Best of Both Worlds
Friday, October 16th, 2009by Frank Endres
Hamilton CapTel’s® 800i uses an existing phone service for the voice portion of the call, together with a high-speed Internet connection, which delivers captions on both incoming and outgoing calls.
Forrest J. Robinson hadn’t successfully used a telephone for nearly 20 years. A former minister residing in Winfield, Kan, Reverend Dr Robinson lost most of his hearing during World War II. Captioned Telephone (CapTel®) literally changed his life.
“Being able to use the phone is my great joy! It provides a great source of security because I live alone,” Robinson says. “I constantly tell people about the miracle of CapTel.”
Robinson is not alone. Today, one in every 10 Americans—approximately 31 million people—lives with some form of hearing loss. Often, they find everyday tasks more difficult because using the phone is problematic since they struggle to hear what is said. As a result, they become disconnected, out of touch, and separated from the daily mainstream.
In 1990, however, the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) spurred the development of relay and captioned telephone services. Title IV mandated that assistive technology and services be made available to those with hearing loss in any state, at any time, and, best of all, free of charge to the end user.
