A New Year Resolution for Bell Relay Service: Update Nº 1

Got an respond to my email about upgrading Bell Relay Services from Bell Relay Services' representative, Nicole. Was disappointed in her attempt to assist me with my comments and concerns because her respond lacked any reference to my original concerns and comments.

That is not all, she said I had to leave my name, home and alternative phone number, comment and concerns in my email so a representative could call me to respond to my comment and concerns. So much for using "accessible" as their email address!

I responded to Nicole explaining that TTYs are becoming obsolete and I am one of the Deaf people who prefer to use my web cam and laptop to make phone calls so there is no way they can respond to my comment and concerns.

Hello Nicole,

Thank you for assisting me with my comments and concerns. I have another concern about your assistance. Your respond never referred to anything I mentioned in my December 30, 2006 email to Bell Relay Services.

You asked me to leave my name, home and alternative telephone number and question or concern in my email. Did you actually read my email? I mentioned that TTYs are quickly becoming obsolete, in this case I do not have any TTYs and am unable to make phone calls as easily as I can using my web cam and laptop. As Bell Relay's email address begins with "accessible", I believe Bell Relay should make every effort to make their representatives accessible, not limited only to phones when they offer an email address.

You also never made any references to my suggestions about Bell Relay improving the quality of relay services by implementing IP Relay or Video Relay services so Deaf people can communicate using their native language, ASL on the phone with hearing people.

So next time you or other Bell Relay representatives make any attempt to assist customers with their comments and concerns, read their comments and concerns first before responding so customers can get answers the first time.

Respectfully yours,



oneninefive

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Accessible <accessible@bell.ca >
Date: Jan 11, 2007 8:44 AM
Subject: Re: Bell Relay Services Comment & Suggestion: (KMM7678154I63L0KM)
To: "oneninefive" <mplaing@gmail.com>

Hello Michael

Thank you for visiting Bell's web site. My name is Nicole and I am
pleased to assist you with your comments and concerns.

I apologize for the delay in responding. We strive for a 100% response
rate within 48 hours, however, due to an overwhelming amount of
inquiries, we have experienced some temporary delays. Your patience has
been greatly appreciated.

If you have a hearing, visual or physical disability, you can contact
our Special Needs centre for information on special equipment that will
make telephoning easier. The staff in the centre is specially trained
to give advice and recommendations on the type of equipment best suited
to your needs.

Customers with special needs are entitled to discounts on certain
equipment. For example, TTY/teletypewriter users are entitled to a 50%
reduction for long distance calls made within Canada to other Canadian
points and billed to their Bell Canada phone number.

The Bell Special Needs department can be reached by TTY at
1-800-268-9242 or by telephone at 1-800-268-9243. Their hours of
operation are Monday to Friday (excluding holidays) 8:30 a.m. to 5:00
p.m.

You may also send an e-mail to:

accessible@bell.ca

Please include the following details in your e-mail as a representative
can only contact you via TTY or telephone:

- Name:
- Home telephone number:
- Alternative contact number:
- Your question or concern:

Upon reviewing your e-mail, a representative will gladly call you to
assist you further.

For more information regarding Special Needs and Bell Canada Relay
Service (BCRS), please visit our web site at these locations:

http://www.bell.ca/specialneeds

If you have additional questions or concerns, please send an e-mail to
my attention. Thank you for the opportunity to assist you. Your
business is appreciated.

Have a great day!

Regards

Nicole
Bell Internet Centre



Original Message Follows:
------------------------

Kana Case ID 3068107 Date Received In Kana 1/9/07 Kana Case ID 3065094
Date Received In Kana 1/8/07 Kana Case ID 3059436 Date Received In Kana
1/5/07 Kana Case ID 3056220 Date Received In Kana 1/4/07 Kana Case ID
3053083 Date Received In Kana 1/3/07 Kana Case ID 3045922 Date Received
In Kana 12/30/06
Office of the Manager
P.O. Box 920, Station A
Toronto, Ontario
M5W 1G5



December 30, 2006


Dear Sir/Madam;

Hello, I am a Deaf person living in Ontario and I moved to the United
States almost ten years ago and moved back to Ontario a few months ago.
I wanted to comment on Bell's commitment to provide Relay Services for
the Deaf in Canada. I studied Business Administration Management and
one of the courses I took focused on Quality Assurance and when I
compare the Relay Services Bell provided ten years ago and today, the
quality remains the same.

I would like to find out what kind of actions Bell has taken to increase
the quality of Bell Relay Services? It was difficult for me to find
contact information to share my concerns. Does Bell Relay Services
benchmark its' own relay services against other relay service providers,
including relay services provided in other countries? I believe there
are opportunities to provide relay services at lower costs using other
technology that is readily available in the Deaf community. The
Teletype devices that Bell Relay Services was developed more than
fifteen year ago are rapidly becoming obsolete (I never used the TTY
during my entire time living in the United States, but was able to make
phone calls to Deaf impaired (hearing) people),
The technology I am talking about takes advantage of the internet. Has
Bell investigated the opportunity of implementing the internet for relay
services? Have you ever experimented with something called IP Relay?
There are plenty of companies in the United States that provide IP Relay
Services, to list a few for example: www.ip-relay.com, www.sprintip.com ,
http://www.siprelay.com, and so on. There are other advanced relay
service technology out there that take advantage of our natural
language, American Sign Language. Those relay services are called Video
Relay Services (VRS) and they use either web cams or video phones (see
what video phones are like at http://www.dlink.com/products/?pid=8&sec=0).
If you want to learn more about those services, these are websites of
the companies that provide Video Relay Services: www.ip-vrs.com,
www.sorensonvrs.com , www.sprintvrs.com, www.hovrs.com and so on.

I look forward to talking with someone from Bell Relay Services about
modernizing Canada's relay services quality. Bringing Bell Relay
Service out of the "stone age" era should be one of Bell's New Year
Resolution for 2007.

Sincerely yours,




Michael P. Laing