When the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) was passed in 1990, it seemed overdue. Equal access for people who are disabled had long taken a back seat to the more visible fights that included equal rights for women and minority groups. The ADA literally changed the landscape. It paved the way for many of the advancements we now take for granted, including handicapped parking spaces and wheelchair-accessible ramps. In addition to closed captioning (CC) on television programs, perhaps the most important benefit for those with hearing loss was the development of relay and captioned telephone (CapTel®) services.

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by 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.

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CapTel 800i

CapTel users share their thoughts.

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For CapTel user, Helen Rizzi, it’s all about independence. “Before I had CapTel, I had to depend on other people to make and receive my telephone calls,” she explains, as her progressive hearing loss made it difficult to use the phone. “If I was not at home, I had to depend on others – sometimes friends and sometimes complete strangers – to help.”

“It was not until I received a CapTel phone that I could be entirely independent in placing and receiving calls,” she states.

Helen, who lives in Eau Claire, Wisconsin, has never been shy about finding ways to deal with her hearing loss. “Even though for the past year and a half I have had a cochlear implant,” she explains, “I still use the CapTel for all my calls, to make sure that I understand each word of the conversation.”

“I use CapTel for every single phone call that I make,” she continues. Helen relies on CapTel with the USB option, hooked up to her computer. “I am so pleased to have the large text of the conversations printed on my computer screen,” she says.

“I like the independence that the CapTel gives me. It makes life safer and happier knowing that no matter what time of the day or night, I can make a CapTel call myself. That alone means the world to me.”

CapTel users can benefit from some of the exciting new technology that has recently become available. By using a “smartphone” or mobile device that has Internet access, you can now see captions of your phone calls even when you are away from your CapTel phone.

To see captions of your calls, you’ll need two things:
1. A telephone to talk/listen on (it can be a cell phone, a cordless phone – or any kind of phone!)
2. A mobile device with Internet access to run WebCapTel* on (such as a “smartphone” or mobile device running Windows Mobile 6 or Apple Mobile Safari browser – see Which Mobile Devices Work?)

Using your smartphone or mobile device, go online to the WebCapTel* site of your choice. On the site, enter the phone number of the telephone you will be speaking/listening on. Then enter the phone number of the person you want to call. Next, click on “Place Call”. WebCapTel sets up the call between you and the other person, then displays captions of the call on your mobile device. You talk and listen over one phone, while reading captions on the mobile device.

Which Mobile Devices Work?

WebCapTel supports the following smartphones and mobile devices:

• Apple 3G iPhone
• MotorolaQ9C
• HTC Mogul
• Treo 800w

WebCapTel may also work on other devices that use Windows Mobile 6 or Apple Mobile Safari. You can also run WebCapTel on any computer with broadband Internet access

Caution! Do not plug the CapTel into any telephone line other than a standard, analog telephone line, DSL line or an analog port. Connection to an office-type digital telephone network may damage the CapTel or the telephone system and will void the warranty. To be certain of what type of phone line works, see chart below.

To use CapTel in a home or office that has a Digital Subscriber Line (DSL), you must connect to a DSL filter. The filter eliminates interference to and from the CapTel phone, allowing it to share the same line as the DSL service. Fax machines and answering machines also require DSL filters to work in a DSL environment.

Without a filter, line noises from the DSL service – such as echoes or static – can be picked up by the CapTel phone, resulting in connection problems.

The DSL filter is usually a small rectangular device that has connectors on both ends. You simply unplug the telephone line from the wall jack, insert the filter into the jack, then plug the telephone line into the filter. Typically, you’d install DSL filters on every telephone, fax machine, etc., in your home, leaving the DSL computer modem as the only unfiltered device.

If you make long distance calls, register your long distance carrier with CapTel Customer Service so that your long distance calls are billed under your existing calling plan. If you do not register your Long Distance Provider with CapTel, you may get a long distance bill from a default provider.

People who call you long distance should also register their long distance service, so that their captioned calls to you are billed under their current calling plan.

Registering is fast and easy! Just contact CapTel Customer Service!

Noted Wall Street Journal columnist Melinda Beck recently singled out CapTel in the September 16 issue of the paper as, “One of the niftiest advances in telephone technology.” Ms. Beck recommends CapTel and WebCapTel to people with hearing loss in her regular column on health-related issues. Read full article.

The procedure for setting up CapTel in an office is very similar to the way you set it up in a residential setting. However, many office telephone systems require a “dialing prefix”? generally an “8″ or “9″ ? to reach an “outside” line. Most systems also require a comma added after the number, which represents a 2 second delay before dialing. This number must be programmed into the CapTel in order to connect properly.

NOTE: The programmed prefix only affects captioned calls. You?ll have to manually dial the “9″ first if you are making a call without captions. With 2-Line CapTel, you’ll need to manually dial the “9″ before all outgoing calls.

If you bring your CapTel phone from the office to home or to a different location, remember to remove the dialing prefix!