From The Knoxville News. In the picture,Perry Cobb of Grainger County uses KDVRS.TV to make a phone call at the Knoxville Center of the Deaf. When Video Relay Service calls are made through KCD, the nonprofit gets a portion of the call’s cost.
Knoxville Center of the Deaf's new role in deaf-hearing telecommunications could translate into a substantial amount of money.
On Monday, KCD became a "queue" for New York City-based Video Relay Service provider LifeLinks - meaning that when deaf callers, or hearing people who are calling a deaf person, go through KCD for the call, KCD gets a portion of the call's cost, said director Bob Rittenhouse.
Video Relay Service lets deaf people communicate with each other or hearing people over the phone in "real time," using video technology equipment. Two deaf people calling each other see each other sign on video screens, but a deaf person talking to someone who is hearing would see an interpreter signing what the hearing party is saying. Likewise, the non-deaf party hears the interpreter (and does not need a video phone).
The technology, established on a national scale by 2006 legislation, has largely replaced the older teletype (TTY) system, akin to sending text messages back and forth. Not only is VRS faster, callers are able to communicate the subtleties of inflection and facial expression.
The national VRS system, overseen by the Federal Communications Commission, is funded by a revenue tax on phone bills, Rittenhouse said, which now is about a fourth of a cent per month. But it has given rise to a $600 million industry. A VRS call's actual cost, with infrastructure and interpreters' salaries, exceeds $435 an hour, with most of that money going to the companies that provide the service. The largest is Sorenson VRS, which also makes VRS equipment and has four call centers in Tennessee, including one in West Knoxville.
But though Sorenson has about 85 percent of the market right now, more than 25 companies provide VRS in the United States. Earlier this year, KCD was approached by LifeLinks, which saw an opportunity to capture a larger share of callers through the nonprofit's supporters. Now, for each caller who goes through KCD's KCDVRS.TV channel to make a VRS call, instead of using Sorenson or another company, KCD receives 18 percent of the federal subsidy.
On an hour-long call, that's more than $78.
KCD stands to make even more if, six months from now, it realizes its goal of providing VRS interpreters on site during business hours and, later, at night and on weekends, if the demand is there, Rittenhouse said. It would then receive half the federal subsidy on those calls.
"We've got about 125-150 regular deaf callers," Rittenhouse said. He also hopes hearing people will use the service to talk to deaf friends or church members.
Most deaf people who use VRS regularly have the equipment at home. But it requires high-speed Internet service, and people who can't afford that or live in rural areas where it's not available can use VRS stations at KCD. They can use the new KCDVRS.TV queue to make their calls, or they can continue to use Sorenson or another provider if that's their preference, Rittenhouse said, though KCD won't get paid for those calls.
A few days after KCDVRS.TV was active, Perry Cobb drove from Grainger County to use it to contact a hearing friend about a job referral. Cobb doesn't have VRS at home and uses it rarely; he typically uses his cell phone's text messaging service.
But in instances likes this, VRS "is a lot better for communication," he said through an interpreter. "It's more direct."
Though a nonprofit, KCD will pay taxes on its KCDVRS.TV earnings. The money will support its main missions: programming for deaf seniors, deaf youth and deaf-blind people.
"People are always asking how to support us," Rittenhouse said. "This is one way you can help - a big way."
