Dr. Z and You

Ask Dr. Z-What is Porting? Can I move my old phone number from my old provider to a new provider?

A lot of questions have been floating around regarding porting.

What is it? and What is involved?

Porting means you can switch a phone number from one videophone provider to another provider. That means when it is enabled on the new phone, all calls will go to the new phone.

Customers have freedom to decide whether they want to change providers. When they decide to change, they need to port the number from the old videophone provider to the new videophone provider.

Customers control the phone number, not the videophone provider. They decide which provider is used for that number and the videophone provider cannot change or port the number without the approval (or consent) of the customer.

To make this possible, the customer needs to sign a LOA (Letter of Authorization) form that authorizes the new provider to get the number from the old provider.

Providers cannot threaten to, or disable a phone if a customer decides to port their number. The old videophone MUST remain 911 capable until the porting process is complete. That means the old provider MUST wait for the new phone to start working with the new provider before they disable the old phone.

If any of you experience different situations that are not the same as the above, you have every reason to file a complaint with the FCC. (Several people have already done so.)

Dr. Z cares about your communication access.

As part of Dr. Z’s travels across the country, this question has come up in almost every city he goes to.

The answer is simple–most hotels and motels have firewalls as part of their router configuration which makes it difficult to process most videophone calls. There may be a way around it–ZVRS’ Z Connect may work in cases where there is no browser access required; but for the most part, it is not recommended.

In the event of an emergency in your hotel and motel room, you should not use your videophone to dial 911–use the hotel’s regular phone in the room–dial “911″ and leave the phone off the hook–it should be suffiecient to get assistance from the first responder (police, fire, ambulance.) After dialing 911, and LEAVING your phone off the hook, go to the front desk to be sure they are aware of the emergency.

No one likes to talk about 911 situations–but one day, it may happen to you, so it is always good to be proactive.

1. Conversations are in real time, with little or no lag time

2. You can call a deaf person directly with a ten-digit number

3. There will be no confusion regarding gender (if the deaf person requests an interpreter with the same gender)

4. For unannounced calls, it makes it easier for the deaf/hard of hearing person to explain that he/she is talking through an interpreter

5. For VCO calls, the calls are handled with just one line (with certain providers such as ZVRS)

6. The service is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year

7. Most calls are answered within 20 seconds

8. The deaf/hard of hearing person can participate in conference calls.

9. Certain devices (such as the Z-150) have no problems with firewalls (they can traverse firewalls.)

10. You may not realize you are talking to a person who is deaf/hard of hearing!

What should one do in a emergency that requires a 911 call? Dial 911!

But how do you do it on a videophone device? Just dial 911 using the keypad as if you are dialing a phone. You will be connected to a VRS interpreter who will verify the address to be sure you are calling from the right location (in case you did not change your address on the profile on file with the VRS provider). The VRS interpreter will call the closest public safety access point (PSAP) and process the call interpreting your dialogue. In the case you are almost incapacitated and unable to communicate, the VRS interpreter will go ahead and call the closest PSAP to send help to your house.

Be mindful that in the case of a power failure, your VRS device, your cable or DSL modem and your router will not work. This is when you need to use a battery powered TTY and a regular phone line. So words to the wise–keep your regular phone line and old TTY available for cases like this. We all care!

This is a sampling of the more than 10 workshops/sessions at the recent TDI Conference in Washington, DC which took place from July 30-August 1, 2009:

1. Moderated Panels on Capitol Hill re the “21st Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act of 2009″
2. Digital TV Transition Forum
3. Updates from the FCC Disability Rights Office
4. Videophones in the Market
5. Pagers, PDAs and HAC (Hearing Aid Compatible ) Phones in the Market
6. ADA Update (US Department of Justice)
7. Air Travel Access Panel
8. Captioned Radio
9. TRS Forum
10. What’s New in Access to 911?

For more information, you can access the TDI website at www.tdi-online.org or send an email to info@tdi-online.org

There are many ways to make your VRS calls smooth and productive. Dr. Z did some research and put together a list for you to print and post on the wall next to your videophone.

I have listed 10 different steps to make this possible. If you think of more, do not hesitate to send a note my way using the “Contact Dr Z.” link..

Here’s the link to download the list and happy VRS’ing….

10 Steps for Effective Video Communication (download PDF)

Dr. Z (Phil)

How it can be a disaster or a huge benefit?

Disaster #1 -- Keeping your fake Sorenson number.

Disaster #2 -- You get 2 or 3 numbers for the same Video Phone

Disaster #3 -- You put in a bad or wrong address for 911 in your profile

Disaster #4 -- You hand out more than one number to hearing people

Disaster #5 -- Your hearing friend gets a big unexpected long distance bill

Disaster #6 -- You give a number to someone for your second phone but when they call, your Sorenson VP rings

If you follow the recommendations and suggestions in the PDF file, you will not have a disaster on your hands.

6 Disasters in FCC Numbering-short form (download)
6 Disasters in FCC Numbering-long form (download)

This was life without a TTY or videophone or captioning…

1. When we needed Chinese food or pizza for takeout, we had to physically drive over to the restaurant to order it and wait for it.

2. When we needed to make a doctor’s appointment, we had to drive over to to doctor’s office.

3. In an emergency (911-type), we had to run over to our neighbor’s to make a phone call to the first responders (ambulance, police, fire).

4. When we visited friends or family, we had to hope they would be home, because we were not able to call in advance to check if they would be home.

5. We always had desserts on the ready because our deaf friends would show up unexpectedly—they also didn’t have a way to call us in advance to find out if we were home.

6. When watching TV, we had no idea what the plot was about without captioning, so we were left to our imagination.

7. When meeting hearing people, we had to use pencil and paper, because interpreters were a rare breed these days.

8. We had to make plans via letter (postal mail) that had to be made weeks or months ahead of the event (without a phone.)

9. We congregated at a deaf club to watch movies—they were the only place where captioned films provided by the government went to.

10. Sometimes to make personal calls to family members, we relied on our neighbors to make such calls (we hoped they would make the content private.)