This is a sampling of the more than 10 workshops/sessions at the recent TDI Conference in Washington, DC which took place from July 30-August 1, 2009:

1. Moderated Panels on Capitol Hill re the “21st Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act of 2009”
2. Digital TV Transition Forum
3. Updates from the FCC Disability Rights Office
4. Videophones in the Market
5. Pagers, PDAs and HAC (Hearing Aid Compatible ) Phones in the Market
6. ADA Update (US Department of Justice)
7. Air Travel Access Panel
8. Captioned Radio
9. TRS Forum
10. What’s New in Access to 911?

For more information, you can access the TDI website at www.tdi-online.org or send an email to info@tdi-online.org

There are many ways to make your VRS calls smooth and productive. Dr. Z did some research and put together a list for you to print and post on the wall next to your videophone.

I have listed 10 different steps to make this possible. If you think of more, do not hesitate to send a note my way using the “Contact Dr Z.” link..

Here’s the link to download the list and happy VRS’ing….

10 Steps for Effective Video Communication (download PDF)

Dr. Z (Phil)

How it can be a disaster or a huge benefit?

Disaster #1 – Keeping your fake Sorenson number.

Disaster #2 – You get 2 or 3 numbers for the same Video Phone

Disaster #3 – You put in a bad or wrong address for 911 in your profile

Disaster #4 – You hand out more than one number to hearing people

Disaster #5 – Your hearing friend gets a big unexpected long distance bill

Disaster #6 – You give a number to someone for your second phone but when they call, your Sorenson VP rings

If you follow the recommendations and suggestions in the PDF file, you will not have a disaster on your hands.

6 Disasters in FCC Numbering-short form (download)
6 Disasters in FCC Numbering-long form (download)

This was life without a TTY or videophone or captioning…

1. When we needed Chinese food or pizza for takeout, we had to physically drive over to the restaurant to order it and wait for it.

2. When we needed to make a doctor’s appointment, we had to drive over to to doctor’s office.

3. In an emergency (911-type), we had to run over to our neighbor’s to make a phone call to the first responders (ambulance, police, fire).

4. When we visited friends or family, we had to hope they would be home, because we were not able to call in advance to check if they would be home.

5. We always had desserts on the ready because our deaf friends would show up unexpectedly—they also didn’t have a way to call us in advance to find out if we were home.

6. When watching TV, we had no idea what the plot was about without captioning, so we were left to our imagination.

7. When meeting hearing people, we had to use pencil and paper, because interpreters were a rare breed these days.

8. We had to make plans via letter (postal mail) that had to be made weeks or months ahead of the event (without a phone.)

9. We congregated at a deaf club to watch movies—they were the only place where captioned films provided by the government went to.

10. Sometimes to make personal calls to family members, we relied on our neighbors to make such calls (we hoped they would make the content private.)

The term “functionally equivalent” is one of the most important definitions in the FCC rules that govern the relay services (both TRS – Telecommunications Relay Services and VRS-Video Relay Services.)

The definition means that whatever services hearing person gets by using their phones, deaf and hard-of-hearing persons should get the same services. The word “same services” also means “functionally equivalent” when we talk to lawyers (they like big words, while we usually don’t.)

Below is the copy of the FCC rules (don’t worry about trying to figure it out what it is trying to say, Dr. Z will explain it as best as he can below):

Under FCC TRS Rules 47 C.F.R. § 64.601, paragraph 15 has the following definition that forms the basis for “functionally equivalent” services:

“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…”

This means, what a hearing person has, we as deaf and hard-of-hearing people are entitled to the same thing. Like, picking up the phone, a hearing person gets dial tone. For us, when we “pick up the phone” by dialing, we get an agent. A hearing person does not have to wait for dial tone. We should not wait too long for a dial tone. The FCC has rules saying that 20 seconds should be the maximum wait time for a call to be answered by the agent.

The rules also say that the equipment should be maintained to be sure it is working most of the time, with back-up equipment available and provided by the relay company, like a phone company does it for the hearing community.

This is the result of implementation of the Americans with Disabilities Act. Title 4 of the ADA states,  in part, for the FCC to do the following:

“- require that telecommunications relay services operate every day for 24 hours per day;

– require that users of telecommunications relay services pay rates no greater than the rates paid for functionally equivalent voice communication services with respect to such factors as the duration of the call, the time of day, and the distance from point of origination to point of termination;

– prohibit relay operators from failing to fulfill the obligations of common carriers by refusing calls or limiting the length of calls that use telecommunications relay services;

– prohibit relay operators from disclosing the content of any relayed conversation and from keeping records of the content of any such conversation beyond the duration of the call; and

– prohibit relay operators from intentionally altering a relayed conversation. ”

In sum, the ADA made TRS and VRS legal and we stand to benefit from the service.

1. Talking at 20-40 words per minute (we now talk at 120 words per minute or faster)

2. For deaf people, we communicated in a language we felt uncomfortable with

3. For deaf people, we used a keyboard to communicate, instead of using sign language

4. We had to use 711 to make a relay call, instead of a normal 10-digit number like we do today

5. We got hung up more often because the other party had to say “GA” (go ahead) during the call.

6. Hearing people hated to receive text relay calls because it was so slow.

7. We did not know what the operator (agent) said to the hearing party (the call was not visible and we see everything with VRS)

8. We either had to pay several hundred dollars for a TTY device or got them for free or a reduced cost from state distribution programs.

9. It was hard for us to get the “emotions” of the hearing person who we were calling.

10. There were a few deaf and hard-of-hearing employees working in the relay services business. (compared to what we have now.)

We all should bear in mind that the TTY is still a very useful device for those who still use it and need it today. Especially during power outages, the TTY is still a device that can communicate over phone lines. Also for E911, the TTY still works in an integrated mode with the 911 systems out there.

If you have other thoughts to add, use the comments below and Dr. Z will make another update if there are enough comments coming our way.

The following are examples of fraud in the VRS industry–these are examples of manufactured minutes–minutes that are being billed which should not be billed:

1. Extending a call when it ends to generate more minutes. A call stops billing when the hearing person or the deaf person hangs up.

2. Doing surveys for a VRS company using deaf people working for a relay company surveying hearing people with a VI. (video interpreter)

3. Using privacy screens during an active call in process (except for voice-carry over situations)–this prevents the interpreter from knowing whether the deaf and hard-of-hearing person is participating in a call.

4. Processing calls in the same location – this is explicitly disallowed by the FCC as this is not a relay call, it is an interpreting situation. This is when a deaf or hard-of-hearing person should use VRI (Video Remote Interpreting)

5. Using deaf employees of a relay company to do telemarketing for an hearing company.

6. Expecting people to make calls as a condition of getting new phones.

7. Scheduling calls in advance by using advance reservations.

8. Fake or improper interpreting.

9. Paying someone to make a call to a relay provider.

10. International to international calls. This is not allowable. All calls must begin (originate) or end (terminate) in the United States in order to be billed.

Is ZVRS covered under HIPAA? Does it protect PII and PHI? What is HIPAA? What is PHI and PII?

ZVRS is not a covered entity under HIPAA (a health care provider, health insurer, or health care “clearinghouse”) nor does ZVRS maintain health records of any sort. As such, the short answer is that HIPAA, PHI, and PII are not applicable to ZVRS.

ZVRS’s VIs are trained to be dial tones (communication facilitators) and nothing more. They keep no records (except temporarily for 911 calls), and are absolutely prohibited from disclosing the contents of any calls. It is up to the doctor/insurer/health care provider on a VRS call to make sure that they are HIPAA compliant and not at odds with the law. ZVRS’s video interpreters are strictly bound by the confidentiality requirements of Section 705 of the Communications Act.

What is HIPAA? It is an acronym for the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996. It allows people like you to carry their health information from job to job and also makes sure all information is the same (forms and codes). Because there is increased risk about making information about your health public, it has protections built in to protect the information.

What is PHI? Protected Health Information is made up of all forms of health information: oral, electronic, print, and video – everything from hallway conversations to e-mails.

What is PII? PII Is Personally Identifiable Information which is information about a person–his/her name, social security number, date of birth and so forth.

The answer is NO.

For example, if you have a VP-200 and the default provider for this device is Sorenson, you can still make VRS calls with other providers such as ZVRS. This is all OK. You can simply call ZVRS at 888-888-1116 using your Sorenson VP-200 to make VRS calls. But if you use your VP-200 for a 911 call, it will call Sorenson for this because Sorenson is the default provider for your 911 calls.

If Sorenson or some other provider says you must use them for all VRS calls because they are your default provider– that is not true…and is in violation of the FCC order.

If you have any questions, just send Dr. Z an email using the following link: contact Dr. Z