[Ann Reflection] Using (Cell) Phones: Voicemail for Deaf People (Telus Relay Service)
Voicemail for Deaf People


The following is the info from Western Institute for the Deaf and Hard of
Hearing:

Hi my name is Janice Jickels. I work at the Western Institute for the Deaf
and Hard of Hearing as head of the interpreting department.
I'd like to share with you some information, maybe its information you
already know about, but I want to make sure the word gets out. Many deaf
people have cell phones or blackberries, or devices from Telus, Bell, Fido,
Rogers etc.
Deaf people have been frustrated with voicemail. You know what voicemail
is, it's like the answering machine function on a TTY, except it is spoken
language left on your cell phone, we can't hear the message and we tend to
ignore them.
Cell phones and blackberries also have feature on a called voicemail. Now
how can you use your voicemail feature?
First you need to set up a voicemail account, contact your provider, and
ask to have voicemail added to your phone. There is a small monthly charge
for that service. Once you have added voicemail you need to open the
account and personalize it. You can do that by calling TRS, ask the
operators to call the number provided to you by your cell phone company to
access your voicemail.
The operator will then call the voicemail number, and you will have several
options to choose from. The option you choose is “I want to set up my
voicemail” you will be given an option to record a greeting, the TRS
operator will do that for you. You can pick a standard greeting or
personalized greeting.
You will find that you already have a password as part of setup the
voicemail, use that password. The TRS operator will set up the greeting
then your voicemail is activated and ready to go. If a hearing person calls
your phone they will leave a voice message in the normal way and you will
see on your phone “new voicemail.”
To retrieve that message, call 711 (Telus Relay Service) give the Telus
operator the phone number the company provides to access voicemail, and
your name and password.
Then the operator will type the messages that are recorded on your
voicemail. And that's all! The TRS operator will ask you if you want to
delete or save the current message. You have the ability to save the
message as long as you want on your cell phone. This is a great feature for
deaf people because hearing people will be able to leave voicemail messages
in the normal way, and we have the ability to retrieve those using TRS or
any other relay service.
It is great to share this information because we're all trying to get equal
access, and you know how many of us get frustrated explain how to use TRS
services, but now we can retrieve our own messages directly. It's a great
thing!
Many hearing people feel uncomfortable with having to go through a two step
process. But now you don't have to bother with that explanation. You just
give them your cell phone number.
It becomes the deaf persons responsibility to collect their messages, But
that's already a big improvement, imagine if your trying to leave a contact
number for a family member or employer, you just have to give them one
phone number they can leave their message.
If you have any questions or want to share any tips with me, you can e-mail
me at jjickels@telus.net or you can contact me through videophone it is
24.85.225.129

Thank you!

Posted via email from Ann Reflection



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Posted By Blogger to Ann Reflection at 9/14/2011 07:00:00 AM