TRS Immigration: Walking the Internet Trail
This workshop was part of an afternoon session entitled "Quality
of Service Revisited: On the Road to Functional Equivalency in
TRS". The presenter was Burt Bossi, a District Manager with
AT&T's TRS.
This conference has used the great Western migration into gold
territory as an analog of the development of access for people with
hearing loss. I would like to extend that analogy to develop the concept
of IP Relay.
Imagine a monument with two towers; one is the internet, the other is
relay. They grew independently, and the question is, "When do we
connect the two towers?" The design was such that the weight would
close them in and eventually add a last piece to complete the arch. We
need FCC approval to add the last piece - the keystone.
Jumping Off
California was the first state to ask for IP Relay as part of its TRS
service. Voice over IP (VOIP) means VCO will also be available.
Microsoft XP [Ed: Microsoft's next operating system] has VOIP built in.
We also need to look at full motion video for the Video Relay Service (VRS).
The states are "choosers"; they're the ones who decide which
relay service people in their state will use. AT&T has an online
report engine, so states can see how our service does every day. The
internet allows us to very easily move data.
AT&T recently finished a 12-week IP Relay trial; at that point we
had to turn the service off, because there is currently no reimbursement
model. But we learned a lot from that experience. The product is ready
and waiting for FCC approval.
What's the Holdup?
IP relay has not had an easy entry, primarily because the internet is
separate from the telecommunications industry. Part of the problem is
that the telecommunications industry recognizes geography, but IP
doesn't. On the internet, physical location is unimportant.
The billing issues alone are huge. Imagine an IP Relay service that
is open to all providers, and all states accept all providers. This
means the states could be getting up to 20 bills each month [Ed:
estimated number of IP Relay service providers]. Also, each provider
must send out 50 bills. This assumes the states are paying the bill, not
the NECA.
Staging in "Kioskville"
Back in early 1990s, AT&T had payphones with large color screens.
Now AT&T is taking the public phones out and replacing them with
kiosks that contain multimedia entertainment. Locations want the kiosks
to be ADA compliant. There are currently 400 kiosks in place; by the end
of the year, there will be 1000. The screen has a simple browser to
connect to the internet. The browser has space for advertising, which
the provider can sell. A user can have a voice or TTY call going, and
surf the Internet at the same time. The cost is 25 cents a minute.
Staying Healthy on the Trip.
AT&T has embraced this technology, because we know what the
customer wants
Following Crude Directions
Many pioneers stopped and settled along the way, just like users may
want to settle down with a particular technology. We need to be
accommodating to the desires of our customers; we can't force them to
use a technology they don't want. When you need to encourage a difficult
transition, you can use torque or grease; grease is easier.
Helping Along the Way
Our job is not complete when we finish our system. Our job is to
reach for the future, but maintain backward compatibility. Much as the
Mormons left people at the obstacles to help the folks coming later, we
need to be sure that we make it easy for our users to reach their goals.
We expect telephony and IP relay to coexist for awhile. We as providers
must do both.
Knowing When We've Arrived
How do we know when we've achieved our service goals? Here are some
clues:
1. Ubiquitous Access - Relay will be accessible any time and anywhere,
without special equipment. We expect the number of internet access
points to exceed the number of POTS (Plain Old Telephone Service) points
in 5 years. This is a strong argument in favor of IP relay. California
led the way with the inclusion of multiple relay vendors, but the 711
issue is throwing a wrench in that plan.
2. Consumer Choice - The consumer will be able to choose the service
that best meets his needs.
3. Higher Quality - Everyone knows about 85 and 10 - Earlier we were
required to answer 85% of calls within 10 seconds - averaged over a
month. Now it's averaged over a day. That's a much tougher rule, and it
represents higher quality service. But there's no rule saying that a
particular customer can't be in the queue for five minutes.
Wrapup
The FCC has not yet approved IP Relay, but they have asked us to
continue working the technical issues, running trials, and providing
comments.
