The first time that I called my Dad using i711.com relay through my computer, he nearly fell over. I used a wireless phone to chat directly with him while watching the interpreter sign on the computer. The interpreter kept up so well, that there was very little lag time between when my Dad spoke and my response back to him via voice.
We had gone from using a TTY, to text relay to voice-carry-over with text relay to this. There was no comparison.
While growing up, I could never use the phone with any success. I can remember calling my Dad at work and he would spell out answers to my questions with a y-e-s or n-o. That was the extent of my phone use. My Dad would become frustrated at times. "Come on, just close your eyes and listen," he would implore as he tried to practice with me at home. No matter how hard I tried, the words were always a jumble of sounds. By the time I was in junior high, I no longer even attempted the yes-or-no conversations.
When I obtained my first TTY machine, I suddenly ran up the phone bills calling my husband (boyfriend back then.) Today, the TTY sits on my kitchen counter collecting dust. Pretty soon, I'm going to retire it to a closet shelf. I can't remember the last time I made a TTY call. Or received one. Everyone today uses instant messenging, the captioned phone (Captel) or relay.
There's only one drawback to using a videophone for relay...
I have to purty myself up before I turn on the webcam.
Photo description: A webcam sits on top of a computer monitor. An interpreter is on the left with the caller (me) on the right. Photo taken with permission from the interpreter.
