Vrs?

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rod83

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I am trying to find some services for my wife, she is deaf and neither one of us know much about the types of things offered in the US to help her out. I was wondering how does this VRS stuff work? Is it a subscription that you pay for, and if so how much does it cost? Is it something you can use with cellphones too or do you need to have the internet/special phone to use it? Sorry for all the questions, this stuff is all new and exciting for me. My wife and I have been living in Germany and i havent been able to find anything like this for her. I would like to learn as much about this stuff as possible so if there is anything else that could be helpful please let me know. Thanks.
 
rod83 said:
I am trying to find some services for my wife, she is deaf and neither one of us know much about the types of things offered in the US to help her out. I was wondering how does this VRS stuff work? Is it a subscription that you pay for, and if so how much does it cost? Is it something you can use with cellphones too or do you need to have the internet/special phone to use it? Sorry for all the questions, this stuff is all new and exciting for me. My wife and I have been living in Germany and i havent been able to find anything like this for her. I would like to learn as much about this stuff as possible so if there is anything else that could be helpful please let me know. Thanks.
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Hello Rod83,

VRS is called Video Relay Service which provides to the Deaf community accessiblity to the telecommunications needs. If you are living in the USA, you will need to contact several VRS providers to see what products they have to offer to use the VRS. However your mind come to this... is there any $$ involved? in fact there should be no cost of using the VRS. Keep in mind we need to use high speed internet to use those free services.

Some VRS sell products such as VP (Video Phones) and software to install in your computer with the use of your webcam, some give them for free for example. Sorenson distributes vp200 for free. Zvrs sells their several different kinds of VP.

Now How does VRS work... it works both ways. A deaf caller uses vp to call to someone who is hearing, he/she will dial the hearing person's number and the interpreter will appear in the videophone and then connects to the hearing person and interpret the conversation. hearing person will only hear the voice of the interpreter, not able to see them. You can call her directly by dialing her number and you will recieve an interpreter at your end and the interpreter will attempt to connect to her VP, once connected the interpreter will interpret for both of you.

I hope this clears up. if not I encourage you to check each VRS providers, they do have a website that explains how the services work. check the soresnon website at Sorenson VRS®, and purple at Purple Your Way! and zvrs at ZVRS, and there are other relay services... just google with search "Video Relay Service".

again... using this service is FREE. only you need is to maintain your internet access. You might need to purchase or obtain free products from those providers.
 
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rod83 said:
I am trying to find some services for my wife, she is deaf and neither one of us know much about the types of things offered in the US to help her out. I was wondering how does this VRS stuff work? Is it a subscription that you pay for, and if so how much does it cost? Is it something you can use with cellphones too or do you need to have the internet/special phone to use it? Sorry for all the questions, this stuff is all new and exciting for me. My wife and I have been living in Germany and i havent been able to find anything like this for her. I would like to learn as much about this stuff as possible so if there is anything else that could be helpful please let me know. Thanks.
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KSL Korean Sign Language wont work with American VRS system. Must use American Sign Language
 
qwerty123 said:
KSL Korean Sign Language wont work with American VRS system. Must use American Sign Language
Click to expand...

Yeah that was going to be my next question. Do any of you know about a school where my wife could learn ASL? She has a lot of friends on the camfrog video chat thing, and i know sometimes her friends will teach her some ASL signing. She has friends that she talks to from all over the world and they seem to communicate just fine eventhough they all have different signing backgrounds. However, we ran into someone that teaches ASL and my wife didnt understand anything she was saying.
 
rod83 said:
Yeah that was going to be my next question. Do any of you know about a school where my wife could learn ASL? She has a lot of friends on the camfrog video chat thing, and i know sometimes her friends will teach her some ASL signing. She has friends that she talks to from all over the world and they seem to communicate just fine eventhough they all have different signing backgrounds. However, we ran into someone that teaches ASL and my wife didnt understand anything she was saying.
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There is plenty of ASL Classes in the U.S but it depends on which state you are planning to move, however I am sure most of the AD'ers here will be able to point you to the right direction
 
rod83 said:
Yeah that was going to be my next question. Do any of you know about a school where my wife could learn ASL? She has a lot of friends on the camfrog video chat thing, and i know sometimes her friends will teach her some ASL signing. She has friends that she talks to from all over the world and they seem to communicate just fine eventhough they all have different signing backgrounds. However, we ran into someone that teaches ASL and my wife didnt understand anything she was saying.
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RID (Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf) has an online search that will allow you to locate Interpreter Education Programs. Most, if not all, of these schools will also allow deaf and hoh people to take ASL 1,2,3,4
 
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