Category Archives: Ask Dr. Z

Editorial #152: Dr. Z on How You Can Try ZVRS’ Certified Interpreters?

Dr. Z has covered certified interpreters and how they differ from qualified interpreters. People have asked how they can try certified interpreters. There is a way! How? Just call ZVRS on your videophone (does not have to be a ZVRS phone, it can be a Sorenson, Purple or Convo videophone or software.) Just dial 888-888-1116, and then you will see a smiling interpreter on your screen. Go ahead and try us!

ZVRS prides itself as the ONLY video relay provider with 100% certified interpreters. No other VRS company can make this statement.

Dr. Z cares about your communication access.

Disclosure: Dr. Z (Philip W. Bravin) is associated with CSDVRS, currently its Vice-President of Business Development

Editorial #151: Dr. Z on Certified and Qualified Interpreters

Dr. Z offers his view on certified and qualified interpreters. What is the difference between certified and qualified interpreters? This is explained in the video.

ZVRS prides itself as the ONLY video relay provider with 100% certified interpreters. No other VRS company can make this statement.

Dr. Z cares about your communication access.

(Dr. Z wants to apologize for the long absence since the last posting. He was sidelined due to medical reasons and is now back on his feet–100%!)

Disclosure: Dr. Z (Philip W. Bravin) is associated with CSDVRS, currently its Vice-President of Business Development

Editorial #150: Dr. Z on 100% Certified Interpreters

Dr. Z offers his view on certified interpreters. Why is certification important? This is explained in the video.

ZVRS prides itself as the ONLY video relay provider with 100% certified interpreters. No other VRS company can make this statement.

Dr. Z cares about your communication access.

Disclosure: Dr. Z (Philip W. Bravin) is associated with CSDVRS, currently its Vice-President of Business Development

Battery on Your iPhone–Making it Go Further? Dr. Z Has a Solution!

Sometimes when you use your iPhone often, the battery runs down quickly. You want to charge and use it quickly again. It is easy if you can wait one hour! Here’s how…

1) Go into airplane mode
2) Use an iPad charger (not the iPhone charger)
3) Turn the iPhone off

In one hour, you will gain about 30-50%, in 2 hours, it will go over 75%!

Try this! Dr. Z is not responsible for those of you not using non-Apple chargers or non-Apple cables.

Here’s more info (link) (link no longer working).

By the way, if you want something for your desktop, why not get Z5 MAX? Click this link (link no longer working).

Dr. Z cares about your communication access.

Disclosure: Dr. Z (Philip W. Bravin) is associated with CSDVRS, currently its Vice-President of Business Development

Editorial #148–Certified Interpreters? ZVRS Has 100% Certified Interpreters! What About the Others?

When we are in court, we want our interpreters to be certified! When we have parent meetings at schools, we want our interpreters to be certified! When we see our doctor, we want to be sure our interpreter is certified! But some interpreters in the video relay industry are not certified. They are “qualified”, which is different from being certified. To be a certified interpreter, you have to take rigorous training and testing by the Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf (RID) or in some states where they require certified interpreters. All of ZVRS interpreters are certified–that is 100%! And ZVRS is proud of this!

The next time you make a relay call with any provider, ask the video interpreter if they are certified. If they say they are “qualified”, then it is different from being certified.

Why do we require certified interpreters in courts, hospitals and other places? We want to be sure we get the high quality service we deserve. Video relay is no different!

Thanks for listening to Dr. Z’s thoughts on this.

By the way, if you want something for your desktop, why not get Z5 MAX? Click this link.

Dr. Z cares about your communication access.

Disclosure: Dr. Z (Philip W. Bravin) is associated with CSDVRS, currently its Vice-President of Business Development

Twitter–How to Learn and Use? –Great Info!

Dr. Z continues to put his faith in Twitter. For some reason, deaf people relate more to Facebook, but not Twitter yet and Dr. Z is on a crusade to help the deaf community to look into and use Twitter more.

The last few posts have been nothing but Twitter. In this post, Dr.Z will let you look up a great website which has a lot of good info on Twitter. The problem with Twitter is that it is a bit longer to learn and get used to than Facebook, for example–but patience patience, you will be rewarded at the end for a wonderful tool and resource.

Here’s the link  (link no longer working) for a good resource on Twitter.

Enjoy!

By the way, if you want something for your desktop, why not get Z5 MAX? Click this link.

Dr. Z cares about your communication access.

Disclosure: Dr. Z (Philip W. Bravin) is associated with CSDVRS, currently its Vice-President of Business Development

Crazy Weather and Twitter? Try this…

Dr. Z is continuing to try to make everyone realize and appreciate the power of Twitter….

Those days, the weather is crazy for everyone except Dr. Z–Vermonters are used to the changes in weather–we are usually well equipped–actually, we usually have a lot of snow and swings in temperature every year–it changes from year to year..this year we have seen a bit more snow and felt a bit more colder than usual…

To get weather info on twitter, here’s a recommendation for starters…Weather Link on Twitter

If you have a Twitter account, type “Weather (name of your city)” in the search bar

You will see many different tweets regarding the weather….

Enjoy!

By the way, if you want something for your desktop, why not get Z5 MAX? Click this link.

Dr. Z cares about your communication access.

Disclosure: Dr. Z (Philip W. Bravin) is associated with CSDVRS, currently its Vice-President of Business Development

Valentine’s Day and Twitter? Try this…

Dr. Z is trying to make everyone realize and appreciate the power of Twitter….

Here’s a way…if you do not have a Twitter account, click this link.

If you have a Twitter account, type “Valentine’s Day” in the search bar

You will see how many different views of Valentine will show up!

Enjoy!

By the way, if you want something for your desktop, why not get Z5 MAX? Click this link.

Dr. Z cares about your communication access.

Disclosure: Dr. Z (Philip W. Bravin) is associated with CSDVRS, currently its Vice-President of Business Development

How to Watch the Super Bowl with Twitter and Facebook? Try It!

You can enhance your TV viewing experience while watching the Super Bowl with your mobile phone or iPad in your hand.

You can experience Twitter for the first time and get an idea of how this works.

Download Twitter from the Apple App store (for iOS) or Google Play (for Android).

After you set your account up, at the top of your screen, you will see a bar “Search Twitter”. Type the following hashtag “#SB49”

You will see a Twitter feed of news, comments and facts related to the Super Bowl. Swipe down on the screen to see new feeds as they will appear frequently.

Facebook also created a live news feed for the Super Bowl.

Type “superbowl” in your Facebook search bar. Then scroll down to “Live Feed” with a green icon.

No need for the game to begin to use Twitter or Facebook. The feed is already live so you can start “practicing.”

Enjoy!

By the way, if you want something for your desktop, why not get Z5 MAX? Click this link.

Dr. Z cares about your communication access.

Disclosure: Dr. Z (Philip W. Bravin) is associated with CSDVRS, currently its Vice-President of Business Development