Instant messaging helps the Deaf
‘As a deaf 16-year-old, Russell Kane didn’t know how to ask a cute classmate out on a date. So he bribed his sister Lesley (with $1) to make the call. She relayed the ‘‘no thanks’’ back to him.
Kane, 40, now teaches social studies to deaf students in White Plains, N.Y., and can make phone calls through a service called Internet Protocol (IP) relay at his convenience.
‘‘Deaf boys can easily use IP relay to call girls and ask them out whether they are hearing or deaf,’’ he wrote in a text message response.
IP relay is a new and evolving service in which operators transcribe phone calls over the Internet in near-real time to people who are deaf or hard of hearing and then read their instant message replies back to the hearing caller.
‘‘It’s very convenient,’’ said John Pirone, director of the Malden-based Massachusetts State Association for the Deaf.’
Read more at Instant messaging reaches out and touches deaf people
Recent Entries
- Yahoo! offers phone via instant messaging
- FaceTime Secures Instant Messaging For Distance Learning University
- Yahoo Messenger Integrates VOIP
- Mobile IM for Skype
- New Botnets Utilizing Instant Messaging
- Secure Developers Portal for Instant Messaging Bots
- ScanSafe Intros IM Security Management
- SIP Unified Communications Is All the Buzz
- Akonix Rolls Comprehensive Instant Messaging Security Bundle
- Microsoft Messenger for Mac 5.1