Please find enclosed the newspaper story printed in the Olathe News on May 3rd, 2007.
Leonard
Kansas Welcomes New Relay Service for Deaf
By Leonard Hall
The new Telecommunications Relay Service (TRS) provider for Kansas is Hamilton Relay, Inc. out of Aurora, Nebraska. Hamilton Relay will replace AT&T, formerly Southwestern Bell Company, who operated the TRS in Kansas for almost 20 years.
TRS is a free, 24-hour service that enables telephone communication between deaf and hard of hearing people using TTY. An operator answers the call and places another call to the other person who the TTY user wishes to reach.
The operator translates and relays conversations confidentially by converting voice information to typed communication and reading aloud types messages to the hearing person.
Hamilton Relay provides TRS in 15 states and Virgin Islands. It is a division of Hamilton Telecommunications, which has grown to provide local telephone services, Internet service, call center services, long distance, and cable television in addition to relay services.
Hamilton is a family-owned company. The relay services comprise half of Hamilton business.
Hamilton will provide other telecommunication services in Kansas.
CapTel will allow people to view word-for-word captions of their telephone conversation, and that is ideal for individuals who have good speech but cannot hear well over the phone.
Video Relay Service (VRS) allows people who use ASL to make use of video equipment, high speed internet access and interpreters to communicate with standard telephone users. It can be accessed through a computer with a webcam or through a videophone.
Hamilton also provides Internet Relay and Relay Wireless service.
AT&T and Southwestern Bell did a great job of providing TRS for deaf people in Kansas for many years.
The deaf community will miss David Rosenthal at AT&T and his outstanding services.
Rosenthal recently was selected as president of the Kansas Telecommunications Industry Association (KTIA) and is the first deaf president of the association.
The deaf community will be looking forward to see what Hamilton will offer.
(Leonard Hall writes a weekly column for the deaf community and can be reached at Legalnetwk@aol.com.)
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