when I use the relay service and call somebody...

Sidekicker said:
i was told you could be fired and even have charges pressed against you just for admitting that you work for the relay.
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I don't know if the rules have changed but having made friends with some of the Relay Operators over the years, they weren't fired or written up. They had to be careful when the supervisors walked by. I think it is OK for Relay Operators to get know people as long they don't talk about their jobs or clients.
 
Sidekicker said:
friend told me ros not supposed to talk about thier jobs. something about confidentiality laws. is that true???
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We're not allowed to discuss the content of calls. Any information relayed during a call is limited to that call. And that is a rule that I take very seriously. As for being fired for admitting I'm an RO, I understand that used to be the case, but not anymore.

Now I can be prosecuted for disclosing the content of a call. Which as I stated in previously, I take that very serious when it comes to legit calls.
 
another opr here i know about some misinformation about relay svc that is common among the deaf community i come here to add insight about certain things i intend to make my job easier and make ur calls go smoother for u smile

i see that apathrev has already answered some questions in here and i would have answered those questions in the same way smile

i can t get in trouble or be fired for admitting that i am an opr but talking about call content or talking about certain rules and policies will get me in trouble

i don t know if we can talk about which relay service we represent either so i wont do that until i know for sure smile

i work at the relay svc to help other hoh people my hearing is only about 60 percent of what it should be in both ears so compared to fully hearing people i can only hear half as well in a given situation so i guess i m halfway in between smile
 
downing said:
hate relay services because they always bs.
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its not possible for us to lie on a call our calls are monitored and the supervisor s watch us

if we get caught lying or not relaying a call verbatim we are fired on the spot


if there is an opr doing that to you they are taking a huge risk as far as losing their job goes

just about every other opr i know including myself relay calls as accurately as possible at all times i enjoy helping someone out that uses relay svc as it is intended to be used most of the oprs at our center take their job very seriously
 
A few years ago I was calling a friend who is hard of hearing but uses the phone. Because she is HOH, she does not always hear the phone ring, it depends on where she is in the house, whether she is near the phone or not. I usually ask the relay operator to redial 2 or 3 times, and almost always my friend picks up the phone after 2 or 3 tries. Anyhow, I was calling her, she didn't pick up the phone after the first try. I politely asked the relay operator to redial again and the RO very rudely called me stupid. I said, "why are you calling me stupid?" and she said "well that's the problem with all the deaf people, they don't get it that the person is not home, that's why I called you stupid". I was like OMG, I said "the reason i asked you to redial is because my friend is not always close enough to the phone to hear it ring, but usually after 2 or 3 tries she will finally hear it and pick it up" and she called me stupid again and I demanded to speak to the supervisor...geez.

I don't really like using relay that much. Now my main form of communication is emails and IM's. Nowadays I tell people to either email me or IM me.
 
if there is a relay opr that is acting like that by all means feel free to ask for a supervisor

or call cust svc

if ur using www.ip-relay.com aim to "myiprelay" or sk2 to myiprelay then call mci cust svc 866 735 0193 and report their opr nbr

i understand somewhat i get impatient with people that ask me to redial more than 10 times and it rings until it hangs up (20 rings each time thats ridiculous theyre obviously not home whether their hoh or not) but i will still do it and i wont give u any shit about it
 
apathrev said:
We're not allowed to discuss the content of calls. Any information relayed during a call is limited to that call. And that is a rule that I take very seriously. As for being fired for admitting I'm an RO, I understand that used to be the case, but not anymore.

Now I can be prosecuted for disclosing the content of a call. Which as I stated in previously, I take that very serious when it comes to legit calls.
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Looks like Centel/Apathrev got into trouble so he closed the AD membership account...
 
I am a VRS interpreter/operator. I do not BS. If I tell you that "all circuits are busy" then that is exactly the message I hear. Through experience, I know that typically happens when call volume is the highest. When I call someone FROM my cell phone I sometimes hear that messages.

If it's a fast busy signal, it just means that we're unable to connect for one reason or another. There could be a problem with the phone line of the person you're calling.

SOMETIMES if you call a cell phone and it doesn't ring at all and goes straight to voice mail, it means the person's cell phone is OFF. Asking me to redial 14 times won't help if the cell phone is off.

If it rings a few times and then goes to voice mail, the phone was ringing but they didn't answer for whatever reason.
 
HoHGuyOhio said:
I am a VRS interpreter/operator. I do not BS. If I tell you that "all circuits are busy" then that is exactly the message I hear. Through experience, I know that typically happens when call volume is the highest. When I call someone FROM my cell phone I sometimes hear that messages.

If it's a fast busy signal, it just means that we're unable to connect for one reason or another. There could be a problem with the phone line of the person you're calling.

SOMETIMES if you call a cell phone and it doesn't ring at all and goes straight to voice mail, it means the person's cell phone is OFF. Asking me to redial 14 times won't help if the cell phone is off.

If it rings a few times and then goes to voice mail, the phone was ringing but they didn't answer for whatever reason.
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I noticed that when I called my friend on her cell phone using relay and get "all circuits are busy" it's almost always because my friend is talking on her cellphone to someone else. It simply means that her cell phone is BUSY.
 
Most of the time if someone is on their cell phone, you will hear their phone ring. THEY will hear a beep letting them know they have another call. If they ignore your call, you will get voice mail.

All circuits are busy now doesn't mean that your friend is on the phone. It means that the cellular network (Verizon, Cingular, T-Mobile) in your friend's area is getting a lot of traffic and they can't connect your call.
 
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