Sorenson Adds Call-Waiting
August 10, 2007
You’re having fun vp’ing (videophone-ing) with your best buddy who lives across the country, and you talk for hours and hours. Then you hang up and find out that other friends (or, heaven forbid, your mother!) had been trying to vp you with important news. Hearing folks has had it easy for many years; with call-waiting, they can hear a beep on their phone when someone else’s trying to call. We deafies hasn’t had something similar.
Until now. Sorenson recently announced that they’ve added call-waiting functionality for users of its VP-200 videophones.
Now, for those lucky VP-200 users, when another call comes in while they’re talking with someone, a visual notification will appear on the television screen. The user can then put the first caller on hold and talk with the new caller before returning to the first caller.
Ah, the freedom to be like one of those Mean Girls, constantly switching back and fro between callers and playing games with each other! I’m positively salivating at the prospect. Too bad I’ve still got a VP-100 videophone … Hey, Sorenson, can I have a VP-200 soon? Pretty please?
Video Remote Interpreting Services
March 19, 2007
(Last edit on 12/03/07: added Deaf Link)
Here’s an alphabetical list of companies or organizations that provide Video Remote Interpeting (VRI) services for a fee. I’m certain I have left out numerous companies — kindly leave a comment and I’ll make edits accordingly.
- Access America
- Birnbaum Interpreting Services (BIS) (rates)
- Communication Service for the Deaf, Inc. (CSD)
- Communication Access Center (CAC)
- Communication Access Network (CAN)
- Deaf Link Inc.
- Deaf Services Unlimited
- Fluent Language Solutions (also known as Interpreters, Inc.)
- Interpretek
- Interpreting Solutions, Inc. (coming soon)
- LifeLinks (for hospitals)
- MEJ Personal Business Services
- Mid-Atlantic Interpreting Group
- NorCal Center on Deafness, Inc. (for the state of California)
- Network Interpreting Service (NIS)
- Pine Tree Society (rates)
- Sign Language Associates (SLA)
- Sign Language Interpreting Services Agency (SLIS) (for the states of California and Nevada only?)
- Sign Language Interpreting Services, Ltd. (SLIS) (located in Virginia)
- Sign On
- Sorenson
- So. Illinois University Carbondale (SIUC)
(Partial credits to e-Michigan Deaf and Hard of Hearing People, West Virginia University’s Job Accommodation Network, and, of course, Google.)
