About
Ed’s Telecom Alert is managed by Ed Bosson who is a relay administrator for Texas. The alerts have a brief summary of the topic with a link to the full-blown description of an article or a document if you wish to explore the topic further.
When you go to edsalert.com and, if you find the blog beneficial, you can subscribe to it. It is fairly simple and self-explanatory. Once you subscribe, you will automatically get posts from edsalert.com. Sometimes there is no news for a while, and other times you may get a lot in one day - it depends on the available news sources. Some of the alerts are late in coming, nevertheless I often offer a brief analysis that may not be available from existing publications.
It is equally easy to unsubscribe if you so choose.
From time to time, alerts will digress to non-relay issues. One of the things that people like about edsalert.com is the ability to comment on any of these alerts and read what others have to comment on various alerts – from time to time you will see a series of comments about a particular topic. It is interesting to see how they comment.
Comments from readers are welcome and encouraged!
eyes open & thumbs up.
Ed Bosson
people are stranger
I wonder if there any company is working on having Text message with their deaf’s cellphone like hiptop or sidekick 3 or blackberry with 911. I think FCC should provide some funding to furnish all Deaf or HOH thruout the U.S. to have pager or cellphone to call out for emergency needs. These devices are their lifesaver. So we can have Weather Alert or Terrorist alert and other warnings.
George,
I think there were some talk by Homeland Security about that. I do not know what results were. TDI may be able to address this issue as they had won a contract of outreach for Homeland Security if I remember right.
hi Ed,
Congrats on the honorary doctorate degree! I remember you at the TDI Conference in Alaska and boy, have you come a long ways!
Do you have any figures on what percent of relay traffic is HCO? VCO? Text? VRS?
HI Ed,
I am interested in responding to FCC’s public notice of TN. However, I need some guidance on how to proceed on this. Are you willing to hook up with me via VP?
I do not have your email address. You can contact me by email, sacramentoCAD@gmail.com.
Thank you,
ML
I have one question for you.
I have been trying to find information about becoming a VRS provider and I find it very difficult. I’ve contacted FCC, but they are not helpful. There is no website or forum that may provide some leads to the right source.
Is the information only known to the internal?
John, Actually the informatin on how to become a TRS provider is same as how to become VRS provider. One does need to be extremely knowledgeable on reading regulations from the FCC. There is not one source on "how to become VRS Provider". There are quite a few subsequent releases by the FCC on issues for VRS provider of which an interested party is interested in forming VRS; these include waivers, access to emergency dispatchers, the upcoming ten-digit phone numbers, and quite a few other issues. FCC has no intentions of "holding hands" for those who have very little knowledge of telephone regulations. You’ll either have to do ur homework, or hire/contract out to a person/company to help you form the company. To forma VRS center for the first time, and to meet all the minimums probably will require at the very least $50K (this figure is probably low). If u have the wherewithall and all, good luck! eyes open & thumbs up, Ed B
Ron,
I must have overlooked your question. My apologies. If you meant data for whole USA? No such data exists for that; you’ll have to ask each states to get the info. If you just want interstate data (not local or intrastate), you can go to http://www.neca.org/source/NECA_Resources_216.asp
Happy exploring. This is a wealth of information u can find.
eyes open & thumbs up,
Ed B
Audrey Leger made a motion at our Houston Deaf Seniors of Texas’s meeting in March. She would like for Ed Bosson to come to our meeting to speak to us. If you need us to pay, please let me know. The only time that you can speak to our group is on the 4th Wednesday of each month. Just let me know which month you can make it. We are at West Gray Adaptive Recreation Center, 1475 West Gray, Houston, TX 77019. Ed can speak at 10 AM for an hour or two. Thanks so much, Nancy Morris - Editor of HDST Newsletter
Nancy,
You can send email directly to me with this email address.
ed.bosson@puc.state.tx.us
I’ll be happy to discuss this further with you.
eyes open & thumbs up,
Ed B
Hi Ed,
My research shows that there are an estimated 1.5 million deaf people in the US and up to 2 million who use ASL. Do you know what the market penetration is of VRS - e.g., how many people in the US use it?
I’m with a start-up called Vidtel, which is developing video telephony service targeted to certain segments, including the deaf community. It will allow people to communicate in real-time using video over broadband. It will be device-based and have one phone number - much easier to use than Skype and VRS and better quality.
Thanks!
MJW
Hi MJW,
There is no known formal research/census count of exactly how many deaf/hoh is in USA. Your estimated number seems awfully low and I would be interested in knowing your source. Anway to answer your question, no one really knows either. Your best bet is go to www.neca.org; go to the left, click to resource, and then click to TRS - you may find clues to what you’re looking for.
eyes open & thumbs up,
Ed B