The FCC on December 4th announced they will host a workshop on December 17th on VRS reform.

This is an attempt by the FCC to review all aspects of VRS as a service. It can result in some changes but the bottom line is that we won’t lose VRS service. At the workshop, we need to be sure our needs and views are heard. The workshop will cover three areas (as copied verbatim from the FCC announcement):

1) The most efficient way to deliver VRS, particularly whether the service should remain a competitive service or be provided via competitive bidding;

2) A fair, efficient, and transparent compensation methodology; and,

3) Mechanisms for combating waste, fraudand abuse, addressing service rules, and addressing technical matters such as interoperability, ten-digit numbering, and emergency call handling.

Dr. Z will comment on each of the 3 areas in editorials in the forthcoming days to come (prior to the workshop.) These issues are important and it is time for the FCC to look into this. It is Dr. Z’s hope that the end result will be a better VRS service for us all.

It will take place from 2-5 pm and will be open captioned on the web using this address http://www.fcc.gov/realaudio. You may want to test it and download your copy of Real Player to be prepared.

Dr. Z (and the FCC) cares about your communication access.