Dr. Z is concerned with the behavior of Sorenson as the dominant VRS provider using hypothetical scenarios, threats and scare tactics to justify their position with respect to the FCC public notice. This is unprecedented in modern public relations strategy and this puts deaf and hard of hearing people as pawns in the whole process. This is what Dr. Z does not appreciate.

Will Bankruptcy Mean the Death of VRS?

The answer is an overwhelming NO! The FCC would not even think of hurting or putting VRS to death–this is a given as the FCC has a mandate under the ADA to provide a functionally equivalent communication service for deaf and hard of hearing people.

The dominant provider wants us to think they are indispensable and that without them, there will be no VRS. This is what Dr. Z takes issue with. They have every right to say they might go bankrupt–that will be their decision. And if it does happen, there will be enough VRS companies to go around to pick up the void should that ever happen. The interpreters will merely move on to work for the rest of the VRS industry. And with scalable infrastructure, the rest of the VRS industry will gear up in a matter of weeks to continue the VRS service. This won’t be “the end of VRS as we know it.”

This is not an emotional response. This is a response of common sense and asking everyone to cool down–we will be fine after the dust settles. The FCC will see to it we all will have a great VRS service. Dr. Z is confident of that. The FCC will be reviewing the proposals and documents from all the VRS companies in the time to come and will come up with a solution that ensures the service as we know it.

Let us all work together to help the FCC make its determination so they can create a basis to provide a functionally equivalent service that deaf and hard of hearing consumers are privileged to use.

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

Dr. Z cares about your communication access.

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