TTY through Blackberry / TTY Passing Away

[GraysonPeddie]

Hi. I came across the thread here:

http://www.alldeaf.com/showthread.php?t=16795

I wanted to start a new thread instead of bringing up an old thread.

I'd like to quote a few things:

You can use the terinmal in your sidekick, set it into ASCII mode then connect to your computer that have telnet server in that have dial up, that way you can dial to your computer with your sidekick. THEN it'll get you on the TTY with ASCII (Baud rate 300). Try it on your own sidekick if you have terinmal software in it. Let me know if you need more spec how to do it, I'll be happy to help. Have fun!

Why use a pocket TTY with Sidekick? Sidekick already has AIM and IP-Relay?

Can this work with Blackberry 7290, too?

FYI TTY machine is going out slowly, just like Kodak film! Within 5 years we won't be using true TTY machine anymore. We will be using pager, computer, and other means of communication than TTY.
Buying a stand alone TTY machine will be just wasting your money, instead of buying it, it would STILL be cheaper to buy SK than TTY! Same principle, it is cheaper to buy digital camera and you can re-use over and over, than to buy camera then buy film that can only take once.

I'm pretty skeptical of that because in case of an emergency, I'll still have to have my Ameriphone Q90-D Portable TTY that I've purchased from MaxiAids.com. It's true that having two QWERTY devices just doesn't make sense at all! Thus it's old technology and old-fashioned! Why not software TTY in a phone for emergencies if you (and I) don't have time to find your external TTY and connect to your Sidekick or Blackberry? What if you don't have an external TTY machine and you or someone are having an emergency?

 

[Dennis S.]

I'll see if I can address your specific questions:

Originally Posted by deafunix
You can use the terinmal in your sidekick, set it into ASCII mode then connect to your computer that have telnet server in that have dial up, that way you can dial to your computer with your sidekick. THEN it'll get you on the TTY with ASCII (Baud rate 300). Try it on your own sidekick if you have terinmal software in it. Let me know if you need more spec how to do it, I'll be happy to help. Have fun!

Deafunix posted a very complicated solution to an already solved problem. Why wire up a computer server, complete with a telnet connection and a computer modem, with the correct telnet commands and interface to make that modem dial a telephone number via ASCII, when there are already relay programs that will allow you to call hearing people without having to do more than download a program?

You set up multiple points of failure when you do this. If your data connection is out of service or range, or your server's internet is down, or your server configuration doesn't work, or your modem doesn't work, or your phone modem isn't connecting correctly, it doesn't work. Relay services have 24/7 staff to maintain reliability and quality in their connections to hearing people.

Now, the REAL question is, can we telnet or ASCII directly from the pager phone number? The phone number that relay will get is your server's phone number. What if I want to call 911? The relay center will only see my server's phone number.. not very helpful. The trick will be to send ASCII through the phone itself. That's still not possible right now.

The best thing to do would be to program a phone to send those tones. I'm not a programmer, but it's gotta be possible.

 

[GraysonPeddie]

Well, that's true. If you need to dial 911, you have to connect your external TTY machine to Sidekick or Blackberry, but what if you don't have an external TTY machine but only have Sidekick or Blackberry?

 

[Dennis S.]

That's where you want to have some kind of software on the device to generate and display TTY tones and characters. That's a programming issue. It's going to take getting learning what commands do what for your target device and creating an API to install.

Blackberry has a "Blackberry Simulator" program you can download online so you can emulate installing a program on it and run the program without needing a blackberry. It's meant for developers to try out their programs on it without potentially ruining their devices...

 

[starrygaze]

I am in mood with Blackberry. New SKIII looks not good I guess. I might get two for me and my girlfriend.