The first person every week who guesses the location of where Dr. Z correctly will receive a $5 Starbucks or Target gift card. We will post the name of the winner every week on this site. There was no correct guess for Episode #29. The place was Windsor Castle in England. For this episode, you need to identify the place and the country. (Dr. Z is a few weeks late in issuing gift cards–bear with me.)
Author Archives: pbravin
VRS Numbering 101-Lesson #9-My deaf friend has a 866 (or 800) number and I have been calling him on that number. Is this the right way to do so?
Numbering 101-Lesson #9
My deaf friend has a 866 number and I have been calling him on that number. Is this the right way to do so?
This is another question which has come up as a result of Dr. Z’s travels across the country a few months ago. People wonder why there is a need to make point to point calls using a 866 number.
There is NO reason to use a 866 number for point to point calls. All point to point calls are considered “free” as they use the resources of the internet. A local number assigned to your videophone will connect as well as a 866 (or a 800) number, so deaf people should give their deaf friends their local number not the 866 number.
The only reason why a 866 (or a 800) number is needed is for VRS situations so a hearing person would not need to make a toll (long distance) call to the deaf person using the relay service. This is basically the only reason and 800/866 numbers usually are used for deaf people who own a business or have another reason to have toll free numbers like children calling from college without the need to make a long distance call.
Bear in mind the FCC is currently reviewing their current policy on 800/866 numbers so it may be a good idea to give your local number to your deaf friends and your hearing friends and relatives who live close by. Even your doctor or dentist who live in the same town do not need a 800/866 number to call you–they can very well use your local number. Hearing people use 800/866 numbers for the same reason on their cell phones–to make toll free calls. You can still use 800/866 numbers for hearing people out of town to reach you if you feel it is wise, and again–it is not necessary for deaf friends and relatives of yours to call you on a 800/866 number when a local number will do. In some cases, if you put a 800/866 number on a credit application or the like, it can get rejected. Most applications expect a local number, not a 800/866 number.
Dr. Z cares about your communication access.
Ask Dr. Z-Which VRS company should I choose?
Ask Dr. Z-Which VRS company should I choose?
The answer is simple–when you buy something at the store, you pick the product that meets your needs and expectations.
When it comes to VRS, there are several things one needs to look at before deciding which company meets his or her needs.
First of all is quality of the interpreters–what is the quality of the interpreters interpreting the call. Do they understand you with out asking you to repeat? Are they certified? Do they try to relate to you or have a “flat” face? It is usually very important to be able to relate to the interpreter to make calls productive.
Second of all is the quality and range of the videophone equipment–does the videophone have a clear connection? Does it connect without going through a black screen? Do you have several videophones to choose from? Do any of the videophones meet your needs, rather than being stuck with one, that you have to change your behavior in making calls? You should dictate the need, and select the videophone that matches your need.
Third of all is customer service–if you need questions answered, is there someone at the videophone or VRS company in customer service available to answer your questions? Is there a representative from the VRS company available to answer your questions and support you with your concerns?
If you feel your VRS provider is not meeting your needs, you can always change providers through something called porting. Porting allows you to move your number from your old videophone to a new videophone and VRS provider that best meets your needs. For more information on porting, you can click this link
Remember–you are the customer–you decide what is best for your needs, not the videophone or VRS company deciding for you..
Dr. Z cares about your communication access.
Week of 2/7/10-Episode #29 (VLOG) (NEW)
The first person every week who guesses the location of where Dr. Z correctly will receive a $5 Starbucks or Target gift card. We will post the name of the winner every week on this site. There was a correct guess for Episode #28. The place was St. Peter’s Square in Vatican City. The winner is in the process of being notified. For this episode, you need to identify the place, the city and the country. (Dr. Z is a few weeks late in issuing gift cards–bear with me.)
Guest Article-A Peek Inside My Z Life
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.
Editorial #29-Flood of Letters Sent to FCC Supporting NAD, TDI and other’s Petition re Not Limiting VRS Calls
On January 28th, the NAD, TDI and other national organizations petitioned the FCC to reconsider the limitation they imposed on certain types of VRS calls such as conference calls and calls to pager company providers.
The result has been a lot of letters to the FCC from the deaf and hard of hearing community supporting the petition filed with the FCC. This is unprecedented as Dr. Z has been following the FCC’s Electronic Comment Filing System for quite some time and there has not been much traffic on this until the response to this petition. This shows how the community feels about not being functionally equivalent and that our rights have been taken away. If you feel your rights are being infringed, then you should tell the FCC why you support the NAD petition and why you feel you should not be limited as to the type of VRS calls you make.
Link to the NAD petition: NAD Petition
Filing to support the petition: File comments supporting the NAD Petition
Dr. Z cares about your communication access.
Week of 1/31/10-Episode #28 (VLOG) (NEW)
The first person every week who guesses the location of where Dr. Z correctly will receive a $5 Starbucks or Target gift card. We will post the name of the winner every week on this site. There was a correct guess for Episode #27. The place was Toshogu Temple in Nikko, Japan. The winner is in the process of being notified. For this episode, you need to identify the place, the city and the country.
Editorial #28-CSDVRS (ZVRS) Files Petition and Sends Letter to FCC on Porting Issue Which Concerns Sorenson’s Treatment of Deaf and Hard of Hearing People’s Videophones
A provider should care about consumers of its service and do everything to service their consumers. If a consumer decides to go to another provider, it is the consumer’s right to do so and the provider giving up the service needs to make it as seamless and not problematic for the consumer who makes this choice. Unfortunately, this has not been happening of late. It has occurred enough times in order for CSDVRS (ZVRS) to file a Petition of Expedited Declaratory Ruling with the FCC. In addition, a letter on this matter was sent to Joel Gurin, Chief of the Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau at the FCC.
When a consumer decides to port (or move) his phone number from the old provider to a new provider, he/she is required to fill out a LOA (Letter of Authorization) to make this possible. The VRS company (the new provider) submits this LOA to a servicing company who handles the porting. The servicing company then issues a FOC Date (Firm Order Commitment) to the old provider and the new provider informing them when the port is to take place. On that date, the old provider disables the number, and the new provider activates the number. In normal circumstances, it can take several days to a week or more for this to happen. What has seemed to happen is that when Sorenson as the old provider somehow finds out about the planned port well before the FOC Date, it immediately shuts down the VP-200 before the FOC Date, leaving the deaf/hard of hearing person stuck without a videophone. In recent days, when this has happened, the deaf/hard of hearing person contacts Sorenson to ask them to hold off the deactivation until the FOC Date. Sorenson has refused to comply with their requests. This means Sorenson is leaving the deaf/hard of hearing person without access to 911 service. CSDVRS feels this is wrong, like anybody with a heart and mind out there–you can’t take away a person’s lifeline to the world, thus submitting this petition and letter.
This is not functionally equivalent—hearing people, when they switch cellphone providers go through the same thing and the providers comply with the process, including honoring the FOC Date.
This is the link to the petition: Petition for Expedited Declaratory Ruling
This is the link to the FCC letter: Letter to Joel Gurin, FCC Chief of Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau
Dr. Z cares about your communication access.
Ask Dr. Z-What is Porting? Can I move my old phone number to a new videophone?
Ask Dr. Z-What is Porting? Can I move my old phone number from my old provider to a new provider?
A lot of questions have been floating around regarding porting.
What is it? and What is involved?
Porting means you can switch a phone number from one videophone provider to another provider. That means when it is enabled on the new phone, all calls will go to the new phone.
Customers have freedom to decide whether they want to change providers. When they decide to change, they need to port the number from the old videophone provider to the new videophone provider.
Customers control the phone number, not the videophone provider. They decide which provider is used for that number and the videophone provider cannot change or port the number without the approval (or consent) of the customer.
To make this possible, the customer needs to sign a LOA (Letter of Authorization) form that authorizes the new provider to get the number from the old provider.
Providers cannot threaten to, or disable a phone if a customer decides to port their number. The old videophone MUST remain 911 capable until the porting process is complete. That means the old provider MUST wait for the new phone to start working with the new provider before they disable the old phone.
If any of you experience different situations that are not the same as the above, you have every reason to file a complaint with the FCC. (Several people have already done so.)
Dr. Z cares about your communication access.
Editorial #27-What Happened to Functional Equivalency? Are Our Rights being Taken Away?
I posted this before, and I am posting this again here. This is part of the FCC regulations that outline the functional equivalency standard for relay services (while it says “TRS Rules”, VRS applies here.)
TRS Rules 47 C.F.R. § 64.601 (a) (15) (emphasis added)
Telecommunications relay services (TRS). Telephone transmission services that provide the ability for an individual who has a hearing or speech disability to engage in communication by wire or radio with a hearing individual in a manner that is functionally equivalent to the ability of an individual who does not have a hearing or speech disability to communicate using voice communication services by wire or radio. Such term includes services that enable two-way communication between an individual who uses a text telephone or other nonvoice terminal device and an individual who does not use such a device, speech-to-speech services, video relay services and non-English relay services. TRS supersedes the terms “dual party relay system,” “message relay services,” and “TDD Relay.”
Imagine a scenario when a hearing person picks up the phone and makes a call, and the phone company interrupts and says you cannot make this kind of call. Of course, it wouldn’t happen to a hearing person. But it could happen anytime soon for deaf and hard of hearing people using VRS. The FCC has given instructions to NECA (the organization paying reimbursements for VRS services to VRS providers) to disallow reimbursement for certain types of phone calls.
I cannot imagine the government intruding on our right to communicate like a hearing person. The law or the regulation above is very clear. If they don’t do it to a hearing person, then they can’t do it to a deaf or hard of hearing person. It is up to the deaf or hard of hearing person to determine the kind of calls he or she wants to make. If NECA continues to deny reimbursement for calls such as conference calls between deaf people and hearing people which in its simplest form is a legitimate relay call, it could lead VRS companies to deny processing those calls. Dr. Z is upset and is urging the FCC to take a look at this. This is taking a leap backwards–black people fought to get their civil rights–we deaf and hard of hearing people fought to get our rights via the ADA and all this is taking some of our rights away.
Today several VRS companies filed this letter on this matter. (link to letter)
Let us hope that the FCC is going to reconsider some of this.
Dr. Z cares about your communication access.