TRS Update - Part 2

Public Forum and Technology Expo on Telecommunications Relay Service

Part One

Following the morning session with Commissioners and staff of the Federal Communication Commission, I took advantage of the lunch break to visit the Expo. I joined Nancy Bloch of the NAD to test some cool video phones that sell at $600 a pop. Took a peep at CSD and Sprint's Video Relay Service. Picked up fact sheets on Sprint's Enhanced Turbo Code (E-Turbo) and MCI's IP Relay Service. Browsed at the tables for Sorenson EnVision, Panasonic's accessible products (cordless and wireless phones on display). Asked for a demonstration of Audio Visual Mart's Braillephone (TM). Checked out Damax International's cellphone antennas that claim to eliminate noise from digital handsets in hearing aids. Chatted with lots of great people and soaked in what I could at other exhibits.

Before leaving the Expo, I called the NVRC office from Ultratec and Wisconsin Relay's exhibit, using the new CapTel and Fastran. There is always something magical in hearing Debbie Jones laugh! After a break in the courtyard for hearing dog/squirrel patrol leader Dana, fortified with the forum's delicious box lunch from Sutton Place Gourmet, I settled down to report on the afternoon session. Here's what made it into my notes.

Pam Gregory, Chief of the Disability Rights office, Consumer & Governmental Affairs Bureau, served as Moderator for a Panel on TRS Technologies for the 21st Century.

1. Kelly Stephens, National Marketing Director of Communication Services for the Deaf, talked about CSD's IP Video Relay. The IP Video Relay is on a web-based platform. When using this service, you have a user ID and set up a profile with your preferences, such as frequently-called numbers. The screen has a chat room box on the left that you can use to type messages to the interpreter. A video of people using the IP Video Relay gave a feel for how smooth the call can be. One person ordered a pizza from Pizza Hut; a second person spoke for himself but used the sign language interpreter to interpret the conversation he was receiving.

2. Tom McLaughlin, President of NXi Communications, Inc. gave background on his company. It was established in 1990 and since 1992 it has focused exclusively on developing telecommunications for deaf people. The company's NTS had a goal of giving TTY access to everyone in an organization, using a TTY "server" so that not everyone at every desk would need a TTY. NTS is now used by federal, state and local governments and businesses. The new NTS 4.0, which was just installed at the Dept. of Education this week, addresses some new concerns. One is security. NTS 4.0 now has all communication encrypted. A central module is really a software switch and NTS servers can link. Any consumer at home can download the free software. McLaughlin has demonstrated using NTS to make possible an 8-way call with four people in four federal agencies. NXi is pushing to add voice support soon.

3. Jack Cassell, Wisconsin TRS Contract Administrator, talked about Wisconsin's decision to start a trial project with Fastran and CapTel. It began October 1 and continues through the end of June. He noted that the state motto is "Forward" and that moving on to this new technology keeps this spirit. This enhanced TRS is especially designed for consumers who are late-deafened, have cochlear implants, are profoundly deaf but able to speak for themselves, VCO and 2-line VCO users, and amplified phone users.

Rob Engelke, President of Ultratec, Inc. noted that Maryland is also doing a CapTel trial now. He explained that CapTel works like television's realtime captioning. The phone allows you to hear the voice of the person you are talking to if you have residual hearing, and at the same time you can read the captions. The other party's voice is also piped to a CA who revoices on a computer that is highly trained to the speech recognition of its user. The system then pipes the captions to the caller.

Engelke noted some features that enable CapTel to bring telephone calls closer to the functional equivalence required by the Americans with Disabilities Act. You dial this phone the same is in a traditional call; the connection to the CapTel CA is automatic. The CA is also invisible to both parties; you and the person you call just talk to each other. You press the keys on your CapTel phone when you reach voice menu systems. If you reach an answering machine, you can leave a message without having to call back a second time through the CA.

Linda Webb, a Maryland CapTel trial participant, did a demonstration of using the CapTel. Engelke said that during the call she was receiving text at approximately 150 words per minute. The Wisconsin and Maryland trials are showing approximately 98.5% accuracy in the captions.

4. Lee McCabe, District Manager for the Northeast for Electronic Tele-Communications, Inc., said that his company created the intercept announcement machine in 1933. This machine is responsible for those automatic messages you get on some phone calls, such as "the number you have dialed has changed" or ones giving directions about a new area code. Verizon and AT&T put their tag on it, but the equipment comes from his company. The intercept machine can provide information in 28 languages, and TTY was added as another. The TTY intercept is viewed as text. In 1992, the Social Security Administration in Baltimore installed a call sequencer (for taking calls in the order received) which used this TTY capability.

5. Chris McManus, a Computer Specialist in the FCC's Wireless Telecommunications Bureau, placed a call on Krown's PVCO (Pocket VCO) which has been around for a while but is still new to many people.

6. Jim Tobias, President of Inclusive Technologies, talked about the future of relay. We started with the "vanilla TRS" which had a person typing on a TTY to a CA who voiced the message to the person being called and then typed back that person's response. Now TRS is evolving in a technical environment that is quite different. We now have small keypad devices you can use to enter text. Tobias expects to see text created on these, wireless phones, and other devices. We are now seeing requests for these devices to also have the capability for video. Transporting on wireline, wireless and Internet is no longer a technical challenge. What is a challenge is meeting the "content conversion". There has been an explosion of realtime conversion. You can now request someone who speaks another language through voice, text, voice mail, etc. There is an English to Pashtu translation service you can call because the person who invented it discovered there are no Pashtu training courses. All this shows how mature the technology is.

Everybody else has now adopted the text medium. You see it used for chat and instant messaging. It's getting easier and easier to send text. Sign language is hot area of transmission and reception. Tobias showed some research in automatic sign language recognition and another version that took speech and offered it as sign language.

Adopting his "techno-pessimist" role, Tobias said that it's the administration and human service parts that complicate TRS. How can we fund this when technology moves so fast? How can we prevent fraud? How can we get the market?

Tobias is working in a Rehabilitation Engineering and Rehabilitation grant on Telecommunications Access and Technology funded by NIDRR. A project is working on TTY text integration.

-------

Q: Isn't it distracting for the CapTel user to hear two voices?
A: (Rob Engelke) When using the CapTel, the only audio stream heard is the voice of the person called. The CA talks only to the computer, and the CA's voice is not transmitted.

Q: Are there standards for speed and accuracy of captioning for TRS that the FCC is addressing?
A: (Pam Gregory) There is an open docket for this; if you have concerns, you should let the Commissioners know.

Q: Does CapTel work in reverse for Hearing Carry Over?
A: (Rob Engelke) Not at this point.

Q: Does NTS run on standard Windows XP? Does it have scalable fonts and ability to translate to Braille?
A: (Tom McLaughlin) It runs on Windows 95 or higher and XP. You can set the font size. NXi is now attempting to do a closer integration with screen readers.

Q: The USA Video Relay Service (by CSD) camera window is very small in the demonstration. Have you considered a wider angle lens?
A: (Kelly Stephens) There are options that allow the video to become bigger. The consumer and interpreter have some control by moving closer or further from the camera. But a smaller screen gives a crisper picture. There are also other things that influence the picture such as lighting and the colors being worn.