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AT&T Video Relay Service


For many deaf and hard-of-hearing people living in the United States, sign language is their language of choice. AT&T now offers Video Relay Service (VRS), an online relay service that allows users to sign rather than type their communications. Video Relay Service (VRS) allows people who are deaf or hard of hearing to converse in sign language, through a computer, with people who use standard phones to communicate.


Using a web-cam and a high-speed Internet connection, users log onto the AT&T Video Relay Service website and connect with a Video Interpreter who calls any number the user provides.


On the website, video calling is made possible through two video boxes. The user appears in one and the Video Interpreter appears in the other. The user signs into their web-cam and it appears on screen. The Video Interpreter sees the user signing and translates their message into speech for the person on the other end of the line to hear. Then, when the hearing person replies, the Video Interpreter translates their speech into sign language for the user to see.


In addition to the ability to communicate in sign language, VRS users enjoy increased communication speed and enhanced communication with the use of facial expression and body language gestures.


All AT&T Video Relay Service calls originating from the U.S. and its territories to anywhere in the world are free.

www.consumer.att.com/relay/index.html

 

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Anne M. Disdier