Well, after all the incidents that have occurred recently in the VRS industry, I have become quite curious to find out which VRS providers are still alive and what do each VRS provider offer.
Today, I decided to try out a new provider that I have heard about; 258Communications. You can call them @ 258VRS.tv.
Anyway, I was introduced to a female that looked like a librarian. Tall and poised. Had her hair held back in a bun and wore glasses. I wasn't sure how good she would be at first, but after 2 seconds, I was satisfied with her skills. She understood every word I said and signed ASL fluently. I was impressed.
However, I cannot say the same about the quality of the video. It was at 5 fps.. I used VP-200 by the way. 5 fps is way too slow. It was like watching with a 200/20 vision. I wonder what is causing that exactly?
Anyway, I was introduced to a female that looked like a librarian. Tall and poised. Had her hair held back in a bun and wore glasses. I wasn't sure how good she would be at first, but after 2 seconds, I was satisfied with her skills. She understood every word I said and signed ASL fluently. I was impressed.
However, I cannot say the same about the quality of the video. It was at 5 fps.. I used VP-200 by the way. 5 fps is way too slow. It was like watching with a 200/20 vision. I wonder what is causing that exactly?
Also I noticed on the website, http://258communications.com/, you can contact them to find out if your favorite interpreter is available for interpreting in your community. That means you can get them to fly over and interpret for you. That's neat. :)
Also, they can do VRI, but no VCO, a software to download for PC or Mac, no Captel, and IP-relay either.
Oh, for a hearing person to call; they'll need to call 877-258-5258 or if you did get a 10-digit number from them, they can just call you directly instead. By the way, my friend on the other end of the line thought the interpreter was smooth and easy to understand. She was very professional and efficient.
Next VRS Provider: AmericanVRS
How many deaf employees does 258Communications have and what percentage do they hold in the company's workforce? I would like to see this question to be asked to all VRS companies.
ReplyDeleteThis one is controlling by Hearing, not Deaf. We do have other VRS which is suffice, why add more providers...
ReplyDeleteCheck http://www.myvrs.org its a website for all vrs providers. seems a interesting site
ReplyDeleteWhy not go with ConvoRelay?
ReplyDeleteGreat idea to review the VRS companies! Thanks. Interesting to read your thoughts about each one.
ReplyDeleteHello to all.
ReplyDeleteThank you for your feedback!
That's an excellent question. I will try and find out how many Deaf employees each VRS company have and what % does that make up in their workforce.
And thank you for the recommendation on myvrs.org and ConvoRelay. I will try them soon!
258 Communications does provide VCO. They also provide access to a number of spoken languages in addition to English and Spanish. If the hearing person you need to call does not speak English, just tell the interpreter the language you need.
ReplyDeleteAlso, some VRS interpreters are available for assignments within your local community if they live nearby.
http://www.258communications.com/258vrs.html