INDUSTRY INSIGHT
Your Health
SPONSORED CONTENT
Court Ruling Makes
Captioning Telephones
FREE for Individuals
With Hearing Difficulties
A
dults with difficulty hearing will once again have
an opportunity to receive free help communicating
on the phone with captioning telephones, thanks
to a recent District of Columbia circuit court ruling. The
CaptionCall® phone, an assistive listening telephone
previously available for free through a provision in the
Americans with Disabilities Act, has, since October of last
year, been costing customers $75 per phone. The recent
court ruling has temporarily lifted this charge pending
further review expected to take place this summer.
Captioning telephones work like a standard phone for
the user but connect to the internet to gather captions of
words spoken by the individual on the other end of the
line. The captions are displayed on the base of the phone
near the receiver. The service is paid for by a Federal
Communications Commission (FCC) fund that fulfills a
mandate of the Americans with Disabilities Act to provide
functionally equivalent communication for those with
hearing loss. Delivery and installation of the device are
also free.
People with hearing loss are able
to gain an extra communication
advantage through this device
and program, and it’s free...
Captioned phones are a great service for anyone with a
measurable hearing loss. Talking on the phone with a
hearing loss can be difficult, leading to isolation and social
withdrawal. CaptionCall, by showing the lines of speech on
a screen, makes it much easier to fully understand someone
on the other end of the line.
The recent reversal of cost for the phone is due to a
Stay Request filed by Sorenson Communications, Inc., the
company that owns CaptionCall. The Stay Request was
filed with the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals in October 2013
and was granted in January. The free CaptionCall offer
will remain in effect at least until the summer, when the
case is decided, according to the CaptionCall website. The
outcome of the case will determine whether CaptionCall
will remain completely free or not.
People with hearing loss are able to gain an extra
communication advantage through this device and
program, and it’s free. If this is something that an individual
with hearing loss may want, now is the time to act while it
is still free.
This Industry Insight was written by Dr. Suzanne Yoder, Au.D.
HearWell Center
412.254.8934
[email protected], www.hearwellcenter.com
About HearWell Center — HearWell Center is a full-service,
independently owned audiology practice proud to be bringing better
hearing to the people of Pittsburgh for six years. HearWell Center,
located in Forest Hills, is a hearing care practice that has helped over
1,000 patients with their hearing, tinnitus, and balance disorders — and
offers state-of-the-art diagnostic testing and expert fitting of hearing
technology.
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