Most of you are well aware the FCC is proposing a rate cut.

This cut would be bad for us. It would not be catastrophic to us and it would not bankrupt us.

However the rate is very damaging to ZVRS. As all of you know, we have made huge progress over the last year and we have brought many new customers to the Z.

We are company that is in the building mode. Our investors have taken no money out of our company. They have had 0 return on investment. We have been running the company at break even continuing to invest in new technology, better service and better awareness for the deaf community.

The FCC proposes to drop our rate approximately 10%. You can imagine if we were at break even and had a 10% cut in revenue we would have to cut costs.
We would also find ourselves in a position where we would have to cut back on new initiatives and the quality of service (interpreting) would suffer.

We are going to fight the FCC on this rate cut and we believe that the FCC will listen to our argument and will move the rate up.

The concept of a rate decrease when our expenses are going up is very hard to handle and we will fight.

For our employees, keep doing your job and the great work you have been doing. Have faith in our ability to move the FCC to a logical rate and have faith in the FCC.

I have seen Sorenson ask employees to send “recommended letters to the FCC. “

If you feel compelled to do so, send an email or letter feel free to do so. If you do not feel compelled please do not send anything.

I hope you can speak from your heart about the great progress we have made at Z, the honest company we are and how we continue to change and improve deaf lives every day. It is very important that we not lose our momentum. We are about 4% of the size of Sorenson. We must insist that the FCC protect the small VRS providers like Z.

In regard to Sorenson, they have been hit with a proposal for a potentially damaging rate that we believe is not fair to Sorenson. It does not provide for a fair rate of return or allow for all the costs of VRS. We support Sorenson in their fight at the same time we support the FCC and their effort to allow ALL providers a fair rate of return and not one provider a huge return while others struggle. We believe the FCC will increase the proposed rates in all tiers and the VRS services will continue to thrive.

–Sean Belanger

Dr. Z cares about your communication access.

Disclosure: Dr. Z is a contractor working with CSDVRS on several projects.

Dr. Z wants to set the record straight–there have been statements made by representatives of Sorenson to consumers. This ends for now the series of debunking those myths being perpetuated by them.

Regarding the Health of ZVRS as a Company: The myth being perpetuated is that ZVRS is unstable and going out of business and when ZVRS goes out of business customers will not be able to get their Sorenson phone to work. All of this is NOT true at all! First, ZVRS just had a record quarter in revenue and earnings! Second, Sorenson would always take a customer back. ZVRS is continuing to get new customers and performing very well. ZVRS takes the high road and would not make such comments of any of our competitors.

We are proud of ZVRS as a company that does its best for our customers.

Dr. Z wants to set the record straight so consumers have full access to facts–not myths.

Dr. Z cares about your communication access.

Disclosure: Dr. Z is a contractor working with CSDVRS on several projects.

Dr. Z wants to set the record straight–there have been statements made by representatives of Sorenson to consumers. This will begin a series of debunking those myths being perpetuated by them.

Regarding Warranty on the Z-Phones: The myth being perpetuated is that the Z-Phones (Z-150, Z-340 and the Z-Ojo) have a 90-day warranty and if the phone is defective, you will have to pay a big bill. This is totally untrue. ZVRS stands behind the Z-Phones with a lifetime warranty. Anytime a customer can return those phones for a full refund. It is as simple as that. No questions asked….

We take our customer satisfaction as a priority and we are proud of this.

Dr. Z wants to set the record straight so consumers have full access to facts–not myths.

Dr. Z cares about your communication access.

Disclosure: Dr. Z is a contractor working with CSDVRS on several projects.

Dr. Z wants to set the record straight–there have been statements made by representatives of Sorenson to consumers. This will begin a series of debunking those myths being perpetuated by them.

Regarding Numbers for Sorenson Units Being Switched to ZVRS: The myth being perpetuated is that the FCC does not allow Sorenson to give new numbers for their units after they have been switched (ported) to ZVRS units. The decision not to give new numbers is Sorenson’s. This is a decision they make. You will need to ask Sorenson why they do not sometimes give new numbers to units that have been switched (ported) to other units. The FCC has no such rule that forbids new numbers to be given.

We take our customer rights as a priority and we are proud of this.

Dr. Z wants to set the record straight so consumers have full access to facts–not myths.

Dr. Z cares about your communication access.

Disclosure: Dr. Z is a contractor working with CSDVRS on several projects.

Dr. Z wants to set the record straight–there have been statements made by representatives of Sorenson to consumers. This will begin a series of debunking those myths being perpetuated by them.

Regarding E911 and ZVRS: The myth being perpetuated is that E911 does not work with ZVRS and the Z-Phones (Z-150, Z-Ojo, Z-340 and the Z4). The truth is that E911 works with ZVRS. In fact, we handle E911 calls daily and we use the data base to handle E911 locations and PSAP’s the same way that Sorenson does.

We take our customer’s safety as the ultimate priority and we are proud of this.

Dr. Z wants to set the record straight so consumers have full access to facts–not myths.

Dr. Z cares about your communication access.

Disclosure: Dr. Z is a contractor working with CSDVRS on several projects.

Dr. Z wants to set the record straight–there have been statements made by representatives of Sorenson to consumers. This will begin a series of debunking those myths being perpetuated by them.

Regarding porting/switching: The myth being perpetuated is that it amounts to “stealing”. The truth is that it is the consumer’s right to decide which provider they want. Porting/switching is moving the consumer’s phone number from one videophone to another–nothing more, nothing less and it is not “stealing”–it is a choice.

Porting/switching is mandated by the FCC and is a common practice in the hearing world for choosing a new provider.

Porting/switching is a right–it is not stealing–it is an opportunity for consumers to select the company that meets their needs best. The consumer is fully informed of the fact that some features of the old phones will be “lost.”

Dr. Z wants to set the record straight so consumers have full access to facts–not myths.

Dr. Z cares about your communication access.

Today the FCC issued an order extending for 4 months the waiver regarding treatment of toll-free numbers in the Internet-based Telecommunications Relay Service (TRS) numbering directory (iTRS).
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The link to the waiver is as follows: Text of Toll-Free Waiver

Several months ago, everyone ran into problems when the FCC dictated that toll-free (800/866) numbers would not be tied to the national data base. Since many had 866 numbers issued by Sorenson which did not work for non-Sorenson calls in November when the FCC dictated that they should not be tied to the national data base.. The FCC then ordered the numbers restored and encouraged more education and awareness to consumers to emphasize the use of local numbers. At that time, the FCC ordered a 4-month extension to waive the treatment of the use of 800 numbers tied to the national data base. That first 4-month waiver was set to expire in early April. Today, the FCC ordered another 4-month extension and encouraged more education and awareness on using local numbers instead of 800 numbers.

Dr. Z is of the opinion that while the education and awareness efforts are still taking place, he is still seeing quite a number of 866 numbers being used by many people, especially Sorenson VP-200 users. He is asking all videophone users, to start to transition from 866 numbers to local numbers. This will insure full interoperability down the road while the FCC figures a way to treat 800/866 numbers.

Dr. Z cares about your communication access.

This is an adaption of a recent CNN article on “Three Innovations That Changed America.” (link)

Dr. Z came up with a variant, those that changed America for deaf and hard of hearing people.

1) Relay Services – Beginning with the TTY relay service in the 1960’s and now with video relay service (and videophones). Dr. Z believes these are the biggest impact we have had as those technological advances changed our lives, and opened up our world of communication with hearing people that we did not have before. In addition, we now can talk to our deaf and hard of hearing friends remotely, without having to go over to see them (and missing them when they are not home.) Also asking our neighbors to make phone calls for us.

2) Closed Captioning – This ranks near the top–how can we enjoy movies and television without captioning? This is unthinkable. Now we enjoy television with over 100 channels that are captioned for the most part for most of the day. The movies still have a way to go and still catching up. Over time, Dr. Z believes this will get even better with internet captioning being mandated with the proposed HR 3101 bill now pending before Congress.

3) Interpreting Services – For sign language and oral interpreting–this bridges the gap between us and hearing people in a live (face to face) setting. With certification advances developed by the RID and later, the NAD, we are seeing certified interpreters facilitating communication for us in schools, courts, hospitals and many other public places. We still have a way to go in making sure these public facilities assume the responsibility for paying those interpreters. We are now seeing those interpreters facilitating communication for video relay services.

What is interesting about the those above is they all relate to communication!

For your information, the CNN article lists the following as the top 3:

1) The interstate highway system

2) Television

3) The Internet (and the world wide web)

Anyone out there have any thoughts on the above?

Dr. Z cares about your communication access.

When one looks for a videophone, they should select one that fits their needs. But many deaf people are provided with a free videophone that does not necessarily meet their needs, and thus changes their behavior like using a remote control when they communicate via a videophone. This doesn’t make good sense.

Look at the hearing people around us–they have cell phones, they have wireless phones in their house–they select the phones that best meet their daily habits.

Dr. Z has a Z-150 at his home office next to his laptop. With this set up Dr. Z is not giving up his television, or needs to buy a television in order to communicate via a videophone. But why a laptop next to a self-contained videophone like the Z-150? When he calls his cable company using his Z-150, in discussing with the cable company, he can look up his account on his laptop to retrieve some information. This is a natural way of using a videophone on a desk.

Many deaf people in their homes have their videophones attached to a television. That means they didn’t get a videophone for free, because they had to pay for the television attached to their videophone. They should think of looking at other providers such as ZVRS which have videophones that are comparably priced to televisions and fit a wide range of their needs so they do not have to change their behavior to fit the videophone. With the Z product line of 3 videophones and the Z4 software, the deaf person finds a videophone that fits their behavior.

How many hearing people use a remote control to talk over a cell phone? This is not the natural way. They use keypads—like the Z products.

Freedom of choice!

Dr. Z cares about your communication access.

Disclosure: Dr. Z is a contractor working with CSDVRS on several projects.