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• Stakeholder Review

1. Range and Functionality of Services

Sprint was appointed the TRS provider in a TSO agreement executed on 1 July 2004. By November 2004 the TRS and NZIR were operational. The complexity and technical coordination required to successfully launch the services under such a tight time frame, is unprecedented in the delivery of TRS systems that meet all international standards including V.18, CTM and Voice over Internet Protocol. The V.18 technology standard supported by the relay platform automatically inter-works with telephones worldwide and the CTM module provides global access for GSM Mobile networks.

Sprint has developed and implemented a TRS platform that works seamlessly with the New Zealand telephony system. The New Zealand TRS Platform is totally Internet Protocol (IP) based and facilitates the relay of conversations between Relay users and the people they are calling using voice to text, text to voice or simultaneous voice and text methods.

In order to meet the communication needs of people having various levels of ability, the following call types are available (refer Sprint New Zealand Report)

Voice Carry Over (VCO)

This mode is applicable for Deaf or Hearing-Impaired people with the ability to speak. By pressing the VCO/HCO button on the textphone, the Relay user can have a one way conversation talking directly to the hearing person. Pressing the VCO/HCO button again reestablishes the text communication between the Relay user and the Relay Assistant. The Relay Assistant then translates the hearing person's voice into text that is sent to the Relay user.

Hearing Carry Over (HCO)

This mode is applicable for Speech Impaired people with the ability to hear. By pressing the VCO/HCO button on the textphone, the Relay user can have a one way conversation listening to the hearing person. Pressing the VCO/HCO button again reestablishes the text communication between the Relay user and the Relay Assistant. The Relay Assistant then translates the text from the relay user into voice to be transmitted to the hearing user.

Simultaneous Voice and Data

This mode allows simultaneous two way text and voice conversations between Relay users and the Relay Assistant. The hearing person can listen or talk to the relay user without need to activate VCO or HCO modes.

Internet relay (NZIR) is the fastest growing service offered with 43% of TRS calls being originated through the internet, accounting for 41% of the total call minutes for the year ending November 2005. NZIR is programmed using a platform-neutral, universally accepted programming language which makes it functional on various computer operating systems.

Call Duration and Growth of the TRS

Demand for the TRS has grown at a phenomenal rate. Figure 2 below depicts the actual calling levels (call volumes and call minutes) for the TRS and NZIR (refer Sprint Report).

Figure 2a: New Zealand Relay Call Minutes

→ Larger version of Figure 2a: New Zealand Relay Call Minutes [40kB GIF]

Figure 2b: New Zealand Relay Call Counts

→ Larger version of Figure 2b: New Zealand Relay Call Counts [41 kB GIF]

Text initiated relay calls through the 0800 number make up the greatest proportion of total relay calls. Figure 3. below (refer Sprint Report) demonstrates the cumulative New Zealand Relay call patterns through to November 2005.

Figure 4: Cumulative Call Patterns November 2004 - November 2005

Text initiated relay calls typically have the longest call duration. Figure 4. below provides comparisons of call types.

Figure 4: Average Call Duration by Call Type

Textphone-initiated relay calls are 1.9 minutes longer on average than Internet-initiated relay calls. A voice-initiated relay call to a textphone user takes about twice as long as an ordinary telephone call between two hearing people. Speech to Speech calls take a similar time as for TTY and Internet calls.

Incoming Call Alert

Sprint has been contracted by the Crown outside the TSO framework to establish and operate a Textphone Equipment Sales and Rental Programme. The majority of textphones are rented rather than sold. Textphone rental is subsidised by the Crown, and the rental charge is currently set at $15 per month regardless of the capital cost of the equipment.

As it has transpired, 43% of relay calls from Day 1 have been originated via the internet by people using their own computers. Consequently the demand on the telephone pool has been lower than anticipated.

With each textphone a lamp flasher is supplied to alert a Deaf or Hearing-Impaired person that the textphone is ringing. Feedback to the Relay Advisory Group and the MED indicates that users find this inadequate as it does not provide functional equivalency to the bell or sounder that hearing people use. A hearing person can roam quite widely within their home and hear the telephone ringing. A Deaf person will only know the textphone is ringing if they happen to be in the same room as the telephone and are looking in the right direction to see the visual alert. Users would like a better signaling mechanism, namely a wireless vibrating call device. The typical retail charge for such a device is currently about $760.00. It is desirable that TRS users be offered the choice between the standard lamp flasher and a standard vibrating alert device when they are supplied with a rental textphone.

Recommendation

A vibrating call alert device option is offered as a choice to TRS users as an alternative to a visual call alert device (lamp flasher).

Video Relay

A number of additional features sought by TRS users could potentially be added to the TRS platform. These include Video Relay and Mobile Relay.

User feedback was not specifically sought on the desirability of Video Relay services. However, some stakeholders have been commenting strongly on the need for Video Relay Services (VRS). DANZ strongly supports VRS. The reason is that for Deaf people whose first language is New Zealand Sign Language, it is cumbersome for them to use their second language, English.

Video Relay is available in three of the four countries against which the New Zealand TRS has been benchmarked:

• Sweden
• United Kingdom
• USA

It is usual for video relay to initially be offered on a restricted days and hours basis developing into a 24 hour service later.

The service is not offered free of charge to users in the way that conventional textphone or Internet Relay is. In the UK and Sweden users are required to pay a portion of the total cost on a per minute basis. Hence users must register for Video Relay service to enable billing by the relay service provider.

The average English literacy age of a Deaf person is 11 years. Hence all written material must be expressed in simple English. It can be difficult for Deaf people to grasp the meaning of a direct voice to text translated message in English due to the nuances in the language compared to NZSL. VRS allows Deaf people to communicate in their first language, improving comprehension and shortening the time a call takes compared to using a TTY.

VRS requires NZSL/English interpreters with typically 3-4 years of community interpreting experience and a very wide sign vocabulary in order to be to handle a call on any subject that may be presented to them. As at March 2006, there are only approximately 60 such interpreters throughout New Zealand. These interpreters are very busy in the community and to remove some of them from that area in order to work as VRS interpreters would create other problems for the Deaf community.

The technology to support VRS for users is now commonly available as a mass market item from electronics stores. It is typically an adjunct to a personal computer having a broadband Internet connection. If VRS was established, there would not appear to be a strong case for including VRS equipment in the Crown textphone pool because suitable equipment is available in the commercial market, and unlike textphone equipment, such imported equipment does not require any special country adaptation to work in the New Zealand network environment.

Recommendation

Video Relay and Mobile Relay should be the priority service developments considered as part of long term planning for the TRS.

2. Relay Access From Public Places

TRS TSO Obligation

Clause 6.8 of the Deed states:

"The TRS provider is required to investigate and facilitate a suitable cost effective technical solution in New Zealand to provide access to the TRS from public places, such as airports, hospitals and malls. A report on the outcome of facilitating an appropriate solution must be provided to the contract manager within 12 months of TRS start up".

Compensation to Sprint under the Relay Service TSO Deed for any solution to be implemented has to be negotiated as an additional activity charge.

Sprint provided a report to the MED on 24 November 2005 that recommended the use of new Internet and wireless technologies rather than the quickly obsolescing public place TTY technology.

Payphone Trends

In the USA, Canada, the UK, Australia and New Zealand the number of public payphones has been in decline for several years due to the emergence of cellular telephones. As at November 2005 Telecom New Zealand had 5,000 payphones of which 400 were identified for removal. Call volumes dropped 24% in the period 2002 - 2005 alone. Some payphones are not used more than a handful of times per year.

Technology Trends

• Users, including Deaf, are increasingly using the Internet and wireless technologies. Internet cafes are commonplace and Internet access is available from many libraries.
• The number of cellular telephones in New Zealand exceeds the number of wire line connections.
• Textphone access to and from the TRS is now possible in New Zealand using the recently released Textlink 9100M together with compatible cellphones operating on either the Telecom or Vodafone networks.
• Sprint launched a new cellphone-based product specifically for the Deaf in the USA in March 2006 to meet the need for anywhere, anytime communication. The bulk of Sprint's new TRS product and service offerings will be wireless based.²

Cost

The MED estimates that the equipment cost of a public place TTY in New Zealand will be in the range $1,900 to $4,000 per point of public access. To this must be added site rental, equipment installation and equipment maintenance.

User Survey

The user survey carried out by the NRB as a part of the Stakeholder Review posed the following questions:

How often do you need to make a call when you are not in a private home? For example when you are in town?

The Deaf community has traditionally had little public place communications access which may explain why almost half of the survey participants have said that they never need to make a call from a public place.

When you are away from home, like town or other public places, which way do you make calls?

Note that a possible explanation for the lack of Internet Café use is that NZIR users were not as strongly represented as TTY users, with only 32% of survey participants using NZIR fortnightly or more often.

Conclusions

The number of public place phones and their usage are both declining in New Zealand, Australia, Canada, the UK and the USA.

Public place TTY technology is in its sunset phase and is being overtaken by Internet and wireless technology developments at an ever-increasing pace. It would not appear to be cost-effective to undertake major investment in a declining technology that is rapidly becoming outdated.

Forty percent of New Zealand TRS users felt the need to make a call or calls when away from home. The more frequently they used the TRS the more frequently they felt such a need. SMS and Internet Cafés currently satisfy the communication needs of 65% of TRS users in this regard.

Whilst public place access for TRS users is supported, it is not the most immediate priority for a service that is still in its infancy and has not yet been taken up by all potential end-users.

Recommendation

Text relay access in public places not be pursued for service development at this time.

3. Relay in Māori Language

TRS users and support organisations, while generally supportive of the introduction of Māori language to the TRS, did not all see its introduction as a priority at this stage. Approximately 75% of participants in the User Survey reported that English or New Zealand Sign Language were the two languages that they felt they could use best to communicate.

Submissions comments included:

• We would like to see the service being provided initially in Māori and Pacific Island languages with a broadening of that base to include Asian Immigrants.
• We are a multicultural community. Often speech language therapists need to use interpreters during therapy to assist their clients understand, and it would be no different over the phone.
• I doubt that there is a need for other languages, including Te Reo Māori at this stage, as not many Māori Deaf have had access to learning Te Reo. However, there could be a demand for it at some later stage as they gain opportunities to access this learning, or if Video Relay becomes available. At this stage there could be a need to use a tri-lingual interpreter so English, Te Reo and New Zealand Sign Language are accessible.
• English, New Zealand Sign Language and Te Reo Māori, the Māori Language are all official languages of New Zealand, and all should be included in the TRS. We recognise the difficulty in attracting skilled and fluent speakers of Te Reo, and it is not currently practicable to have a 24/7 Te Reo service. However it is practicable that at publicised regular peak times a relay operator fluent in Te Reo be available. There are some implementation issues with extending the Relay Service to other languages. In particular, there is only a limited pool of experienced bi-lingual interpreters in English and Māori. It is acknowledged by users that it would take time and money to train sufficient Māori/English interpreters to effectively operate as Relay Assistants.

The use of a Māori language relay service would require that the text call party be proficient in written Te Reo. However, the number of people who have an aptitude for written or spoken Te Reo appears to be low. Unlike some other languages, all Te Reo speakers in New Zealand can also converse in English. Consequently, the demand for a relay service in Māori language is expected to be low.

Overall, relay in Māori and other languages does not appear to be justified at this time compared with other potential service enhancements. However, further work is required to assess the desirability for introducing such a service in future.

Recommendation

The merits of relay in Māori language and other languages be investigated further to assess the desirability of introducing such a service in future.

4. Speech to Speech (STS) Trial

A requirement of the TRS TSO Deed is for the trial of Speech to Speech (STS) relay service as a possible permanent part of the TRS. A number of people have speech impairments and have difficulty accessing the telephone system independently or at all. They may not have a hearing loss, rather they have congenital or acquired conditions such as Cerebral Palsy, Motor Neuron Disease, Stroke, Head or Brain Injury, that affect their ability to be understood over the telephone particularly by people who are unfamiliar with their voice.

The trial is currently still in progress and is scheduled to run for 9 months ending May 2006. The trial will open up telephone communication opportunities for Speech Impaired people who do not have a textphone or find using a textphone cumbersome. Relay Assistants received specialist training that emphasised techniques for positive interaction with callers and specific guidelines to assist them successfully and professionally relay conversations from speech impaired users.

There has been a relatively low response rate to the STS trial with 69 calls per month since the trial started and approximately 660 minutes of traffic per month. Organisations involved in providing support services to Speech Impaired people are not surprised at this slow response rate to date. They contend that there appear to be barriers that affect people with speech impairments accessing the service. These include:

• Lack of statistical information on the incidence of people who have communication disabilities within New Zealand.
• Difficulty in locating potential users. People with speech impairments are a heterogeneous group who often do not have the communication skills to self advocate.
• Limited outreach activity to Speech Impaired people. Sprint has had to rely on support organisations to contact their members and assist them in accessing the TRS.
• Some STS users have had no experience in using the telephone and so require significant coaching.

Support organisations seek the appointment of specialist outreach contractors to facilitate more active outreach to the speech impaired community. They are aware that STS has already made a huge impact on the lives of STS users. It has opened up personal networks, increased communication with family and friends and has facilitated job interviews over the phone. STS users who responded to the STS trial survey (23 respondents), said that they use the service to make calls concerning: business, employment, education, transport, professional services and personal relationships. Support organisations contend that there is a huge potential for people with speech impairments to benefit from STS. Having a Relay Assistant available to help people understand that it is a genuine call is very reassuring.

The STS trial appears to have already demonstrated the benefits of this service to those people with speech impairments who have had the opportunity to use it. There is clearly a huge potential here. More extensive outreach activity to the speech impaired community is required to realise the potential usage of STS. Support organisations are already convinced of the success of STS.

Including STS as a permanent feature of the TRS is estimated to cost $150,000 - $200,000 for the forthcoming year, depending on uptake of the service. A further addendum would need to be negotiated to the TRS TSO Deed to implement this change. Given current uptake, it would be realistic for the service to have more limited availability than the other relay services.

Recommendation

Speech to Speech (STS) becomes a permanent feature of the TRS as it is in other countries.

5. Internet Relay (NZIR)

The NZIR trial commenced on 18 November 2004 and NZIR is now a permanent relay service. New Zealand is currently the second country in the world to offer Internet Relay Service.

The NZIR is a telecommunications relay service that enables users to make relay calls through an Internet website interface from any computer terminal with an Internet connection. NZIR functions are similar to those of the standard TTY to Voice Relay Call with one difference: the call is initiated from a personal computer via an Internet connection instead of a textphone or telephone.

The New Zealand community began accessing service from their computer Internet connection immediately upon commencement of the trial. For the year ending November 2005, 43% of relay calls were originated via the internet by people using their own computers. Patterns of use for time of day calls are also very similar for TTY and Internet. NZIR growth as a percentage of New Zealand Relay has been exceptional.

In order to ensure the appropriate use of the service, Sprint has carefully monitored the use of NZIR to detect inappropriate use. Under the direction of MED, Sprint implemented a fraud prevention system that has been successful and has ensured that NZIR is used appropriately. Sprint bars Internet Relay calls to and from international telephone members, IP addresses and locations. Sprint recommends that NZIR continues to block all International calling and utilises the full Sprint system of fraud management to ensure that all NZIR calling continues to be appropriate.

The NZIR trial was a remarkable success and the addition of NZIR as a permanent feature of the TRS is included in Addendum Number 1 to the TRS TSO Deed. As soon as the first Addendum was signed, Sprint added video clips in New Zealand Sign Language and developed a New Zealand specific look and feel to the NZIR experience.

6. Consultation

TSO Liable Carriers suggested in their submission, that in the interests of ongoing goodwill between them and TRS stakeholders, greater communication should be undertaken before additional TRS services are introduced. They also submitted that any new services should be specifically documented as Addenda to the Deed with Sprint or in a new Deed.

TSO liable persons have been invited to make submissions and comment on the trials of internet relay and speech-to-speech relay. TSO liable persons have also been advised periodically by the MED about the status of the relay service in terms of activity levels and given estimates of forecast relay call volumes / minutes to assist with budgeting TSO levy contributions for the relay service. TSO liable persons also have a representative on the Relay Advisory Group and so have an ongoing contact for raising issues of concern.

TSO liable persons have had the opportunity to become more involved in the development of the relay service but have in some instances chosen not to actively participate. Publishing the relay service development process may be useful to gaining greater engagement of the TSO liable persons. It is the MED's intention to include substantive new relay services, such as Speech to Speech, in the TRS TSO Deed.

Recommendation

TSO Liable Carriers continue to be consulted on proposed new relay services

² Note that Telecom New Zealand currently has a cellular telephone acquisition alliance with Sprint