
February 4, 2003
CSD & SPRINT OFFER FIRST 24 HOURS A DAY, 7 DAYS A WEEK VIDEO RELAY SERVICE
From: Sprint - 04 Feb 2003
PRESS ANNOUNCEMENT - For Immediate Release
Contacts:Steve Lunceford/Sprint - 703-295-5700 Rick Norris/CSD - 605-367-5760
steve.lunceford@mail.sprint.com rnorris@c-s-d.org
CSD & SPRINT OFFER FIRST 24 HOURS A DAY, 7 DAYS A WEEK VIDEO RELAY SERVICE
USA VRS Expands to Serve Deaf Community Anytime Day or Night
Overland Park, Kan. and Sioux Falls, SD– Feb. 4, 2003. USA VRS, the nation’s first Video Relay Service (VRS) for the deaf introduced last year by CSD and Sprint (NYSE: FON, PCS), today announced expansion of its services to become the only national VRS to provide full-time operations, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. In addition, USA VRS (www.usavrs.com) will be addinganinth call center to its network, making it by far the largest provider of VRS in the country. The expanded hours will begin Feb. 7th.
USA VRS offers the nation’s 28 million deaf and hard-of-hearing individuals the ability to communicate with the hearing using American Sign Language (ASL) in a format comparable to standard videoconferencing. A deaf caller contacts a Video Interpreter via aWeb cam through their computer. The interpreterthen translates the caller’sASLinto speech for hearing users,and speech into ASL for the deaf user. USA VRS is free to all users and requires only a personal computer, a Web camera and high-speed Internet connectivity such as DSL or a Cable modem.
“Sprint continues to set the pace of the industry in assistive technologies,” said Tony D’Agata, vice president and general manager for the Government Systems Division of Sprint. “Through our partnership with CSD, Sprint is empowering the hard of hearing and deaf communities with the ability to communicate anytime day or night, seven days a week.”
“USA VRS has had a remarkable effect on deaf and hard of hearing communities across the country since its debut last year," said Benjamin Soukup, chief executive officer for CSD. "We were the very first to develop and offer web based VRS and with its growing popularity in the deaf community, we’ve had customers clamoring to have greater access24 hours a day. With new call centers opening and expanded hours around-the-clock, we are delighted to provide callers with world-class services on a full-time schedule.”
USA VRS provides a robust platform with a mix of amenities that callers can enjoy including: optional profiles, security passwords, personal directories, text chat options, speech-to-speech, voice carry over, hearing carry over, and many others. In addition, USA VRS is the only provider to currently offer a
-more-
USA VRS Expansion – page 2
network of several centers across the country which helps in case one center should experience an outage due to technical problems or environmental disasters. Now call center traffic can instantly be rerouted to the next available video interpreter with no effect on the caller.
Users access the service atwww.usavrs.comwith Microsoft Internet Explorer web browser and Microsoft NetMeeting video software. For specific instructions on how to use the VRS, go towww.usavrs.comand click on “How to use VRS”. Voice callers can call 866-410-5787 and give the Video Interpreter an IP address or a username on ils.usavrs.com. Videophone products such as the MM225 can access VRS through ISDN lines (up to 384 Mbps) by calling 877-352-5300 or 866-660-7977.
Sprint and CSD have a history of developing innovative approaches to telecommunications relay services. The two organizations have been providing traditional telecommunications relay service (TRS) through a joint partnership since 1991, and in May 2002 CSD and Sprint teamed to offer the very first nationwide Video Relay Service (VRS), powered by the country’s largest network of nine VRS centers. Using video applications on such a scale to provide greater accessibility was a first for the call center industry as well as for the deaf and hard-of-hearing communities.
Sprint is the nation’s leading provider of telecommunications relay services (TRS), which include video and internet relay, with over a decade of experience. The U.S. government, 27 states and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico currently rely on Sprint’s 11 relay operations centers, provided by CSD. Additional information is found atwww.sprint.com/relayor atwww.c-s-d.org.
About Sprint
Sprint is a global communications company serving more than 26 million business and residential customers in over 70 countries. With approximately 75,000 employees worldwide and more than $26 billion in annual revenues, Sprint is widely recognized for developing, engineering and deploying state of the art network technologies, including the United States' first nationwide all-digital, fiber-optic network and Sprint's award-winning Tier 1 Internet backbone. Sprint provides local voice and data service in 18 states and operates the largest 100-percent digital, nationwide PCS wireless network in the United States.
About CSD
CSD (Communication Service for the Deaf, Inc.) is a private, non-profit human service agency headquartered in Sioux Falls, S.D., also the world's largest telecommunications relay service provider. As the leader in advanced data communications services for deaf, hard of hearing and speech-impaired consumers, CSD is at the forefront in providing barrier-free access to the telephone industry. Through a wide variety of contracts and partnerships, CSD serves an estimated 15 million users in 30 states across the nation. Since its inception in 1975, CSD has been dedicated to providing quality services, ensuring public accessibility, and increasing public awareness of issues affecting deaf, hard of hearing and speech-impaired individuals.
All products and brand names are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective holders.
- 30 -