CapTel Phones

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Nessi

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I've been getting quite a few people suggesting I get myself a CapTel telephone. My question is, how many people do actually have it and how accurate is it? How well does it work for you. I'd like to hear some input (both negative and positive) first before I actually consider applying for one. Thanks!
 
I have had a CapTel phone ever since it came out. I was part of the trials. So I got it at a reduced price. However, it has broken 3 times -- the display where you read the captioning, and that has been a common complaint among CapTel users.

Now, WebCapTel (which is offered by CapTel itself) has come out. You can read everything on your computer screen rather than on the captel phone. And it won't cost you a penny to buy it if you already have a computer. I'd suggest you go with that. If you still want the phone, at least try the WebCapTel first to see how you like it because it works the same way on a phone.
 
WebCapTel is not great for two-line captioned telephone (one for voice and one for CapTel, which allows you to receive phone calls and receive captions without the caller having to dial the 1-800 number). Another disadvantage of WebCapTel is that if you are going to receive telephone calls through a 1-800 number, you'll have to stay logged into WebCapTel.
 
^^ The OP can at least try it out to see if they like it before they buy a CapTel phone. The use of the 800 number is not a significant issue.
 
Definitely try out WebCapTel first if you're hesitant about the accuracy and stuff. Otherwise, go to CapTel - The Captioned Telephone - The telephone that displays written, word-for-word captions of everything the caller says and click on "Availability" on the left to see what else is available in your state.

GP, from what I can read, the 800i would still need a landline, but the landline can be a VOIP service like digital phone from your cable company. Your internet is only used for the captions - it doesn't make or receive phone calls through the internet.

New CapTel Model 800i - see below the section "With CapTel® Model 800i"
 
Wow, the CapTel Model 800i looks way better and not as "cheaply" made as the regular CapTel phone. I think I'll go ahead and wait till they release the new model. Thank you all for your inputs! :)
 
Dennis said:
GP, from what I can read, the 800i would still need a landline, but the landline can be a VOIP service like digital phone from your cable company. Your internet is only used for the captions - it doesn't make or receive phone calls through the internet.

New CapTel Model 800i - see below the section "With CapTel® Model 800i"
Click to expand...
Then perhaps I'm not being very clear on my post, then. :(

I tend to understand logic better than words. :|
 
I have captel phone. Good is now I can see what is said. Bad is it takes a moment for captions to load and hearing people get impatient and hang up too soon. I now answer the phone "hello, I am deaf please wait for the captions to load before speaking and do not hang up, thank you" this almost always gets them to hang on long enough for it to load so I can tell who called. If captions loaded a bit faster, it be great.
 
mshel said:
I have captel phone. Good is now I can see what is said. Bad is it takes a moment for captions to load and hearing people get impatient and hang up too soon. I now answer the phone "hello, I am deaf please wait for the captions to load before speaking and do not hang up, thank you" this almost always gets them to hang on long enough for it to load so I can tell who called. If captions loaded a bit faster, it be great.
Click to expand...

Great idea! I have had people saying "hello? hello?" and then hang up. I've started saying something like "hang on just one second" -- usually that's about long enough for the captions to start loading. Makes it a tad uncomfortable sometimes, but hey I will take anything that gets me communicating! :)
 
A little birdie told me CapTel is trying to get the 800i ready by the end of June, and should be for sale at WCI.
 
I work as a captionist at Captel. As for quality of Captions we have a quality control department that demands us to be able to caption at over 135 words a minute with less than a 2 percent error rate. (We get fired if we don't meet those demands) I personally caption at over 160 words a minute and have less than a .5 percent error rate. I hope this helps.
 
I have a captel phone and a VOIP connection, which means I cannot use the captioning with the phone, so I use hamilton web captel.

HAMILTON TOTALLY SUCKS. Huge delays and very bad accuracy. I had to tell the last caller to hold on so many times while I waited for the screen to load. Sometimes it was almost a 30 second delay, a couple times I had to have the person repeat themselves because the captioner didn't get the sentencing right. Was almost as frustrating as using the phone without a captioner...

Are there any other web captel services that are better?
 
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