Experience with Hamilton Relay?

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Brian

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Anyone have positive or negative experiences with Hamilton Relay?

I have used Hamilton's Internet relay services numerous of times in the past. They were OK for me, not for some of the [hearing] people I talked on the phone.

About a month ago, Hamilton Relay won the bid to provide services for the deaf in Georgia - which will start April, the first next year. There were at least three bidders (MCI, Sprint and another one I cannot remember what it was.) I was under the impression that MCI would get it.

It seems like AT&T (Georgia's current and only relay provider) is exiting the relay business, probably because the company was being bought out by SBC (a regional telephone company.)

I am somewhat leery with Hamilton providing services for the deaf in Georgia that would be handled by its operators elsewhere.
 
Very interesting. I had no idea AT&T was giving it up. I think the thought of MCI prevailing out of those competitors is somewhat laughable, especially with the vCustomer situation. I can't say I blame you for being weary, but this is somewhat hopeful news for me as an RO looking to move to Atlanta next year. I was actually going to post a thread asking if anyone knew of any TRS call centers based out of Atlanta. Here's keeping my fingers crossed that the call center will be in Atlanta or around Atlanta. :fingersx:

And the only thing I can even remember hearing about Hamilton is that they are owned or operated by deaf, or specifically for deaf. I can't quite remember. Its something my trainer told me when I was still a wee-RO.
 
cental34 said:
Very interesting. I had no idea AT&T was giving it up. I think the thought of MCI prevailing out of those competitors is somewhat laughable, especially with the vCustomer situation. I can't say I blame you for being weary, but this is somewhat hopeful news for me as an RO looking to move to Atlanta next year. I was actually going to post a thread asking if anyone knew of any TRS call centers based out of Atlanta. Here's keeping my fingers crossed that the call center will be in Atlanta or around Atlanta. :fingersx:

And the only thing I can even remember hearing about Hamilton is that they are owned or operated by deaf, or specifically for deaf. I can't quite remember. Its something my trainer told me when I was still a wee-RO.
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Hopefully Hamilton will keep the call center in Georgia and have it moved to the Atlanta/northern Georgia area. You can go to Hamilton.net and click on employment opportunities to see where the current call centers are located. Most of the centers are consolidated. No listings in smartpages.com and anywho.com for Hamilton Telecommunications in Georgia! It would be ridiculous if they didn't have a center in Georgia with being the most populous state of all states under the company.

I know Sorenson (video-phone) has a call center in Atlanta (proper). They have two locations listings in Atlanta and Norcross (GA). But they require skilled signers to work there.
 
Yes. I emailed them just last night asking about employment for their IP Relay service, and their only TRS devoted call center is located in Salt Lake City. I don't think they would likely not have a call center in Georgia, but thats how Sprint operates, isn't it? Something about them owning 3/4 of the state contracts and only having 14 call centers for relay. Like I said, I'm going to be in contact with Hamilton about this. And I'm keeping my fingers crossed. :fingersx: I've actually been curious about the amount of abuse through these smaller name relay services, like Sorenson, i711, and Hamilton. Wouldn't that be great if they only saw legit calls?

Thanks for the information Brian. One thing I'm curious about. What gave you the impression MCI was likely to get the contract? Not to say I wouldn't be happy if I could have just transferred.
 
cental34 said:
Yes. I emailed them just last night asking about employment for their IP Relay service, and their only TRS devoted call center is located in Salt Lake City. I don't think they would likely not have a call center in Georgia, but thats how Sprint operates, isn't it? Something about them owning 3/4 of the state contracts and only having 14 call centers for relay. Like I said, I'm going to be in contact with Hamilton about this. And I'm keeping my fingers crossed. :fingersx: I've actually been curious about the amount of abuse through these smaller name relay services, like Sorenson, i711, and Hamilton. Wouldn't that be great if they only saw legit calls?

Thanks for the information Brian. One thing I'm curious about. What gave you the impression MCI was likely to get the contract? Not to say I wouldn't be happy if I could have just transferred.
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Yeah cental, this would be great if companies like Hamilton sees only to legit calls! :) I know companies like Sprint consolidate centers in order to save money. I believe if companies are awarded to contacts of such should have a center located within the states they are providing services for. If I remember correctly that under Tennessee Regulatory Authority (TRA), they had a rule is that the call center is to be located within the state.

The reason I was under the impression that MCI was going to get it is that MCI has a somewhat large presence in Georgia though the company has downsized some due to the scandals of Mr. Ebbers (sp?) - the founder of WorldCom that bought MCI out.
 
After seeing AT&T looking to give up relay services, I'm almost convinced we're seeintg a major Telecom exodus from relay. First MCI selling its relay services to vCustomer, and now AT&T. I can only wander if maybe Sprint is next.

Under the TRA's mandate of calls being taken in state, wouldn't that only apply to TN's state contract. There are rumors swirling around our call center regarding the TN contract when it expires next year. In short, we'd be surprised to see vCustomer hold onto it. But even now, not all TN TRS calls are handled in state. When our call center closes at midnight, all incoming calls are routed to the California call center. And as far as I know, they may also handle some of our calls during the daytime when we're in queue, too.
 
cental34 said:
After seeing AT&T looking to give up relay services, I'm almost convinced we're seeintg a major Telecom exodus from relay. First MCI selling its relay services to vCustomer, and now AT&T. I can only wander if maybe Sprint is next.

Under the TRA's mandate of calls being taken in state, wouldn't that only apply to TN's state contract. There are rumors swirling around our call center regarding the TN contract when it expires next year. In short, we'd be surprised to see vCustomer hold onto it. But even now, not all TN TRS calls are handled in state. When our call center closes at midnight, all incoming calls are routed to the California call center. And as far as I know, they may also handle some of our calls during the daytime when we're in queue, too.
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I've not used Sprint's in probably two years. I was not impressed with their services though. It is possible that Sprint will follow AT&T and MCI's footsteps - I could see CSD taking over relay services from Sprint if this does happen.

I see. When I was still living in Tennessee, AT&T was the first relay provider. The calls in/out of Tennessee were handled only by the operators based out of Brentwood (Nashville suburb) center. About two years later, their id/code numbers (1xxx) were changed to 7xxx (6xxx for Georgia). then all suddenly AT&T decided on once the call is received, the next available operator would take over - whether they are based out of Puetro Rico, New York, etc like that is done now with MCI, Hamilton, Sprint, etc.
 
I see. With CSD handling a good amount of Sprint's relay call centers, I think its quite possible soon Sprint could follow suit. This is actually a very interesting development.

You've said you were unimpressed with both Sprint and Hamilton's relay services. I'm curious. What do you look for when it comes to a relay provider, and who do you think offers the best service? I would take a stab in the dark and guess i711. People seem to love them.
 
cental34 said:
I see. With CSD handling a good amount of Sprint's relay call centers, I think its quite possible soon Sprint could follow suit. This is actually a very interesting development.

You've said you were unimpressed with both Sprint and Hamilton's relay services. I'm curious. What do you look for when it comes to a relay provider, and who do you think offers the best service? I would take a stab in the dark and guess i711. People seem to love them.
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What I look from a relay provider is that they (CAs/ROs) type professionally with no or little spelling errors. I used to prefer AT&T TRS and Internet-based over any other providers, But since switching to Linux from Windows, I've not figured how to install Sun Java for the browser, calling the relay services through AIM is the only way I can get around to other than calling from a TTY/TDD. I briefly used Hamilton (HipRelay) and got tired of being delayed at different times, then I used MCI (MY IP Relay), I started to see some improvement with MCI and decided MCI is the one I will use from now on. MCI has some of really fast typers, at first it was hard to catch up with them. Most of the ROs I had in recent weeks were really nice - they even say "have a nice day." at the end. I haven't gotten anything like that from AT&T CAs in a long time!

As for i711, I have an account with them. I haven't used the services after several calls, because whenever I called someone, no one would answer the phone. I didn't know why until I decided to have them call my line, I went on to check my caller ID, it said 'private". Not many people will answer the phone if one chose to block their numbers from being displayed on the caller ID.
 
I have no problem with HVRS! I think they are one of best operator that I know of as VRS. Some operators can have some bad and good days. So frankly, there isn't specifically one operator that is top rated all the times.
Main reason why I like HVRS is that the operators generally are friendly and very helpful, gave me few hints on how to get around the system like press zero if want to call live reps directly than going though the stupid prompts, etc.
 
diehardbiker65 said:
I have no problem with HVRS! I think they are one of best operator that I know of as VRS. Some operators can have some bad and good days. So frankly, there isn't specifically one operator that is top rated all the times.
Main reason why I like HVRS is that the operators generally are friendly and very helpful, gave me few hints on how to get around the system like press zero if want to call live reps directly than going though the stupid prompts, etc.
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Uh oh. Sounds like some operators are breaking transparency. As far as I know, TRS operator ethics also apply to VRS.
 
Brian said:
What I look from a relay provider is that they (CAs/ROs) type professionally with no or little spelling errors. I used to prefer AT&T TRS and Internet-based over any other providers, But since switching to Linux from Windows, I've not figured how to install Sun Java for the browser, calling the relay services through AIM is the only way I can get around to other than calling from a TTY/TDD. I briefly used Hamilton (HipRelay) and got tired of being delayed at different times, then I used MCI (MY IP Relay), I started to see some improvement with MCI and decided MCI is the one I will use from now on. MCI has some of really fast typers, at first it was hard to catch up with them. Most of the ROs I had in recent weeks were really nice - they even say "have a nice day." at the end. I haven't gotten anything like that from AT&T CAs in a long time!

As for i711, I have an account with them. I haven't used the services after several calls, because whenever I called someone, no one would answer the phone. I didn't know why until I decided to have them call my line, I went on to check my caller ID, it said 'private". Not many people will answer the phone if one chose to block their numbers from being displayed on the caller ID.
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Aw. I feel loved!. :mrgreen:

You may of answered this, but can you do me a favor and find out what the Georgia Public Service Comission's policy regarding call centers location?
 
I think depending on how the users interacts with the Hamilton VRS. I do not feel that they are taking over my decisions, or controling my calls. They have made suggestion and let me decide wheather to go ahead or not. Another example, that in between calls, I was trying to find the phone number, and the operator suggested me a time saving by calling 411, which I didn't know that the relay operator can use and won't charge me a penny for that. So, I go ahead. This don't happen too often, but my point is this shows me how friendly they are.
Im sure from time to time there would be new users, and might need lil help from operator. So, I don't mind lil help WITHOUT being offensive or taking over my calls.

cental34 said:
Uh oh. Sounds like some operators are breaking transparency. As far as I know, TRS operator ethics also apply to VRS.
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Well, the FCC's whole view on relay is that it is supposed to be as if you're not even using relay, but actually communication with the other end directly. Operators are required to remain detached, not offering advice or opinions. True, this is can create a hard time for the actual user when the mediator knows information and isn't allowed to share it, but thats what the FCC requires. I cant tell you very likely they'd of been fired if their supervisor had been monitoring their call. I know I would have been. Don't mistake that for an unfriendly operator. CRM and offering advice are two different things. We, operators, are encouraged to be friendly and always wish the user well, or to tell them to have a nice day.
 
cental34 said:
After seeing AT&T looking to give up relay services, I'm almost convinced we're seeintg a major Telecom exodus from relay. First MCI selling its relay services to vCustomer, and now AT&T. I can only wander if maybe Sprint is next.

Under the TRA's mandate of calls being taken in state, wouldn't that only apply to TN's state contract. There are rumors swirling around our call center regarding the TN contract when it expires next year. In short, we'd be surprised to see vCustomer hold onto it. But even now, not all TN TRS calls are handled in state. When our call center closes at midnight, all incoming calls are routed to the California call center. And as far as I know, they may also handle some of our calls during the daytime when we're in queue, too.
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You're right that AT&T is exiting the relay business. They decided that and told all their states that they wouldn't continue to do relay.

MCI sold the business to vCustomer, but no one knows right now what will happen. Will vCustomer do a good job or screw things up?

Sprint will probably not get rid of their relay service. I looked on CSD's website: CSD and Sprint have been together since 1992. There's been no change since, and there's no message out there that they will do so. I don't think any changes will be made, so Sprint will continue to stick around for relay.
 
From what I hear, Sprint is being fined heavily by the FCC because of some of their practices. What those practices are, I don't know. But who knows. Time will tell.

Tomorrow is the set transition date from MCI to vCustomer. A lot of internal changes have already been made. This will be interesting. :popcorn:
 
Interesting, my experience with department of Labor was VERY frustrating, its like tagging game based on state line!!! New York State DOL is so picky on where the calls came from! I had the benefit suspended because of DOL's own error! I have been chased down every possible phone numbers, only to find out they were blocked because relay operator is out of state while I am actually in the state! Finally got though and they asked me why I am out of state? yea right! That was relay operator being out of state, NOT ME! Normal the calls should take no more than 10 minutes, me took me over an hour to get though! So I asked this operator if he/she could suggest me some tricks or any ideas how to beat the stupid system? Well, I need the check ASAP! So, I took his advice and it worked. I voluntarily accept his/her assistance. I would be extremely pissed off if the operator takes over against my will.

cental34 said:
From what I hear, Sprint is being fined heavily by the FCC because of some of their practices. What those practices are, I don't know. But who knows. Time will tell.

Tomorrow is the set transition date from MCI to vCustomer. A lot of internal changes have already been made. This will be interesting. :popcorn:
Click to expand...
 
cental34 said:
From what I hear, Sprint is being fined heavily by the FCC because of some of their practices. What those practices are, I don't know. But who knows. Time will tell.
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I haven't seen anything like that anywere. Pray tell, where did you see this news? I'd like to find that out, but it's nowhere on the web.
 
Hamilton Relay has the Iowa TRS (711) account.

Some of their reps went to Baton Rouge to help folks after hurricane Katrina.

Steve
 
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