Telecommunications services for people with hearing impairments

Email has revolutionized the way we communicate with each other, especially in a business context. But sometimes urgent situations or issues need a one-on-one, more personal conversation via phone call. The latter can be a challenge for people who are hearing impaired or unable to hear. With many years of experience in remote interpreting, two service providers – TeleSign Deutschland and Tess-Sign & Script-Dienste – meet these language support needs. At REHACARE we learned how these applications work and discovered how they make it easier for (professional) people with hearing impairments or deaf people to communicate.

Conference calls, more complex questions for or from colleagues, other departments or managers – email might not be the right mode of communication for all occasions. Generally, many job activities in Germany require hearing and listening. Whether it’s making small talk with colleagues in the kitchen, the abovementioned telecommunications with other departments, off-site colleagues or customers: work at the office without being able to hear (well) has many implications and challenges. TeleSign and Tess aim to assist with phone calls. How? "TeleSign offers a video interpreting service for the professional realm, meaning any conversation pertaining to business-related purposes," explains Ron Hattenhorst. A sign language interpreter answers the call and connects with the desired contact. "The interpreter briefly introduces the service at the start of the conversation and informs the hearing person that the other party is a deaf person who wants to talk to them." The conversation entails switching back and forth between sign and spoken language.

Users need a PC or laptop with the corresponding free software, a webcam and an IP or VoIP phone or a smartphone or tablet with the corresponding free app from Tess. TeleSign provides video remote interpreting services for the deaf and hard-of-hearing who want to use these services in a work or professional context. "Anyone who is employed or self-employed or companies and institutions that want to promote accessible telecommunications with customers or clients" can use TeleSign’s services. Generally, users can apply for reimbursement of expenses related to the purchase of technical equipment and service use at their respective German integration office.

Private individuals can also make phone calls using Tess. The technical requirements are the same. If the caller can speak well, he or she can use the voice carry over option to use their own voice on the telephone while utilizing the interpreting services. In this case, the interpreter only translates the receiver’s responses.

In addition to video remote interpreting services for private and commercial purposes, Tess also has script interpreters. Who uses this service? Sabine Broweleit, managing director of Tess-Relay Dienste explains, "The service benefits all people whose hearing impairment prevents them from making regular phone calls or people who have lost their hearing as adults and don’t speak sign language. Suppose you lost your hearing tomorrow. You would no longer be able to make phone calls but you also never learned to speak sign language. That’s when you can use our script relay service." The cost for this type of phone call is not reimbursable but at 14 cents per minute, calls are still affordable.

What if I have a slow internet connection? "If the speed is too slow for a video call, you can use the script relay option. It also works with slower speeds."

Choosing the right interpreter is important as both services are important for many deaf or hard-of-hearing persons. After all, effective communication between hearing and hearing-impaired people also depends on interpreter skills and competencies. What makes a good interpreter? "He or she works for Tess or TeleSign," says Ron Hattenhorst and laughs. "Seriously though, that is a tough question to answer. I actually asked one of our interpreters before this interview and he had a hard time answering the question. But I think it is like with any other interpreting and translating task – the person needs a certain level of flexibility, knowledge of various subject areas and a large vocabulary," the TeleSign employee explains. "When it comes to our service, subject matters can change quickly and frequently. One call requires medical terminology and the next conversation might call for IT technical jargon. It’s challenging to switch from one conversation to the next." Having said that, 15 years of experience in this area prove that these providers have successfully mastered the challenge of assisting people with hearing impairments or deaf people with its services.