Dr. Z has been on the road and while on the road he picks up interesting stories on how people use mobile devices such as the Apple iPhone, the iPod Touch or the Samsung Epic.

Here’s another one…

An husband went shopping with a shopping list provided by his wife. The problem—his wife wrote “bread” on the shopping list and when the husband went to the store–there were 25 varieties of bread on the shelf and he wasn’t sure which one was the one his wife wanted–so he pulled out his videophone and signed to his wife via video–his wife tried to explain what she wanted but the husband couldn’t figure it out–the solution was to use the videophone to show his wife which loaf was the right kind to buy by using the videophone to video the loaves….after several loaves, the wife said “yes, that’s the one!” End of dilemma–a husband and wife lived happily ever after—we husbands know sometimes we bring the wrong loaf, the wrong container home– a videophone can come to your rescue!

Thanks to a mobile phone!

Dr. Z cares about your communication access.

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

Dr. Z is now on his road tour conducting town halls all over the country–everyone continues to be awed by the mobile offerings from ZVRS!

While waiting to check in at the Seattle Airport yesterday for a flight to Portland, Dr. Z pulled out his Samsung Epic which had a beta version of Z4 Mobile to call his wife while standing up.

Lo and behold, his wife answered the call on her Z4 and they had a great chat. There were people around the terminal looking out the corner of their eyes seeing someone signing on video in the middle of a terminal. What a sight! The feeling of being able to connect with my wife while standing up in a strange place was an astounding one!

Go mobile go!

Dr. Z cares about your communication access.

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

Dr. Z has been on the road and while on the road he picks up interesting stories on how people use mobile devices such as the Apple iPhone or the iPod Touch.

One story he picked up the other day is as follows:

A deaf couple went on vacation and asked their oldest daughter to house sit and dog sit their dog.

One night, the daughter came home and found out that she misplaced the key to the house and she called her parents via video (she had an iPhone 4.)

The parents explained where the key was hidden but the daughter couldn’t locate the key so the parents asked the daughter to use her phone to show the parents where she was in the garage and with more guidance and the daughter moving the camera phone all over the garage and that led her to a drawer. The parents then told her to have the camera view the drawer and they explained where the key was hidden.

Lo and behold–the key was found and the daughter went in the house and the dog, the parents and the daughter lived happily ever after.

Thanks to a mobile phone!

Dr. Z cares about your communication access.

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

Now that a great thing is out of the bag! Dr. Z sometimes tries his best to be impartial, but sometimes, one needs to cross the line of impartiality to tell the world about something he has been with the past few months and couldn’t resist holding it back.

Dr. Z has been a beta tester for the Z4 product the past few months-he has used the Z4 when he traveled all over giving his talks on numbering–used it in countless airports and hotels (while it was a beta product!)

Dr. Z has been in the technology field for over 40 years–he has white hair, attesting to his age in technology. He knows the difference between a good product and a great one and the Z4 product is one that falls into the “great” category of a product. Doctors often prescribe medicine or treatments for their patients. Dr. Z is prescribing all video communication users (VRS and point to point) to use the Z4 product. For starters, it works on a PC or a Mac. You can build your contact list on the web or on the Z4, and it will be saved either way and will always be there. If you want to show a web site while you are in communication mode, the Z4 makes it easy to show this page. If you want to see the face of a hearing person who has a webcam while doing a VRS call, the Z4 can show three video shots, yourself, the interpreter and the hearing person you are talking to. Finally, it can record your video conversations–you can save it and send the conversation as an attachment to an email. This is scratching the surface with more to come…

The secret to the completeness of this product is that it was designed by deaf people for use by deaf and hard of hearing people. When a shoemaker makes shoes for himself, the shoes fit perfectly. The same is true of the Z4.

Over the holidays, my wife and I were delayed in Las Vegas. We needed to reach her deaf mother to let her know of the delay. At that time, her Blackberry was down–remember the great Blackberry outage at that time? Dr. Z immediately thought of his Mac in his backpack and pulled it out and with the Z4, and no plugs, no cords (the Mac had a good wifi connection at the airport) and she was able to connect with her mother to let her know of her delay. It is that spontaneous event that makes the Z4 a great product.

You can download the Z4 at www.zvrs.com. Try it, you’ll like it, believe me.

Dr. Z cares about your communication access.

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

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.