Reaching Out More: Relay
Services in Total Conversation
Jim Kyle & Chris Coleman
Centre for Deaf Studies University of Bristol
2011
Inclusive World?
• Telephones for over 100 years but
most Deaf have no means of
remote communication in their own
language
• Text messaging is asynchronous &
clumsy & foreign
• Interpreters difficult to book &
expensive
• No direct emergency service
access
REACH112 – Total Conversation
• Choose video, voice or text or any
combination – new definition of telecoms
2009-2012
REACH112 (Responding to all citizens needing help)
a three-year project partially funded by the European
Commission under the ICT PSP CIP programme.
22 partners from 8 countries, including user organisations
and major global telecommunications companies –
Vodafone (Spain), Siemens, France Telecom, Nokia.
Large scale: €8.8m UK component: €2.4m
www.reach112.eu
Project Aims
• Deployment of Voice, Video and Real Time
Text
– Total Conversation (TC) – to all end users
who have difficulty with voice telephony
• Person to Person TC Telecoms Service
• Provision of TC relay service
• Access to Emergency Services through TC
network
• Monitor and report on key performance
indicators
• Evaluate service and propose a business plan
for trans-Europe Service
UK partners & roles
• Aupix Ltd – infrastructure creation & technical support to users,
personal data registration & management, software
implementation and updates
• RNID (now renamed Action on Hearing Loss) – Deaf and hard
of hearing users support, dissemination, interface to Government,
and RTT applications & interface to TC services
• Avon Fire and Rescue Service – emergency call centre TC
implementation, advice, training, interface to emergency services
• Avon and Somerset Police - emergency call centre TC
implementation, key training developer & provider for relay
service
• Centre for Deaf Studies – UK pilot lead, meetings, support to
partners, user recruitment, consultation & personal, home and
online support, relay service development and project evaluation
www.reach112.co.uk
for information on project
website for download –
www.myfriendcentral.com
Sign language
explanation
Text captions
for hard of
hearing
Feature list for
software
Available applications
 Fixed line videophones to TC
standard
 Free download for PC, laptop
 Specially adapted netbooks – for
ease of use and portability
 myFriend mobile on Android
smartphones
Inter-operability with Real Time
Text clients
Inter-operability with existing
textphones and relay
Relay Service Models in use
in REACH112 UK
Models are reversible – ie hearing voice caller to
Deaf end-user
Relay agents can see/manage all incoming calls
24 hour service – defaulting to text relay (a)
when out of reach of 3G and (b) when no TC
agent available
Models also tested for speech/lip-reading and
speech-to-text agents
Simple Sign-Relay Model
REACH112 UK
national pilot
myFriend mobile (smartphone) or
myFriend (PC)
Relay Centre:
sign language or text or
speech
To voice phone users
Centre-based
relay agent
Sign-Relay Grid Model
Multiple TC callers
REACH112 UK
national pilot
Relay Central
Relay agents
in different
locations
Independent Sign-Relay Grid Model
Relay Central
Closed client
base – uses
resource
Free agent
Open client
base – shares
resource; can
be agency
Emergency service access
Major European priority is access to 112 …
for ALL
REACH112 is testing different models
With partners in police and fire services
And discussions in appropriate emergency
service forum
Emergency access: UK Model 1
UK National pilot
Relay Centre:
sign language
250 PSAPs in UK
PSAP call takers
Despatch
National
voice call
handling
Emergency access: UK Model 2
UK National pilot
Voice, text,
gesture signing
Lip-speech; speech to text
HoH text
or speech
Relay service invoked as option
controlled by PSAP – advantages –
much faster response time; direct
sight of incident
Local emergency
centre(fire, ambulance or
Police) with TC capability
Relay Centre:
sign language
Emergency access: UK Model 3
signer
Hoh – text.
speech
TC call handling centre
with a deaf operator (sign
& text) and a relay
agent(TC)
Relay Service Issues for REACH112
• Must engage with existing professional bodies
• Appropriate preparation
(a) establishment of code of practice for work in a
distributed relay network
(b) establishment of the code of ethics of operation
(c) provision of training to relay agents for generic relay
(d) advanced training for emergency service call taking
(e) training for emergency service call handling staff
Actions incorporating ethical issues
• Persuade Deaf and hard of hearing users to embrace a
new technology and to become so familiar with it that it
becomes part of daily life – non-trivial – we need to
remove cost barriers
• Manage expectations and develop a code of behaviour
and etiquette in end users
• Provide appropriate help and support – online and onsite
• Ensure access to all information especially terms and
conditions in sign language and text
Evaluation Phase (2011-2012)
• detailed monitoring and evaluation
programme across 5 countries
• This examines all traffic, effective
use, case studies, user responses
• The purpose is to establish the
evidence base for governments and
commercial bodies to implement TC
Progress in REACH112
• Over1300 registrations (software/hardware
users)
• Over 3,000 calls per month on myFriend
network
• Upward trajectory in all areas – P2P, relay
services … in line with planning
• Emergency service training underway for relay
agents and call takers
• Online resources in BSL and in English text –
Help presentations in speech, sign and text
Structured quantitative and
user qualitative data collection
“Great to have this facility that does not need a special set number
before the actual phone number. Myfriend has now become my friend!
Type talk? No more- I hope.”
“My mother said this is much better, more straight forward to have a
conversation instead of Type talk. She prefers to use this from now on”
“The clear background used by the interpreter makes communication
lovely.”
“Wow! The picture is crisp clear. I am excited about this becoming a
permanent service.”
“Beautiful communication – So lovely!”
REACH112 - 2012
• Continues to extend user access (for all)
• Tests and evaluates a number of models for
relay and emergency services access
• Provides training to end users, relay agents and
call takers
• Measures benefits in a wide ranging evaluation
programme
• Provides reports and results to EU public bodies