Adding graciasvrs.tv to your D-Link

1. On the main menu, click on “Dial”
2. On the “Speed Dial List” click “Add”
3. Click “Name”
4. In the Name Box, write GraciasVRS
5. Name: GraciasVRS | Enter an Address: graciasvrs.tv | Select “OK”
6. Using your “Speed Dial List” click on GraciasVRS and place your first call

Click for Video Instructions

 

Adding graciasvrs.tv to your Ojo

1. Click “Phonebook”
2. Click “Add New Entry”
3. Type into the “Name” box: GraciasVRS
4. Click IP
5. In “IP Addr” type graciasvrs.tv
6. Answer “Yes” when asked if you wish to “Save graciasvrs in phonebook”?

Congratulations! You have completed the steps, please go to the main screen and select GraciasVRS in your phonebook and press the “Talk” button.
Click for Video Instructions

 

Adding graciasvrs.tv to:
VP-100® Videophone from Sorenson Communications, Inc.

1. Click “Dial”
2. Click “Speed Dial”
3. Click “Add”
4. In the “Name” Box, press “Enter” and write GraciasVRS
5. Name: graciasvrs.tv | Dial Method: IP address | IP Address: graciasvrs.tv | Select “OK”
6. Click on GraciasVRS and place your first call

Click for Video Instructions

 

Adding graciasvrs.tv to:
VP-200® Videophone from Sorenson Communications, Inc.

1. Click “Contacts”
2. Click “New”
3. Click “Name”
4. In the “Name” Box, press “Keyboard” and write GraciasVRS
5. Name: GraciasVRS | Dial: GraciasVRS.tv | Type: Video point to point | Select “OK”
6. Click on GraciasVRS and place your first call

Click for Video Instructions

 

Q: What is VRS, and how does it work?

A:

1. An individual who communicates by American Sign Language, or another mode of manual communication, such as Signing Exact English, contact signing (Pidgin Signed English), Cued Speech, or Linguistics of Visual English, uses a videophone or other video device, such as a webcam, to connect via broadband Internet to a Video Relay Service.
2. The caller is routed to a sign language interpreter, known as a Video Interpreter (VI). The VI is in front of a camera or videophone.
3. The video user gives the VI a voice number to dial, as well as any special dialing instructions.
4. The VI places the call and interprets as a neutral, non-participating third party. Anything that the audio user says is signed to the video user, and anything signed by the video user is spoken to the audio user.
5. Once the call is over, the caller can make another call(s) or hang up with the interpreter.

Hearing people can contact a Deaf, Hard-of-Hearing, or Speech-Disabled person via VRS. To initiate a call, the hearing person calls the VRS, and is connected to a video interpreter who then contacts the video user.

Our VRS services also offer Trilingual Interpreters, skilled in American Sign Language (ASL), English and Spanish.

 

Q: How is the VRS call paid for?

A: Funding for VRS is provided via the Interstate Telecommunications Relay Fund, which was created by the FCC, originally to fund TRS services. Funding for the TRS comes from a tax on the revenue from all telecommunications companies operating in the US. The tax on revenue is set by the FCC yearly and has been steadily increasing as the amount of VRS minutes continues to climb. For 2007 the tax is 7.2/100ths of a penny per dollar of revenue, up from 3.8/100th of a penny in 2000. The current revenue tax of .0072 is expected to generate $553 million against telecommunications industry revenue of $76.8 billion. The fund is managed by National Exchange Carriers Association (NECA), which also administers the much larger Universal Service Fund.

In addition to regulating the funding of VRS, the FCC regulates the standards that VRS companies and their employees must follow in handling calls. These regulations ensure that VRS calls are handled appropriately and ethically.

The FCC issued rulings include:

• The time it takes an interpreter to answer an incoming VRS call. As of July 1, 2006, VRS providers must answer 80% of calls within two and a half minutes. Starting on January 1, 2007 VRS providers must answer 80% of calls within two minutes.
• As of January 1, 2006, all VRS providers are required to provide service 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
• Reimbursement of VRS Video Mail. If a Hearing person calls a sign language user, but there is no answer, the VI signs a message and delivers it to the sign language user's e-mail, similar to an answering machine. Previously this service was not reimbursed and the cost was absorbed by the VRS provider.
• VRS providers are not permitted to "call back" when a customer hangs up before a VRS call is placed.

VRS providers must only process calls that either originate or terminate in the US or its territories. For example, a person in Canada may use a VRS service in the United States to call a person in the United States, but not another person in Canada.

 

Q: Where can a Deaf person call using VRS as a Free Service?

A: Anywhere the VI (Video Interpreter) can dial – as long as the call originates in the United States or Terminates in the United States of America.

 

Q: Are Gracias’ VRS calls kept confidential?

A: Gracias VRS calls are never recorded and the call content is kept confidential. All Gracias VRS interpreters strictly adhere to the Communications Caller Confidentially Policy. VRS interpreters are dedicated professionals who provide the highest quality VRS services in the industry for English, Spanish, and trilingual sign language interpreting.

 

Q: Can a Hearing Person place a free VRS call?

A: Yes, a hearing person can place a free VRS call as long as the Deaf person receives the call within the United States of America. Any hearing person who wants to place a call for an on-site video remote interpreting session would be under terms of VRI, and would need to call (877) 326-3877.

 

Q: Where did VRS Start?

A: History of VRS:

Building support for trials
Ed Bosson of the Texas Public Utilities Commission (PUC) envisioned Deaf people communicating with videophones more than 10 years before the FCC mandated it nationwide. Ed contacted Mark Seeger of Sprint Relay and discussed the possibilities. Mark contacted Sprint technicians to see if Ed’s vision was feasible. They reported that it was, so Ed brought the idea to the Texas PUC.

It took Ed a long time to be able to convince the PUC and get some help from a lawyer in interpreting. First, Ed convinced his supervisor and then one-by-one, the Commissioners, that video relay should become a part of statewide Telecom Relay Service offerings. They authorized Ed to manage the first video relay service trials. Sprint was the first service provider to conduct the Texas video relay tests. Bosson would later receive national awards from Smithsonian Computerworld and TDI for his work with VRS.

Initial trials
In 1995, the first trial was run by Sprint in Austin and was limited to four public call centers.

The second trial occurred in 1997 and served ten cities in Texas. At that point, Sprint and Hanwave Interpreting partnered to provide service. Jon Hodson worked with Ed Bosson during the early stages and provided video conferencing software during the VRS trial in Texas. (At this point the service was called "Video Relay Interpreting" or VRI, which a name that now refers to Video Remote Interpreting. Linda Nelson is credited with changing the term from VRI to VRS.).

In 2002 Washington and Texas tested a web based VRS statewide, with CSDVRS providing VRS services via the Internet to Washington state.

Nationwide implementation
In 2000, VRS officially became available throughout the state of Texas. In 2002, the FCC allowed for the reimbursement of interstate VRS providers via the interstate TRS fund administration, becoming the second country after Sweden to federally subsidize VRS nationwide.

 

Q: What are the United States Regulations for VRS?

A: VRS regulation in the United States:

Official Website.

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is the regulatory body for VRS in the United States. In addition to overseeing VRS, the FCC also oversees Telecommunications Relay Services (TRS), from which the VRS regulatory framework has evolved. The FCC oversees TRS and VRS as a result of their mandate in the Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA) to facilitate the provisions equal access to individuals with disabilities over the telephone network.