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speedial 1
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(Date Posted:06/11/2007 7:07 PM)
The problem is many hoh and deaf are newbies. One women I volunteer with is now looking into various amplified phones and in-line amplifiers and other assistive devices. She approached me the other day almost in tears because not only is she dealing with her hearing loss itself- traumatic enough, but now having to wad through devices and hearing aids and all kinds of communcations problems. At some point a tty may be in her future, but she may need help to wade through it.
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operatot
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(Date Posted:06/12/2007 12:53 AM)
Reply to : speedial 1
The problem is many hoh and deaf are newbies. One women I volunteer with is now looking into various amplified phones and in-line amplifiers and other assistive devices. She approached me the other day almost in tears because not only is she dealing with her hearing loss itself- traumatic enough, but now having to wad through devices and hearing aids and all kinds of communcations problems. At some point a tty may be in her future, but she may need help to wade through it.
It's not so much a problem if someone is new to the tty system, or relay, or anything.. it's how they act at being new. I've had many occasions where a TTY/IP relay user will ask me questions about how relay works and what certain shortcuts mean (ga, sk, qq.. etc). I don't mind in the least to help a user out with most of their questions (though if they ask a lot we HAVE to transfer them to customer svc.. ugh) The problem arises when the user becomes angry at US for some thing simple, like garble, and takes their frustration and anger out on US. We are -NOT- punching bags. I overheard someone being cussed out by a VCO user because they spoke while the opr was typing a recording tree... while us opr's are typing, WE CANNOT HEAR YOU VCO USER! The VCO user is muted while text is being transmitted. So of course while the opr was typing the tree, he/she made a selection, and the opr kept typing, and when it came time for the end of the tree and the "make your selection ga" part, the VCO user was cussing up a storm. If said VCO user would have simply asked the OPR if they heard her/his selection, I'm sure the opr would have informed the user that they couldn't hear while they were typing. Instead, said VCO user decided to be an ass about it.
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HELLO OPERATOT PLS DAIL DAIL OPRTOT DAIL!!
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dont_bite_the_opr
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33# |
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(Date Posted:06/12/2007 6:12 AM)
You know what I truly don't appreciate? When the tty user, or even the vco user for that matter, says "The opr just spelled (whatever) wrong, she spelled it (like this) when it should have been spelled (like this) omg i can't believe she spelled it like that hahahaha." or "The opr just typed (this) but it should have been (that) right q the opr typed (this)."
It's embarrassing. Yeah, we made a typo. It happens. We can't always spell Polish names with half a dozen c's and z's in it, especially when we're typing at 80+ words per minute. Its hard enough as it is to understand people when they're speaking, so please please please don't drag it out and make it a 4 minute affair and make us say all that about ourselves.
If I don't hassle you about typing "dail" I don't want to be hassled about typing "understnad".
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speedial 1
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34# |
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(Date Posted:06/12/2007 5:20 PM)
Well, here I am using relay in its various forms and still I am learning from you oprs. I sometimes use VCO and didn't know what you do or don't hear- just as I learned a while back, (from myjobsux in November) that with vco calls we have to wait to see the CA's ID number before providing the number we are calling. I mean the system asks us to provide a number then what do you know - suddenly a CA appears and we have to do it again- that's all I knew before the myjobsux post. It was not obvious to me before and why would it be? When instructed to enter the number I'm calling- I do, same with IP calls. I also didn't know what you hear (or don't hear) when we are typing and I'm sure the hearing person doesn't either. As I mentioned in an early post what is going on "behind the scenes" at your end is just as much a mystery to us as our situation is to you.
At my end there may be a kid or an animal disturbing my typing, I may not be seeing the screen well due to sun glare, I may not immediately realize something screwy is going on and you are notifying me because I am looking at my fingers on the keys, rather then paying attention to the screen (not recommended, I know).
Many deaf-new to the system or not, still see you all in a complex way. In our eyes you are the "master controller" despite the fact we would want to be the master of our own calls. You know the nuisances of the system, we wish we did. The reality is on both ends we are dealing with "unknowns". You don't always know if the person at the other end is stupid or just ill-informed. You don't know if the person has been sensitized to being left out (ignored) and so becomes defensive or just a jerk, rude, nasty person, you may not know how well or ill educated someone is, if English remains a mystery because of being Deaf, or if they are foreign born, and a whole host of other "unknowns". A RO doesn't see how many "regular" hearing telephone users are ignorant, abusive, angry, annoying etc. who on the phone lines all the time. A hearing persons problem or weak areas can be kept at least partially confidential- between the two callers involved. Many of our problem areas are right there for you to see and this makes us feel somehow "exposed" and vulnerable. It can also put us on the defensive and make us look more foolish then we already may be. Despite the fact I have had a good education am reasonably intelligent and have been deaf for a ton of years, there are times I still am somewhat apprehensive about making a relay call. Once in a while I still feel like a kid ready to be chastised by a parent. I know I'm not alone in that feeling.
On the other hand, we don't know how may scammers, abusers, rude, arrogant, unreasonable, people you have dealt with before taking our particular call, putting you in a testy mood. We don't know you have repeated yourself ad nauseum about what you can or can't do, or how to use the system, or listening to yourself being discussed, before our call. We also don't know you may be dealing with an unreasonable or incompetent supervisor, that you may be dying to provide us with information but can't due to time or policy constraints. We don't know if you're sitting next to someone with BO and all you can do is gag-. We don't know your personal typing skill level or if you are new and uncertain. We don't know if you are a shining star or a fading flower. It's a blind system helping deaf people.
Do you have the same problems with other then deaf users of relay?
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dont_bite_the_opr
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35# |
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(Date Posted:06/12/2007 5:50 PM)
Wow, Speedial, that is absolutely true, thank you for posting. But the thing I want to say is, if my first call of the day aggravated me to the point of pulling my hair out, I would go offline for a few seconds, breathe a few times, and never ever bring those feelings into the next call. It's appalling to me when an operator does that. We can take a break, move our cube, eat a mint, whatever. One single person won't be able to ruin my whole day, no matter how nasty.  Taking it out on other people is just a bad habit and people shouldn't do that. Also, after working in my center for 2+ years, I've come to know (much more personally than I ever want to) practically everybody who uses the relay. When someone calls in, I already know who they are, who they usually call, how they usually act, and what to expect from them. Things like that. There are some very genuinely nice people who use relay, and they have reputations for being nice. We'd get off a call and say, "Oh, I just got off from so-and-so, I love her so much, isn't she just the sweetest thing?" etc, etc. I hate to admit it, but we really all have our favorites. And then there are some people who get a reputation for abusing the operators, for calling in just to call us names, and getting angry when we do one single thing wrong. And everybody knows it, and nobody likes to deal with them. Nobody should ever be afraid to use relay - you could become an operator's favorite user! 
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speedial 1
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36# |
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(Date Posted:06/13/2007 10:07 AM)
Thanks dont_bite. I may or may not be anyones favorite user, but I don't think I'm their nemesis either, so a big sigh of relief from me. It is just so grand to have the system in the first place, I never cease to be amazed that relay works as well as it does.I must say to be able to make a call from home (or out with a wireless) is just the most wonderful thing. It really saves a ton of time and aggravation of having to go everywhere in person or writing letters- or the worst having to have a hearing person- especially a stranger make a call for me. I can't complain!
I have to say that most all the oprs. I have had experience with are very professional. I have had my share of those who may have snorted, sniffed or seemed to be on the moon somewhere- but not often. I also get the feel of the new opr who puts me on hold several times, probably to ask a question of someone. There is one particular voice mail system I have to get into periodically which is a little dicey. I have my instructions down pat so it's usually a newbie who puts me on hold several time. The "regulars" know the routine already and just go ahead and do their thing while I wait patiently for the results-- a thing of beauty!
Interestingly being so professional however, has it's drawbacks. The necessary professionalism can give the feeling that the opr is representing "the hearing" and not merely a person doing a job. It's subtle but it's enough for some Deaf to feel diminished (since many don't have such a command of English) and so they try to equalize the playing field by any means they (Deaf) have. Since the word "dumb" has such negative connotations for many Deaf it's replaced by "stupid" and may be the word you get called the most from a Deaf person who is feeling out of control and devalued. On the other hand I don't know since I'm not a RO. I know you try and stand back from all this (taking your deep breaths and all) nevertheless you're human and at some point it must get to you.
Sometimes I detect "warmth" from the CA and it is greatly appreciated. I realize the caution that comes with you all making a "friendly" remark. You may get grief from your supervisors and valuable time due to lonely people who would be tempted to take your time "chatting". So the distance you maintain is understandable.
I must say though it saddens me to read about all the guff you go through from your employers, hearing and sadly mostly from "us" (or is it "we"?)--leaving scammers aside. Anyway, I certainly admire your tenacity and those of you who fight to keep the probably corrupt system "clean".
In the good old days (before dial phones) when I was hearing, I remember picking up the telephone and hearing "Number Please" from the operator. I bet in those days they also got lots of cranks, weirdoes, and pranksters and had to take a fair amount of stuff from them. I bet they were allowed to hang up on them and of course didn't get the Scammers we have now and I don't think they had to pretend they were invisible or anything. In fact in the even older days (way before my time) they probably listened in on conversations and really got the gossip first hand. In addition the oprs of those times probably had the support of the phone company rather then being considered vehicles for income. I really hope things come around for relay and for those of you who care and can take what comes your way.
I may take the plunge with Captel one of these days and that should be really slick. Man with all the expensive phones and other gadgets I have, I'll have to live to be several hundred years old to get pay back on everything. Nevertheless everything that connects me with the world is worth trying.
I guess I strayed from the conversation- sorry.
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Blue-Green Freak
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37# |
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(Date Posted:09/27/2007 5:11 PM)
Reply to : dont_bite_the_opr
You know what I truly don't appreciate? When the tty user, or even the vco user for that matter, says "The opr just spelled (whatever) wrong, she spelled it (like this) when it should have been spelled (like this) omg i can't believe she spelled it like that hahahaha." or "The opr just typed (this) but it should have been (that) right q the opr typed (this)."It's embarrassing. Yeah, we made a typo. It happens. We can't always spell Polish names with half a dozen c's and z's in it, especially when we're typing at 80+ words per minute. Its hard enough as it is to understand people when they're speaking, so please please please don't drag it out and make it a 4 minute affair and make us say all that about ourselves.If I don't hassle you about typing "dail" I don't want to be hassled about typing "understnad".
I try to spell complicated names phonetically (such as "Sundyha" [Sondia]) to help the operator out, or type my numeric selections as quickly as possible (although technically I am supposed to wait for the "ga" but I do believe that both the CA and I would be happier to not listen to the entire recording anymore than we have to). I am curious about VCO and CapTel phones, however, since I am hard-of-hearing and it would be nice to be able to speak for myself AND hear the other person's voice while someone transcribes the other person's voice for me, but I have some questions about it. I did try a demo version at a service fair at RIT/NTID recently and I am not sure if it was that particular model, the operator or myself not being used to the service, but I do know that I dialed a number (my mom's) and was waiting to see something appear on the screen and I did not really hear anything either as it didn't seem I could turn the volume up very much nor could I hear anything on the phone when I should have been able to. When something did appear on the screen it showed my mom as saying "Hello, hello? Ga hello? (Person hung up)" all before I could even respond. The other thing I do not like about VCO phones is that the number keys are so HUGE - I don't mind getting a phone that is differently designed, more like a regular phone but it seems that a lot of these kinds of phones assume that all deaf people are ALSO visually impaired (granted, the people who would use these kinds of phones so far are late-deafened and are older and have more problems with vision). But I do think that if they designed these devices with more "appeal" to the younger crowd, MANY would be using it (and helping cut down on anonymous scam callers on the Internet) since many younger deaf are listening to iPods, have cochlear implants or hearing aids, or are just using the latest in technology for whatever reason.
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I will never forget the time an opr thanked me for "making her sing" lyrics to Cher.
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