Category Archives: FCC

Editorial #143: VP Blurred Picture? Can’t Connect? Live Town Hall! – September 19, 2014

You asked for it! You got it! Many of you have commented on issues related to your VP when there were problems with videomail interoperability last month. Most of the comments were related to videomail, but some of you said you couldn’t connect, had a blurred picture.

You can find out why! On Friday, September 19, 2014 (8-10PM Eastern Time/5-7PM Pacific Time), you will see a live panel of VRS engineers representing VRS providers to discuss this issues and other issues related to why your VP is not working the way you expect it to. All of the VRS providers have been invited to this event. Sheri Farinha, CEO of NorCal Services for Deaf & Hard of Hearing will moderating this town hall. Here are the links to view the live town hall on your device or computer:

Link #1
Link #2

For more information go to this link: #VRSInteroperabiltyNOW

The purpose of this is to highlight issues related to interoperability. When interoperability issues are resolved, we will achieve functional equivalence.

Tell your family and friends about this!

iDeafNews will be providing the technical support for live streaming.

Thanks Sheri and iDeafNews!

Dr. Z cares about your communication access.

Disclosure: Dr. Z (Philip W. Bravin) is associated with CSDVRS, currently its Vice-President of Business Development

Editorial #142: #VRSinteroperabilityNOW! Town Hall-September 19, 2014

Sheri Farinha, CEO of NorCal Services for Deaf & Hard of Hearing will moderate a LIVE Town Hall meeting on VRS interoperability on Friday, September 19th from 5-8 PM Pacific Time (or 8-11 PM Eastern Time). This event will be live streamed.

For more information go to this link: #VRSInteroperabiltyNOW

Representatives who are engineers from VRS providers will be on hand to discuss interoperability issues and how the industry is working together to address them. The town hall will be live streamed and the instructions to view it will be posted a few days before the event.

The purpose of this is to highlight issues related to interoperability. When interoperability issues are resolved, we will achieve functional equivalence.

Thanks Sheri!

Dr. Z cares about your communication access.

Disclosure: Dr. Z (Philip W. Bravin) is associated with CSDVRS, currently its Vice-President of Business Development

Editorial #141: Thanks for Your Thoughts! #VRSinteroperabilityNOW!

#VRSInteroperabilityNOW!

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Many thanks from Dr. Z!

With thanks to many of you, we are making headway–keep the phone calls and letters to the FCC going.

The NAD has jumped in with a letter to the FCC (link.)

If we sit back and do nothing after we tell the FCC what we thought, the issue will die down.

The FCC is required by law to respond to our complaints/comments. Let’s see what they say. In the meantime, keep the complaints/comments coming.

Once again, thank you from Dr. Z!

Thanks for listening and please go ahead and file the complaint. (here’s the link.)

Dr. Z cares about your communication access.

Disclosure: Dr. Z (Philip W. Bravin) is associated with CSDVRS, currently its Vice-President of Business Development

Editorial #140: Open Up Sorenson Videomail! A Picture is Worth 1,000 Words!

#VRSInteroperabilityNOW!

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Dr. Z continues to be fed up. Why can’t we deaf and hard of hearing people be like our hearing counterparts. Our hearing family and friends can do a lot of things with their smartphones while we deaf and hard of hearing people use our phones through trial and error and not being sure if it works 100% of the time. (This is exactly the same thing I said all along.)

Because of this, Dr. Z has written a letter to the FCC (link) explaining his thoughts on why Sorenson is not allowing other people who use other providers that call Sorenson devices to leave a videomail message. This is not a broken record—it is all about EQUALITY (functional equivalence) and being like our hearing family and friends who can leave voicemail to anyone they call. While we can’t leave messages on Sorenson devices, Sorenson callers can leave messages on other provider’s devices. Deaf and hard of hearing people are calling on a one-way street while hearing people call on a two-way street. Is this fair?

If we sit back and do nothing after we tell the FCC what we thought, the issue will die down.

The FCC is required by law to respond to our complaints. Let’s see what they say. In the meantime, keep the complaints coming.

Once again, thank you from Dr. Z!

Thanks for listening and please go ahead and file the complaint. (here’s the link.)

Dr. Z cares about your communication access.

Disclosure: Dr. Z (Philip W. Bravin) is associated with CSDVRS, currently its Vice-President of Business Development

Editorial #139: Open Up Sorenson Videomail! Unfair! Thanks from Dr. Z!

Thank you! Thank you! Many of you wrote to the FCC about the Sorenson videomail interoperability issue. It has to come from you as deaf and hard of hearing consumers. Let’s continue to remind the FCC about this inexcusable issue.

Why is this inexcusable? All VRS providers get public money to be sure the VRS service is functionally equivalent. Look here: Title IV of the ADA which is the law of the land says in part: “provide the ability for an individual who has a hearing impairment or speech impairment 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 impairment.”

This is the law of the land. The FCC is letting Sorenson get away with this–the FCC is paying providers to provide functionally equivalent service. The other providers are absorbing the cost of videomail as part of the FCC reimbursement while Sorenson is saving money by not providing the service and they get the same monies from the FCC. Is this fair?

If we sit back and do nothing after we tell the FCC what we thought, the issue will die down.

The FCC is required by law to respond to our complaints. Let’s see what they say. In the meantime, keep the complaints coming.

Once again, thank you from Dr. Z!

Thanks for listening and please go ahead and file the complaint. (here’s the link.)

Dr. Z cares about your communication access.

Disclosure: Dr. Z (Philip W. Bravin) is associated with CSDVRS, currently its Vice-President of Business Development

Editorial #138: Dr. Z Tells the FCC—Open Up Sorenson Videomail!

Dr. Z is getting fed up. Why can’t we deaf and hard of hearing people be like our hearing counterparts. Our hearing family and friends can do a lot of things with their smartphones while we deaf and hard of hearing people use our phones through trial and error and not being sure if it works 100% of the time.

If you don’t think this is fair, file a complaint to the FCC (here’s the link.) Just say in the complaint that you feel it is not fair not to be able to leave a videomail on Sorenson devices and ask the FCC to require this to happen

Let’s all mobilize together and make the FCC wake up on this important matter. Sorenson gets public money and they restrict this—does this make sense? Public money should promote, not restrict equality. Think about this.

Thanks for listening and please go ahead and file the complaint.

Dr. Z cares about your communication access.

Disclosure: Dr. Z (Philip W. Bravin) is associated with CSDVRS, currently its Vice-President of Business Development

Editorial #138: VRS and the FCC – What is Coming Down the Pike?

This is a quick summary of what is happening at the FCC with respect to VRS and handled by the folks at the FCC Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau (CGB) and other parties in the FCC.

As for VRS–there is a lot of things that are happening and a lot of this is still underway:

– rate cuts – they are still happening with cuts happening every 6 months; meaning less money for VRS companies to make their products better–
– speed of answer – the FCC is mandating very unreasonable requirements for answer time. This matter is of concern with ALL VRS companies. They have met with the FCC and asked for relief. The new requirements go into effect July 1, 2014. To date, the FCC has not acted on this and the VRS companies need to know because the new requirements require them to staff 20% to 25% more interpreters.
– neutral platform – the FCC has issued a RFP (request for proposal) for development of a neutral platform to be developed. We need to be sure the final product is deaf and hard of hearing friendly and meets our needs. As of now, there is no feedback mechanism yet for input of deaf/hard of hearing parties to any of the development efforts.
– interoperability–scream! scream! scream! and it’s still falling on deaf ears. No pun intended, but we have made it known to the FCC that we are NOT functionally equivalent when it comes to interoperability.
– marketing practices in the industry – scream! scream! scream! and it’s still falling on deaf ears (no need to mention who is who–we know who)
– new registration requirements – still waiting for action–the new rules have us concerned about privacy matters

There are a lot more matters floating around but the above is what is at the top of the consumer list.

Thanks for listening.

It is time for us to have our freedoms back once and for all. Functional equivalency is the key.

Dr. Z cares about your communication access.

Disclaimer: Dr. Z (Philip Bravin) is currently the Vice-President of Business Development at CSDVRS, LLC.

Deaf and Hard of Hearing People Have a Tower of Babel with Video Communication Today!

“Therefore is the name of it called Babel; because the Lord did there confound the language of all the earth: and from thence did the Lord scatter them abroad upon the face of all the earth.”
—Genesis 11:4–9[2]

There is a petition going around circulated by Jon Ziev that urges the FCC to deal with the lack of interoperability in video communication. Here’s the link.

Dr. Z wants to commend Jon for taking this initiative. As of today, 832 people have signed on. We need to do more! Sign UP as Dr. Z just did just now! (link)

Ironically, in the United States today, hearing people can pick up their phone and call anyone without having to worry which software they need to use.

Deaf and hard of hearing people are stuck, we have to identify the software first before we make a call. If our friend or relative doesn’t have that software, we have to download it to make the call possible.

In the VRS world, we are pretty good at interoperability among the major players, with the possible exception of Sorenson. As the Gallaudet study indicates, there are still issues with interoperability today. Here’s the link to the Gallaudet study. More info can be found on this link as well.

We can’t use Facetime (Apple) to talk to Hangouts (Google). We can’t use Skype (Microsoft) to talk to Z5 (ZVRS). We can’t leave messages on the nTouch (Sorenson) videophones. That’s what the petition tries to point out. That is a Tower of Babel for us deaf and hard of hearing people.

Let us hope that the FCC takes up this issue and make us a unified community. This is starting to divide us as the Biblical verse indicates.

Thank you for listening.

By the way, if you need video communication (VP or VRS), why not try Z5, you will like it! Click here to get it! (See if you qualify to get a FREE tablet with a stand!)

Dr. Z is proud to be part of the team that understands and listens to the needs of the deaf and hard of hearing community!

Dr. Z cares about your communication access.

Disclosure: Dr. Z (Philip W. Bravin) is associated with CSDVRS, currently its Vice-President of Business Development

Purple Fined $12 Million by the FCC–That’s Not Good News for the TRS/VRS Industry!

Today, the FCC made an announcement that it plans to fine Purple $12 million for some practices that did not comply with their rules. The text of the FCC announcement can be seen through this link.

The more waste, fraud, and abuse that takes place, the more rules and actions the FCC will impose. This is a threat to the TRS/VRS industry. This is why the FCC is looking into things like the neutral platform where it will have more control and oversight over the VRS industry. Of course, there are some players like ZVRS who do their best to be as ethical as possible.

Needless to say, this is an unfortunate development.

UPDATE: Dr. Z has received info that this may be misleading because it was not a VRS matter but a TRS matter. However, it needs to be made clear that TRS and VRS are funded from the same pool of money that the FCC receives from telecommunications providers. Having said that, any form of irregularity does impact the fund and as a result affects the oversight of TRS and VRS.

By the way, if you need video communication (VP or VRS), why not try Z5, you will like it! Click here to get it! (See if you qualify to get a FREE tablet with a stand!)

Dr. Z is proud to be part of the team that understands and listens to the needs of the deaf and hard of hearing community!

Dr. Z cares about your communication access.

Disclosure: Dr. Z (Philip W. Bravin) is associated with CSDVRS, currently its Vice-President of Business Development

Text-to-911–It’s Almost Here!! Thanks to the FCC!

We have the FCC to thank!

We have video relay, IP-Relay and all the communication technologies that make our life easier, better and most importantly, safer.

Yes, we sometimes grumble at some of the rules they throw at us, but without them, we wouldn’t have the nice and life-saving things we need. And rules are a fact of life, like the speed limits on the road.

Let’s not forget the NAD, TDI, NorCal and all the national and local organizations which help push the FCC when inertia takes place.

The FCC has made text-to-911 a priority. The new chairman, Tom Wheeler, has gone on record making this an important priority. Here’s a news article on this. (link) The picture you see on this post is of the new chairman, Tom Wheeler. Let’s not forget the good work of the Disability Rights Office (Consumer & Governmental Affairs Bureau) in the FCC and the Wireless Telecommunications Bureau.

What is it?

Simple, you just text to the 911 number and someone will be there to communicate and send help. It’s much quicker than using IP-Relay or video relay. In emergency situations, time is of the essence–the quicker you get help the less serious an emergency situation can become.

It is NOT yet fully deployed in the US. But, very soon it will be. Some states have it, some fully deployed, some are running trials. In Canada, they are ahead of us, but we will catch up soon.

For more info, heres the link to the FCC website on text-to-911.

For information on Canada’s text-to-911, here’s the link. Remember what happens in Canada does not always happen in the US, but maybe later.

So easy so simple!

By the way, if you need video communication (VP or VRS), why not try Z5, you will like it! Click here to get it! (See if you qualify to get a FREE tablet with a stand!)

Dr. Z is proud to be part of the team that understands and listens to the needs of the deaf and hard of hearing community!

Dr. Z cares about your communication access.

Disclosure: Dr. Z (Philip W. Bravin) is associated with CSDVRS, currently its Vice-President of Business Development