Virtual Text Network to bring huge benefits to textphone & Typetalk users

Next autumn, BT will launch the Virtual Text Network (VTN), the first network in the world designed specifically to make the public telephone network more accessible to textphone users.

The first benefits for textphone users will be the elimination of the rather lengthy sign-on procedures to Typetalk (the national telephone relay service which enables textphone users to communicate with users of voice telephones) and the amalgamation of the Typetalk bill with their normal telephone bill.

Typetalk callers will be able to access the VTN by dialling a code (probably four digits) before the number they want. In practice, the caller will be able to store this special code in their telephone or textphone memory. By using the code, the whole Typetalk log-on procedure will not be necessary because the VTN will be able to identify who is calling and set up the call before connecting to a Typetalk operator. All calls through the VTN will be billed to the caller’s normal telephone bill (BT or the caller’s particular service provider) and a separate Typetalk bill will no longer be required.

BT says that all textphones currently available in the UK will be able to use the VTN. However, VTN uses V.18 standards and certain non-V.18 modes (like Ultratec’s Turbocode) used by some textphones will not operate with the VTN.

VTN is scheduled to be completed by August of next year and the first users will be able to start to use the service in September 2000.

Specifically designed to make public telephone networks much more accessible to textphone users, VTN will provide the first step to bringing many other benefits to textphone users and enable deaf people to use the increasing number of telecoms facilities and functions available to hearing people.

Text Payphones - where are they ?

As the mobile phone revolution gathers pace, deaf people are feeling a little left out and text payphones take on even greater significance. But where are they and are there more on the way?

Currently, there are just over 80 text payphones in the whole of the UK. That may seem hard to believe because they are not signposted and up until now publicity about them has been poor.

In fact, there are eight text payphones in Scotland, two in Wales, three in Northern Ireland and 69 in England. Airports account for sixteen of them and Heathrow and Gatwick have five each. Some of the main railway stations and a few motorway service stations also have text payphones – but, without proper signage, you’ll have some difficulty in locating them. A list of current locations is in the BT Age & Disability "Guide to Text Payphones"
0800 800 150 (voice) 0800 243 123 (text).

For some time, TAG has been campaigning for more text payphones and improved signage to those that do exist. OFTEL has proposed that there should be a fixed percentage of text payphones in relation to voice payphones, but others have suggested that this is very costly and that the best way forward is to locate text payphones where they will be most used (BT say that at present text payphones receive little usage).

TAG is currently considering the options and wants to hear from anyone with ideas for payphone locations – either specific places or general sites like main post offices in major towns.

No Nynex, some rebates, great doubt

In the first issue of Sequel, we suggested that Nynex offered a text users’ rebate scheme (a discount on telephone call charges for deaf people using textphones). At first we thought we were correct, then wrong, and now nearly correct – it has taken a lot of research to find out what the situation really is.

Nynex used to offer a text users’ rebate, but the company was taken over by Cable and Wireless (C&W) – and there the confusion starts and is shared by those within the company as well as those outside. An innocent call to the C&W helpline could have received one of several answers including: "yes the rebate exists and we will send you a form", "no, we don’t offer a rebate", and "oh yes, we call the service Typetalk – I’ll get you Toptalk’s [sic] number".

The real answer (well, the last one we received) appears to be that the rebate has continued for deaf customers in the old Nynex franchise areas (Wessex, Bromley, Bolton, Bury/Rochdale, Stockport, East Lancashire, Surrey, Cheshire, Sussex, Derby, Greater Manchester, Oldham/Thameside, Macclesfield, Solent, Staffordshire, and Wirral).

The encouraging news is that C&W is considering extending the rebate throughout the country.

For the record, the only other companies which we believe offer a text users’ rebate at present are BT and Manx Telecom.

Speech recognition - no easy solutions for deaf telecoms

Speech recognition technology to convert speech into text may someday play a huge role in improving communications – especially telecommunications – for deaf people, but there are a number of problems and there are likely to be a few disappointments on the way. One of the main constraints may not be the technology itself, but the reading speeds of users.

Current speech recognition technology is still not good enough to cope with new voices – the software needs to trained to each individual user. This takes time, but once complete is quite effective for most people’s voices. In theory a relay operator, such as a Typetalk operator, would be able to repeat what a hearing caller says and have it transcribed to text, much quicker than by typing. Occasionally, names or unusual words might cause problems for the recognition software, but these could be manually typed. This process is about to be trialled in the USA, using the speech recognition software developed by Ultratec called Fastran.

For the deaf person, faster reception of text could be an enormous advantage – but it could also cause problems. How many deaf people can cope with fast typing on a single-line display textphone? Faster transmission of text using speech recognition text could pose even greater difficulties. Already Typetalk knows that text flowing across a single-line display screen is a problem for many relay users and has had to introduce pauses to overcome this. Multiple-line displays on textphones may offer a partial solution, but will not be the answer for deaf people with slower reading speeds.

For the hearing caller, a different problem may emerge. At present hearing callers to relay services have to talk more slowly than usual to allow the typist to keep pace. What if they could speak to the operator at normal talking speed? Would there be long gaps as they wait for the deaf person to complete reading the text?

No-one can predict when speech recognition will be applied to deaf telecoms in the UK. It may be some way off and obviously any new technology will need to be compatible with the VTN (Virtual Text Network) currently being developed by BT (see page 1 article).

New products on show at NDCS Expo

Richard Vaughan reports ...

This year’s NDCS exhibition at the Wolverhampton Race Course in June attracted an audience of more than 3,000 people over two days.

Among the wide range of new technology on display were Motion Media’s new videophone, the Nokia LPS-1 Neckloop, designed to enable hearing-aid wearers to use mobile phones generated a great deal of interest, and Teletec’s powerful new CrystalTone amplified phone and large-display Minicoms.

As well as exhibiting, BT brought a mobile vehicle housing two text payphones which were well used throughout the exhibition and which may be of interest to others hosting major deaf events.

Next year’s NDCS exhibition, on 23 - 24 June 2000, will again be held at:

Wolverhampton Racecourse.
Yvonne Tysoe on 0171 490 8656 (voice & text).

Deaf people can use mobiles - but maybe not exactly in the way they'd like

SMS – Short Messaging Service – is available on most mobile services and allows users to send text messages of up to 160 characters for about 12p per message. The text is keyed in using the normal telephone keypad.

Unfortunately, the overall charge for using the mobile phone service might seem a bit steep for using just the Short Messaging Service.

If the keying in seems fiddly and puts you off, there is good news: new software available with some phones will try to predict what you are typing and suggest words without having to type all the letters. And Ericsson is about to introduce Chatboard – a small snap-on keyboard for mobile phones.



Telephones - what features do disabled people need ?

Is a new booklet to make textphone manufacturers and designers aware of the needs of disabled people. It has been produced by Phoneability and OFTEL.

Free copies from:
John Gill, RNIB, 224 Gt Portland St, London W1N 6AA

Y2K bug - Do you have a Nokia 9000 Communicator ?

Yes – well you could have a millennium bug that affects your Short Messaging Service date stamp. And in sleep mode it will forget that 29 February 2000 exists.

The first problem can be rectified free of charge at a Nokia repair shop.

For the second problem (which doesn’t happen with the Nokia 9110), see the Nokia website: http://www.nokia.com

Rr-ing rr-ing - Are companies with text phones answering ?

How often have you wanted to phone a company or organisation publicising a textphone line only to be disappointed to find that no-one answers? asks Ruth Myers, TAG’s Chairperson.

Too often, I have found it impossible to get through and have had to resort to sending a fax or calling the company through Typetalk. I think that Typetalk is brilliant – although it could be better – but what is the point of companies publicising a textphone line if it is not being attended? It’s annoying and frustrating for deaf callers, especially if they prefer to make direct textphone to textphone contact.

I telephoned some of the companies and pointed out that their textphones were not being answered and asked them why that was happening. The replies were illuminating. Some were "switched off by mistake", some "didn’t realise" or said "the Minicom isn’t working".

Quite a few companies said that their line is often blocked by hearing people who do not understand that a ‘textphone’ isn’t a fax machine and try to use the textphone line to send faxes! Other hearing people, in despair at having to wait ages for the voice lines to be answered, use the textphone line. It’s a can’t win scenario.

Two things have become obvious: we need to encourage companies to respond to text calls properly and, to help them do this, we may need to think up a new way of describing a textphone line.

TAG is opposed to referring to any textphone as a "minicom" because it is a brand name and there are other types of text telephone available. But what are the alternatives if we don’t want to use US terminology like "TTY" or "DCT"?

Off the top of my head, I offer
"HI-line". Now it’s over to you to suggest alternatives. We look forward to hearing from you – and to hearing of your experiences in contacting companies by textphone.

Nokia’s neck loop – a solution for mobile phones ?

Nokia claim to have solved the problem of interference between mobile phones and hearing aids by the introduction of a neck loop. The loop can be used with any phone in their popular 51 and 61 series, but does it work everywhere?
There have been no comprehensive trials of the neckloop, but some people have reported impressive results. However, do they work in areas with poor reception? One member of Hearing Concern found the loop to work well in a built-up area, but failed miserably when her car broke down in a rural area. Interference was so loud that the phone could not be used, even when it was held at arm’s length. Has anyone else experienced this?