind of have an issue with this. The other day, a girl had used relay to call our police department. She lived outside of our jurisdiction and called on a line that wasn't set up for TTY (called on a strange line that comes in...not sure how she ever got the number). When I was talking to the operator, I could not, for the life of me, understand what the street name was. I asked the operator to please spell the street name that the caller was spelling to her. The operator would only respond with 'Operators are not allowed to interact with callers'. I do understand that in normal situation, but this was a life or death situation where the caller needed help. The operator even said in the beginning that it was a distress call for assistance. I begged the operator to spell the street name and she kept telling me to ask the caller so I would ask and then get a response 'I don't understand, ga'. I'm sure the operator knew what information I was trying to get, and I'm sure the girl on the end had spelled it to her when she was giving it to me. It was the operators pronunciation of the street that was screwing things up LOL.

Eventually I got the correct street name and found that it was in another area outside of our jurisdiction. I called that county and advised them that I had an address only and a deaf female was in distress but had nothing further.
 
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Taylor, the issue here is that if operators were allowed to interact with the conversation, then they could start injecting their own thoughts and opinions into the dialogue. It no longer becomes a relay call and instead becomes a call where the relay operator could become liable for what they say. For example, if an operator broke transparency and spelled the address wrong, the deaf woman's emergency may have been incorrectly responded to. Whose fault would that be, and who could be sued?

That also applies to HIPAA regulations in that if operators break transparency, then HIPAA would start applying (right now they are waived because of the transparency) and every single relay operator would have to be on file for every medical care facility as being authorized to process calls that carry medical information between that facility and the deaf user.
 
Dennis,
I do agree that normally it should be 100% transparent and you do bring up a point, but when it comes to a life or death situation, I do believe a little leeway should be given. For example, the original caller would have had to have spelled the street name to give to the operator, correct? The operator was adding an extra syllable to the street name, and that is why I could not locate it in our mapping system or surrounding county mapping system. When I couldn't locate it, I asked for the spelling but the operator kept saying the full name even after I asked for the spelling. Each time I asked her, she advised she could not interact so I'd ask for the specific spelling again to the caller but the operator would just say the street name. Eventually, the operator spelled it out. The problem was this created a considerable delay in the call. I was on the phone with her for over 2 minutes just attempting to get the street name.

Cental34, I'm not sure if the 911 stipulation would have applied here only because she did not call on a 911 line or a direct line into communications. It was on a business line that normally isn't published to the general public. I'm not sure how the caller got the number and called on it, but can only imagine that information provided her with that number. To top it off, she wasn't even within our jurisdiction and should have been given the number to her local police department. Because of the circumstances, I wanted to make sure I at least had an address before I disconnected. Once I had that, I picked up a hotline for the next county over and had them start units towards her house.
 
A few years ago when I was at my sister's house as a babysitter for a few days in the winter, I had a hard time dealing with the relay. We had a big snowstorm. Before the storm came in, I called my father not to stop by to see me. The relay said to me, "What is your long distance carrier?" That question got me stuck. (I don't know what is her carrier.) I told the relay that I need to inform my father not to come here before the storm 'invaded' my sister's place. The relay refused and then hanged up. I was pissed off so my father came here. Then, he went home very barely during a heavy storm. The reason was that he cannot sleep at her house with her dogs and cats because of his asthma. Why is it so difficult to deal with the relay especially if it is a personal emergancy? I wish that I could tell the relay to put her thumb in her anus.
 
I understand the frustration, but regulations dictate, we, the operators, are not to be involved with the call in any manner. We cannot make judgements, opinions, or advice about anything. And alot of time, it is hard to hold back.

Webxplorer, the trouble you had can't be solely blamed on relay as a whole. There are many different providers, and different forms. Are you talking about state or IP relay? And relay operators themselves, although they're not supposed to be, are just as much an individual as the deaf person placing the call. I haven't ever seen an operator process calls and follow same procedures as the one next to him. Truth is, I think most operators are scumbags and have absolutely no consideration for anyone but themselves. I don't doubt they disconnected you just like that.
 
webexplorer said:
A few years ago when I was at my sister's house as a babysitter for a few days in the winter, I had a hard time dealing with the relay. We had a big snowstorm. Before the storm came in, I called my father not to stop by to see me. The relay said to me, "What is your long distance carrier?" That question got me stuck. (I don't know what is her carrier.) I told the relay that I need to inform my father not to come here before the storm 'invaded' my sister's place. The relay refused and then hanged up. I was pissed off so my father came here. Then, he went home very barely during a heavy storm. The reason was that he cannot sleep at her house with her dogs and cats because of his asthma. Why is it so difficult to deal with the relay especially if it is a personal emergancy? I wish that I could tell the relay to put her thumb in her anus.
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you could have said "default carrier" or try different realy service so that call will still go through
 
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