best answering machine for a captel phone?
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Dennis S.
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Any regular answering machine that has two jacks in it so that you can pass the phone line through the answering machine to the CapTel phone would be best. I don't have a stand alone answering machine -- since I have other people in the house who can hear, the cordless phone from Target has the answering machine built-in.
Taric25
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CapTel Ans Mach
It's easy to use any answering machine with your CapTel.
Your answering machine should be a voice answering machine. You can also use a TTY/Voice answering machine, if TTY users and/or VCO users call you without relay, however, if you do not have a TTY/Voice answering machine, you can still get your messages with the relay. See below for more information. Also, you do not need a TTY answering machine if other CapTel users call you, because they will come in as voice, just like any other call.
Your answering machine should have two phone jacks. One jack is for you to hook to the wall. The other jack is for you to hook to your CapTel. If you are unsure which jack is which, consult the manual that came with your answering machine. If you turn your CapTel upside down, you will see two jacks. The jack closest to the AC power adapter is the default, but you can hook it to either phone jack on your CapTel, and it will work fine.
If you use 2-Line CapTel, hook your answering machine to the jack closest to the AC Power Adapter. This phone line should be the primary telephone number of your home, the number you would give to people to call you.
If you use 2-Line CapTel, then when Hearing people call you, if you do not answer, your answering machine will pick up, announce your greeting and record the Hearing person's voice.
If you only have one phone line, then when Hearing people call you through CapTel relay's toll-free number, the service will hang up if you do not answer. That is because, since there is no CapTel user on the call, it is not a relay call, and the Hearing person can simply hang up and call your number directly, in order to leave a voice message on your answering machine.
If a TTY user or an HCO (Hearing-Carry-Over) user leaves you a message, without relay, your TTY answering machine will record the baduot (TTY) tones. If a TTY user or an HCO user calls you with relay, the operator (or HCO user) will hear your answering machine, so your answering machine will record the operator's voice. If a VCO (Voice-Carry-Over) user leaves you a message, with or withour relay, your TTY answering machine will record the VCO user's voice.
When you are home, you can check your messages with your CapTel. To check your voice messages, press the menu button, and continue to press it again and again, until you see "Caption External Answering Machine", and then press OK. Your CapTel will call the captioning service. When the captionist types (Ready to Caption) place the mouthpiece of your CapTel on top of your answering machine's speaker. You will see the captions on your CapTel while the messages play.
If you want to check your TTY messages, and you have a Voice/TTY answering machine, your Voice/TTY answering machine will display the messages for you.
If you received a TTY message, but you do not have a TTY answering machine, make sure the "Caption" light is on, and dial the toll-free number for the relay service for your state. (If you do not know the toll-free number for the relay service for your state, call 711 and ask the operator what the voice number is, for your state.) The operator will answer you and ask for a number to dial. Say, "Answering machine retrival please, a TTY user left a message on my answering machine. Go Ahead." The operator will ask you to put the mouthpiece of your phone on the speaker of your answering machine and press play. Unlike a CapTel captionist retrieving your messages, you will have to wait until the message is finished to see the captions, because the relay operator cannot speak while the TTY message is playing. When the TTY message is finished, pick up the phone again. The relay operator will voice what the TTY message was, and you can read the captions.
Here are some images to help.
As you can see in this first image, the AC Power Adapter is on the upper left, while the phone jacks are in the upper center, and the Handset jack is in the lower center.
As you can see in this second image, the jack for Line 1 is on the left, and Line 2 is on the right.
As you can see in this third image, a telephone wire connects the answering machine to the wall jack. Another telephone wire connects the answering machine to the CapTel. Also, an optional 2nd telephone line is connected directly to the CapTel.
For more information, contact CapTel Customer Service:
Ultratec, Inc.
Attn: CapTel Customer Service
450 Science Drive Ste 4
Madison, WI 53711-1166
1-888-269-7477 Voice/CapTel (English)
1-866-670-9134 Voice/Voz/CapTel (Spanish/Español)
1-800-482-2424 TTY
1-608-238-3008 Fax (Madison, WI)
CapTel@CapTelMail.com
CapTel - The Captioned Telephone
It's easy to use any answering machine with your CapTel.
Your answering machine should be a voice answering machine. You can also use a TTY/Voice answering machine, if TTY users and/or VCO users call you without relay, however, if you do not have a TTY/Voice answering machine, you can still get your messages with the relay. See below for more information. Also, you do not need a TTY answering machine if other CapTel users call you, because they will come in as voice, just like any other call.
Your answering machine should have two phone jacks. One jack is for you to hook to the wall. The other jack is for you to hook to your CapTel. If you are unsure which jack is which, consult the manual that came with your answering machine. If you turn your CapTel upside down, you will see two jacks. The jack closest to the AC power adapter is the default, but you can hook it to either phone jack on your CapTel, and it will work fine.
If you use 2-Line CapTel, hook your answering machine to the jack closest to the AC Power Adapter. This phone line should be the primary telephone number of your home, the number you would give to people to call you.
If you use 2-Line CapTel, then when Hearing people call you, if you do not answer, your answering machine will pick up, announce your greeting and record the Hearing person's voice.
If you only have one phone line, then when Hearing people call you through CapTel relay's toll-free number, the service will hang up if you do not answer. That is because, since there is no CapTel user on the call, it is not a relay call, and the Hearing person can simply hang up and call your number directly, in order to leave a voice message on your answering machine.
If a TTY user or an HCO (Hearing-Carry-Over) user leaves you a message, without relay, your TTY answering machine will record the baduot (TTY) tones. If a TTY user or an HCO user calls you with relay, the operator (or HCO user) will hear your answering machine, so your answering machine will record the operator's voice. If a VCO (Voice-Carry-Over) user leaves you a message, with or withour relay, your TTY answering machine will record the VCO user's voice.
When you are home, you can check your messages with your CapTel. To check your voice messages, press the menu button, and continue to press it again and again, until you see "Caption External Answering Machine", and then press OK. Your CapTel will call the captioning service. When the captionist types (Ready to Caption) place the mouthpiece of your CapTel on top of your answering machine's speaker. You will see the captions on your CapTel while the messages play.
If you want to check your TTY messages, and you have a Voice/TTY answering machine, your Voice/TTY answering machine will display the messages for you.
If you received a TTY message, but you do not have a TTY answering machine, make sure the "Caption" light is on, and dial the toll-free number for the relay service for your state. (If you do not know the toll-free number for the relay service for your state, call 711 and ask the operator what the voice number is, for your state.) The operator will answer you and ask for a number to dial. Say, "Answering machine retrival please, a TTY user left a message on my answering machine. Go Ahead." The operator will ask you to put the mouthpiece of your phone on the speaker of your answering machine and press play. Unlike a CapTel captionist retrieving your messages, you will have to wait until the message is finished to see the captions, because the relay operator cannot speak while the TTY message is playing. When the TTY message is finished, pick up the phone again. The relay operator will voice what the TTY message was, and you can read the captions.
Here are some images to help.
As you can see in this first image, the AC Power Adapter is on the upper left, while the phone jacks are in the upper center, and the Handset jack is in the lower center.
As you can see in this second image, the jack for Line 1 is on the left, and Line 2 is on the right.
As you can see in this third image, a telephone wire connects the answering machine to the wall jack. Another telephone wire connects the answering machine to the CapTel. Also, an optional 2nd telephone line is connected directly to the CapTel.
For more information, contact CapTel Customer Service:
Ultratec, Inc.
Attn: CapTel Customer Service
450 Science Drive Ste 4
Madison, WI 53711-1166
1-888-269-7477 Voice/CapTel (English)
1-866-670-9134 Voice/Voz/CapTel (Spanish/Español)
1-800-482-2424 TTY
1-608-238-3008 Fax (Madison, WI)
CapTel@CapTelMail.com
CapTel - The Captioned Telephone