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(back) Sequel 4 - Winter 2000/2001 New telecoms regulations to help disabled people TextDirect and textphones for rent - coming soon USA subtitled telephone The fading line between broadcasting and telecoms When TextDirect is formally launched... Hearing aid users and mobile phones Mobile phones and deaf people - a TAG initiative Dovetail - no longer a snug fit How do you label a textphone number on letterheads? Text payphone developments Changes at BT Age and Disability Unit New telecoms regulations to help disabled people New regulations to improve telecoms services for disabled people have been issued by the Government. The main measures which affect deaf people are:
TAG has broadly welcomed the regulations, but has been disappointed that one of the most important issues - the additional costs of telephone equipment for deaf people - has not been addressed. OFTEL said that equipment costs were not in the remit of the regulations, but most of the disability organisations disagreed. DIEL has announced that it is working with the mobile telecoms operators to see how best to extend the regulations to disabled users of mobile phones. See http://www.dti.gov.uk/cii/disabled.htm for the regulations in detail. TextDirect (previously known as VTN) is being tested by selected deaf people throughout the country and marks a major step forward in giving textphone users access to the increasing number of telecoms facilities available to hearing people. Two of the early benefits to TextDirect users will be much shorter log-on procedures for Typetalk and the end to separate Typetalk billing - in future the Typetalk bill will be incorporated into the normal telephone bill. However, because TextDirect can automatically detect textphone calls, only text calls will receive the Text Users Rebate. In effect the Text Users Rebate Scheme will be replaced by a discounted text call rate on the phone bill. The current TextDirect trials are already helping to refine the service and changes are being made to the system in the light of users' comments. The pilot is expected to be extended to more people soon, but a full service launch date has not yet been set because BT wants to ensure that the system, the first of its kind anywhere in the world, will operate to the highest standards and, at the very least, be as good as the current system. BT has now commissioned textphones for rent and prototypes are currently being tested. The textphones are being made by DSPG and will be basic models so that rental costs can be kept low. BT expects to offer the textphones for rent in the usual way, but has not yet indicated the rental cost. The launch of the rental textphones may be timed to coincide with the launch of TextDirect because BT hopes to program the phones to make them simple to use with the TextDirect service. No launch date has yet been set. Ultratec trials its Captioned Telephone in the USA in the next few months. The CapTel has an inbuilt text display which when used in conjunction with a relay service can display subtitles almost at the same time as the caller is speaking. Users can choose to concentrate on the subtitling, the voice, or both. The subtitling technology builds upon Ultratec's ongoing work with US relay services for deaf people. www.ultratec.com The fading line between broadcasting and telecoms As the broadcasting-telecoms revolution gathers pace, it becomes more difficult to distinguish between the two. ITN (Independent Television News) has just launched a news channel which is delivered in ten different ways including television, radio, digital radio, mobile phones, the Internet and ADSL. Choice of access will be enormous, but how accessible will the formats be to deaf people? TAG and the Deaf Broadcasting Council are beginning to work more closely together and are drawing up a joint response to the Government's Communications White Paper which considers both telecoms and broadcasting.
When TextDirect is formally launched, only text calls via TextDirect will be eligible for the BT Text Users Rebate. You will still be able to make text calls without going through TextDirect - but you won't get a rebate. Fax, Internet and voice calls will not work via TextDirect and will be charged at normal rates. Goodbye textphone compatibility problems? In the future, TextDirect should also enable people with different types of textphone to contact each other without having to worry about compatibility. TextDirect should sort out those problems itself. Hearing aid users and mobile phones Replies to the Hearing Concern / TAG survey roll in Well over 300 questionnaires have been completed by hearing aid users telling of their experiences with mobile phones. Hearing Concern and TAG, the organisers of the survey, are delighted with the size of the response and of the representative and reliable picture it will present. Results are expected to be ready early in 2001, after in-depth follow-up interviews with some respondents. Orange introduces Soundmate Meanwhile, the second product designed to help hearing aid wearers use mobile phones is soon expected to be on sale. Following Nokia's neck loop which can be used with certain Nokia and Orange phones, Orange has developed 'Soundmate' which it claims can be used with Motorola and Trium GSM digital mobile phones to help reduce interference between hearing aids and the phones. Instead of the hearing aid simply amplifying what is said through the earpiece of a phone, the Soundmate uses a magnetic induction coil to transmit the words and sounds received by the mobile phone. The hearing aid and phone are separated to minimise the clicks, but are close enough for the hearing aid to capture the magnetic signal which it turns into sound. Soundmate plugs into the hands-free socket on a mobile phone and clips to a belt or waistband. Its microphone can be clipped to a lapel or worn around the neck. Soundmate is expected to be available this autumn and should cost about £79.99. Vodafone shuts down its analogue network Vodafone will close its mobile phone analogue network next year. Although this closure has long been expected and is irreversible, it will come as a blow to many hearing aid users who have persevered with the analogue network because they simply cannot use the GSM digital network. The other analogue networks have already or will soon shut down. One in every two people in the UK has a mobile phone - so where does that leave the one in seven people who have a hearing impairment? In the column above, the problems faced by hearing aid wearers using mobiles is outlined, but profoundly deaf text users face a different set of issues. To look at all the issues, TAG has set up a Mobile Phone Group and has already arranged a meeting with leading mobile phone equipment and service providers. The Group wants to ensure that mobile telecoms products and services are suitable for use by all deaf people and that they can have equal access to equipment, networks and services. When the Group is fully functional, information to assist deaf mobile users will appear on the TAG website. For example, a Nokia 9110 Communicator FAQ is being written to explain in straightforward terms how the Communicator can be used for back-to-back calls as well as with Typetalk, and the various add-ons which can make the equipment even more suitable for deaf users. Dovetail - no longer a snug fit BT has stopped publishing Dovetail, its quarterly glossy newsletter about its disability-related activities. BT may however continue to produce some sort of equivalent for its web pages. How do you label a textphone number on letterheads? Some companies have said that just the word "text" can lead to people trying to send a fax. "Textphone for deaf people" or shorter still "text for deaf callers" may do the trick. Suggestions welcomed. Text payphone developments There were about 80 text payphones throughout the UK, but lately even that small number seems to have been in decline (see Sequel 2). Some text payphones seem to have disappeared from key locations like railway stations. TAG has been campaigning for more text payphones and asked BT what has been happening. Apparently, Railtrack has been refurbishing many stations and BT has had to remove all its payphones from these sites. In response to TAG's representations, BT has now instructed staff not to remove text payphones unless they have been specifically instructed to do so by the site owner. And where refurbishment is taking place, BT will try to reinstate text payphones as soon as possible. BT has also promised that its payphone engineers will receive extra training to help them keep text payphones in working order. Unfortunately the lack of signs indicating the location of text payphones still presents problems. Signage is the responsibility of site owners, not BT, and it seems that some site owners are concerned about the number of signs already on display. To get good signage, it seems, every owner would have to be approached individually. But there is some good news. BT is developing a new product - the Screenphone - which is a new payphone with a keyboard and a display. The Screenphone can be used for many things by hearing and deaf people. One use is as a textphone and it is eventually expected to replace existing text payphones. Screenphones should start appearing in public places some time next year. Changes at BT Age and Disability Unit Brian Perrett has retired from BT's Age & Disability Unit - Fiona Miller becomes the new National Manager of ADU. Fiona Miller comes to the Age & Disability Unit after working in various management roles within BT for nine years. "I felt I wanted to move into a more outward looking role where I could have some influence over BT's relationship with its customers," said Fiona. She says she is rapidly learning about disability issues and currently mentors a deaf Access Consultant through the Leadership Consortium. Fiona is also Chair of BT's 'give as you earn' charity fund for the Swindon area. Brian Perrett worked for BT for 18 years, seven of which were with BT Age & Disability (and its predecessor Action for Disabled Customers). "It was the most fulfilling job I have ever had," he said. "I was especially proud of the Age & Disability national team." Brian will continue to pursue his interests in the disability field through his new consultancy venture, Brian Perrett Associates. Sequel Application Form Would you like an application form for Sequel? Contact: Roger Hewitt Sequel BUSWE House 208 Middleton Road Manchester M8 4NE |