A Peek Inside My Z Life
by Karen Putz
A Deaf Mom Shares Her World (link to blog)
Deaf & Hard of Hearing People at Work (link to website)
My husband and I are deaf and we have three deaf and hard of hearing kids. A lot of people are surprised to learn that we have four videophones in our home. We really only need two, but here, I’m going to give you a peek inside my Z Life and you’ll see how we use all four.
Every morning, once the kids and the hubby are out the door, my day begins with ZVRS. I work as a Sales Manager for Illinois and Zvrs Manager for National VCO. My main videophone is the Z-150 made by Tandberg. You can read about how the Z-150 Changed My Life — I used to hate the phone and now I call people all day long. When a hearing person calls me, I slip my headset on, press a button and answer with, “Hello! This is Karen!” When a deaf or hard of hearing friend calls me, I sit back and chat directly with them.
The Z-340 is parked in my kitchen. It is connected via wifi and it is the family phone. I can do dishes and chat at the same time. The Z-340 can be moved from room to room, even in the middle of a call. I have brought my Z-340 outside into the backyard to share my newly-planted flowers with a friend. When we have parties, the Z-340 is a big hit. We have connected with other parties in other states at the same time. We once connected with my husband’s college roommate for two hours during a party– passing the Z-340 around so that everyone could have a chance to talk. We can also hook the Z-340 up to the big screen TV so that everyone can view the conversation at once.
The Z-OJO is my main videophone for new customers to call me and they can leave messages. Soon, all the Z videophones will have an answering machine for point-to-point calls. Having two videophones in my office does come in handy though, there are times I run them both at the same time, getting information on one call and talking to someone else on another.
When I travel, I use the Z4 on my laptop and it is available for Mac users as well. I can connect with two Z4 users at the same time and have a three-way chat. I can connect with a co-worker on one, then switch to Zvrs to make a call and gather information while my co-worker is still connected to me. I can run a presentation while talking to a new customer and we can both view it. Best of all, when I’m the road and someone is calling my Z videophones at home, I receive a Z-Alert to my pager that tells me about the call and includes a phone number. I then use the Z4 to call that person back. I have all “My Contacts” loaded to all of my Z videophones, so I’m never without a number!
You, too, can have a Z Life!
For more information or to learn more about VCO Plus, contact Karen Putz at kputz@zvrs.com
Dr. Z cares about your communication access.
Disclosure: Karen Putz is the sales manager for ZVRS covering the state of Illinois and handles National VCO Marketing. Dr. Z is a contractor working with CSDVRS on several projects.