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speedial 1
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31# |
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(Date Posted:12/12/2006 4:31 AM)
Reply to : transparent
I can't remember the last time I had any hint whatsoever as to what was going on at the other end of my call., other then the conversation itself of course. For me, it makes the conversation "pop", maybe Deaf think it gets in the way- dunno.
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smoothloperator
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32# |
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(Date Posted:12/12/2006 6:56 AM)
2 Line VCO is supposed to be the Text orrig calls themselves and converences in their friend. so the text user is the term and orig....and you just type the conferenced in person. I had ONE of those in like my first 2 weeks on the floor and the peopld involved didn't do it right on their end (we're not supposed to coach someone if they don't know how to set up a 2-lne call right (I had my sup right next to me for it cause like I said, I had been on the floor for 2 weeks!)...so it ended up becoming a conference call, which pissed off the 2 terms I ended up with (which in itself disqualified it as a 2lineVCO) so they eventually hung up cause I had to tell them they couldn't keep talking past a GA and yeah..not fun.
I want to know WHY there's been an increase in people having us call like tele-conference lines or info things and we just type...they don't say anything. We're NOT your secretary, and for what it's worth, when we do calls like that...verbatim is OUT THE WINDOW...give me the option to ... all the way through a call I can PROMISE you're getting MAYBE 50% of what's being said and that's if an operators in a good mood. STOP DOING THIS....we're a RELAY service we're NOT interpreters or secretaries for you. I had to do a call that that once and my hands hurt well into the next day from it to the point I had to wear my wrist brace. Sorry I'm not going to injur myself like that because someone wants to get bits and pieces of an infomercial on something that's in all odds a scam at some degree.
The thing with training is that in 3-4 weeks (depending on a day or night class) is there's a LOT to cram in to not a lot of time, and really you don't get the full picture of how everything works untill you do on the job training and then get out on the floor to do it yourself. They can't possibly train you for every odd call you'll get during your training time. And Depending on your class, that determines a LOT on how much "random things that happen on calls" you'll get answers to. What they do need to do is when there are BIG procedure and processing changes or several small ones where there's confusion about what's changed...they should schedule us for a short stint to retrain. SO many things change and some have so many different interpretations on what they mean, that finding 2 people on the same understanding of something is rare.
TECHNICALLY for IP Relay, we COULD do IP relay to TTY calls. It takes pressing ONE button. But last year when they said we were supposed to do them, they didn't have the disconnection procedure right or any guidelines on how to use our program in Badout mode, so they scrapped it. Plus why pay us to press a button and then just sit there?
What I don't get is that we're Supposed to process the MY IP RELAY NUMBER calls...which is SUPPOSED to be a HEARING PERSON calling their DEAF FRIEND on a number, so it's SUPPOSED to be a VOICE ORIG...which for us operators that only do TEXT ORIGS...we're communicating with another Relay operator, and, we don't process ANY other relay to relay calls. But we're supposed to do these....yet there are NO procedures for HOW to do them. Just "do the best you can". In my last one-on-one I told my sup that's a concern of mine....he laughed. I got pissy about it. I was like that's NOT a good enough answer. If this is part of my job you have to tell me how to do it.
We're supposed to translate ASL if the Orig requests it prior to the call dialing out (which I've NEVER seen happen)...but we were also told in training that you'd just have to do your best on it because sometimes it really is a GUESS as to what someone is saying when they're typing in only ASL vernacular. In my training class we ARGUED during our Deaf Culture training on the ASL translation aspect of it.
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Verizon = Devil
Relay needs REFORM NOW!
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transparent
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33# |
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(Date Posted:12/12/2006 3:47 PM)
Speeddial, I think it's a matter of personal preference. Some people are confused by the voice tones and background noises:some of our customers have notes in their accounts stating that they want to know how the voice person sounds. I've even had many deaf folks ask me after the voice person sounded after the end of a conversation. I try to use as many as voice tones as I can, to keep the deaf person informed. They particularly need to know how the voice person sounds if the voice person is getting annoyed or impatient.
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What DO you sell q
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speedial 1
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34# |
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(Date Posted:12/12/2006 7:00 PM)
Now that is interesting, transparent because in years bye gone I was always given some clues at to what was going on, including voice tone etc.. It then stopped and when I asked I was told it was not "allowed" anymore. I just got off the phone with a friend of mine who said the same thing. She (Deaf) said she has asked and was told that oprs. couldn't do that., anymore. Looks like not every phone company is on the same page. It is also interesting that you would be allowed to let us know what is going on in some ways (and where you work), but not tell us if the person has an accent or dialect. Suppose I was receiveing a call from a friend or relative from the deep south and would like to know they had a souther "drawl". Indeed this did happen to me. I had a cousin move down south many years ago. We were out of touch for a number of years when seemingly out of the blue she called. Well, I was curious to know if she lost the dialect from where we lived (and I currently live) and took on the southern speech. The RO's said she wasn't allowed to give me that information. I asked my cousin, but she really didn't know herself as it hadn't come up in any converstions she had with anyone else. No biggie really, but I think I would have gotten a kick knowing she became a true southerner.
A similiar thing happened when another cousin of mine moved from here, lived in Holland for 15 years, then moved to France for another 15 or so- and now is in Puerto Rico. Well, I just wonder which accent, if any has taken hold- again she doesn't know. Come to think of it I should really ask someone else in the family- that would give me the facts but it would not help me to use my "imagination" which I enjoy doing sometimes when on a call.
Anyway, this came up on another board because obviously telling us if someone had and accent or dialect could help with scam calls. Well, it looks as if the rules are differant for the various relay providers, so I go with the flow.
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transparent
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35# |
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(Date Posted:12/13/2006 4:09 PM)
Speedy, it sounds like you are served by a relay service other than my employer, because we are encouraged to keep the customer informed, using as much detail as possible, unless the customer specifically states that they do not want voice tones or background noises. I have mentioned accents in my calls, particularly if the customer is calling a company that evidently has a call center located in India. I will put in parentheses (foreign accent), because I think the caller has the right to know this. Another time a caller was talking with someone who had a charming British accent, and I made a note of this for the caller.
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What DO you sell q
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smoothloperator
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36# |
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(Date Posted:12/14/2006 12:06 PM)
We're REQUIRED to provide 1 tone of voice and 1 background sound (provided there is one...some people are actually respectful enough to turn the TV off or mute it while on the phone!). We're supposed to provide additional tones of voice if there's a marked change...like if they sound friendly to start and get pissy later....but we aren't supposed to do anything like accents or anything ...it'd be NICE to tell people the person has a thick accent and we can hardly understand them and that's why it's taking so long for a response...or that someone is mumbling and not speaking clearly.
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Verizon = Devil
Relay needs REFORM NOW!
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speedial 1
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37# |
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(Date Posted:12/14/2006 5:37 PM)
Well, as I mentioned previously Sprint provides my service. I can't remember the last time I got a clue as to an accent, dialect or mood of the person etc. On the other hand it's been a long while since I asked because I was told in the past. the CA wasn't allowed to do that- so I just don't ask. On the other hand I don't do a huge amount of business calls and when I do I generally am the initiator of the call. Although it would be interesting and add a bit of "pizazz" to the call to know, it really isn't necessary for my business calls. It would be an "extra" for me. For Deaf maybe they wouldn't care anyway. Man, I think it would be such fun to have someone on these boards work with me on a call- I really don't have any complaints with my service- other then getting the feeling I'm being cut off sometimes (not rude- just gone) but I just think it would be fun.
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speedial 1
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38# |
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(Date Posted:05/06/2007 7:43 PM)
I brought the topic of registration back here as it seemed a more fitting place for me to be writing about registration issues.
I was giving the registration process some thought and until now never really paid too much attention to the uniqueness of relay. I have always said I don't see a problem with a registration of sorts but defining the process was not all that easy because being able to walk around and conduct my life makes me feel more "normal" than "disabled". Certainly, I can't deny I have a disability but really I don't know what "disabled" feels like! I don't think about it even when adapting myself in some way or another. I go about my life maybe getting annoyed or frustrated or angry at something or other but still don't label myself as disabled.
As I mentioned in previous posts disabled to me always came with the connotation of orthopedic or neurological impairment. I mean someone using crutches or wheel chair of something of the sort?but not me- with hearing aids. I mean who thinks of people with glasses as disabled? Yet deafness is somehow unique as far as losing a "sense", rather than joints, bones, or n | | |
