CPWD Update

New 10-Digit Numbering Plan

TDI Hails Recent FCC Advisory

1/21/2009

By: Telecommunications for Deaf and Hard of Hearing.

As the New Year begins, members are receiving what some may say "a late holiday gift." IP-Relay providers and Video Relay providers have been busy since last summer to develop new capabilities for Internet-based telecommunications. Now, for the first time, we can call other deaf people directly, no matter what device we are using. We can from now on give our hearing family members, friends and business professionals just one ten-digit number. Unseen to them when they call us, VRS and IP-Relay numbers are automatically routed to the default relay providers chosen by each consumer. However, most important of all, is the long-awaited fact that we can now call emergency services with a reasonable expectation of a timely response.

"This is a quantum leap forward in functional equivalency," says Jim House, a spokesperson for TDI. House adds, "When every TRS user registers for a ten-digit number, we will be able to call anyone, even if we use different devices."

Below is a Consumer Advisory from the Federal Communications Commission that will spell out the required functions that we can use in our videophone calls and Internet relay chats.

http://www.fcc.gov/cgb/consumerfacts/trstendigit-user-meaning.pdf

New 10-Digit Numbering Plan
TDI Hails Recent FCC Advisory
1/21/2009 By: Telecommunications for Deaf and Hard of Hearing.
	As the New Year begins, members are receiving what some may say "a late holiday gift." IP-Relay providers and Video Relay providers have been busy since last summer to develop new capabilities for Internet-based telecommunications. Now, for the first time, we can call other deaf people directly, no matter what device we are using. We can from now on give our hearing family members, friends and business professionals just one ten-digit number. Unseen to them when they call us, VRS and IP-Relay numbers are automatically routed to the default relay providers chosen by each consumer. However, most important of all, is the long-awaited fact that we can now call emergency services with a reasonable expectation of a timely response. "This is a quantum leap forward in functional equivalency," says Jim House, a spokesperson for TDI. House adds, "When every TRS user registers for a ten-digit number, we will be able to call anyone, even if we use different devices." Below is a Consumer Advisory from the Federal Communications Commission that will spell out the required functions that we can use in our videophone calls and Internet relay chats.