What’s Inside?Messages from Relay NC and CapTel NC ManagersClearing Things Up with CapTelCan I use CapTel with VOiP phone lines?Regional Resource Center Holiday Events

DSDHH offers free STS EquipmentSpeech Tips for STS ServiceWhat Happenings PicturesFun Questions

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We are so excited to launch our two new features. The first one is e-blasts and e-news that will

occasionally send out important information at three target audiences; Deaf community which will include vlogs (video blogs), Speech-disabled community and CapTel user community. Our goal is to keep you up-to-date on upcoming events, tips, important announcements, or changes in new technology.

Relay NC e-Blast and e-News Now Available to Sign UpIf you sign up to subscribe to e-blast you will automatically receive the quarterly e-newsletter.

If you know anyone interested in signing up for Relay NC/CapTel NC e-blast, please refer them to visit our website at www.relaync.com. On the right side of the Relay NC homepage, you will see the “Join Our Email List” button. Just click it and follow the instructions shown below:

Sign up to subscribe Relay NC e-Blast and e-News

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Go to www.relaync.com

Click Join Our Email List.

Type your email address.

Click Continue.

Type your email address again to confirm.

Select the service.

Select HTML or Text.

Type your full name, city and state where you live.

Click Join.

You will receive a welcome email from us.

Greetings everyone! It is hard to believe it is winter and freezing! I can see everyone is now wearing turtleneck and sweaters. I am not

a big fan of cold weather, but I do appreciate all the fun winter activities such as sledding and skiing. However it is obviously rare to get snow in North Carolina. I know this is a great time for many of you and you will be attending many holiday parties. Using any type of relay service through Relay NC will be beneficial for planning and preparing for your holiday parties. My co-workers and I will be attending all of the upcoming DSDHH’s holiday parties. You can find more details about the holiday parties through the DSDHH website (www.ncdhhs.gov/dsdhh and then click upcoming event). Have a wonderful and safe holiday!

RelayNCly, Bola Desalu, RelayNC Manager

We survived the Fall, and it was one of our most active seasons yet.

CapTel NC has attended numerous exhibits, including the annual Southern Women’s Show in Charlotte, the Speech Language and Audiology conference, Fun Day at the Park event, Riverfest, MumFest and Oktoberfest in Hickory. The Walk4Hearing was successful and CapTel NC helped sponsor HLAA NC. Over 400 people attended this fundraiser in Clemmons benefitting hearing loss awareness.

In addition, CapTel NC has been on the airwaves, with a new radio public service announcement (PSA), as well as being in the News and Observer with a full page Ad to promote the free service and phone.

For this year so far we have had a total of 182 installations and trainings from our CapTel contractors. Marilyn Edwards, Telecommunications Consultant from the Asheville region, has assisted with installations as well while we look for a Consultant to cover the western part of NC. Our CapTel team has now expanded to cover these areas and CapTel outreach specialists are working tirelessly to ensure those who have received phones get their free training.

With the holidays upon us, we count our blessings, especially with our neighbors up North who battled with the recent Hurricanes that caused such destruction. We wish for everyone to stay safe, warm and surrounded by loved ones as 2012 nears the end and a happy 2013 is welcomed.

Best Regards, Kim Calabretta, NC CapTel Manager

A Message from Relay NC Manager

A Message from CapTel NC Manager

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You can use CapTel 840i with VOIP phone service (you also need high-speed Internet access).

You cannot use CapTel 840 with VOIP phone service if you are using CapTel 840 in 1-Line mode. The one telephone line must be analog.

If you use CapTel 840 in 2-Line mode, you can use VOIP phone service for Line 1. Line 2 must be analog.

Regional Resource Center Holiday EventsThe Regional Resource Center will be hosting holiday parties for the community at different cities in NC! It will be a chance to visit your local Center for the Deaf and the Hard of Hearing, meet the staff and have fun. For more information, please check out their website at:

www.ncdhhs.gov/dsdhh

During a CapTel call, you (the caller) have complete control, just as you would during calls on any other

telephone. There is absolutely no interaction with the Captioning Assistant (CA) who provides the written captions that appear on the CapTel display. This is a little different than a traditional relay call, during which the relay CA might get involved to ask for a proper spelling of a name or ask the caller to repeat himself/herself for clarity.If you are talking with someone who speaks very quickly, who is in a noisy environment, or who has a heavy accent, you may sometimes see “(Unclear)” on your CapTel display. This simply means the CA could not hear that particular word or words clearly enough to determine what was said. Simply ask the person with whom you are speaking to repeat the unclear word. The CapTel CA cannot get involved to ask for clarification.It may help your caller if you relate the last few words that were readable. For example, if your CapTel display reads, “I think I’ll go to (Unclear) at about 1:30 pm,” you might say something like, “You think you’ll go where at 1:30 pm?”Should you ever experience a conversation that sounds clear to you, yet has numerous “(Unclear)” designations, please note the date and time of the call, and, using the “Review Captions” feature, note the number of the CA who handled that call. Contact CapTel Customer Service right away, and we will be happy to follow up and to make sure that every CapTel call is clear and accomplished.

You Have the Power: Clearing Things Up with CapTel®

I have VOIP phone lines - can I use CapTel®?

CapTel is a registered trademark of Ultratec.

If you are interested in applying, please contact the Regional Center:EDS, Equipment Distribution Service is a

program, under the Division of the Service for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing (DSDHH) that offer free equipment to the qualified citizens of North Carolina who have a speech disability. They offer various kinds of services including product information, product demo, assessment of equipment needs and technical assistance.

Process to obtain equpiment: • A customer contacts an appropriate Regional

Center (RC) (see contact list on the right) and ask them to send an application.

• The customer will be encouraged to seek assistance from their speech and language pathologist/therapist in selecting the appropriate equipment.

• If the customer indicates that they do not receive speech therapy, then the RC refers them to the North Carolina Assistive Technology Program (NCATP) for consultation in the selection of the appropriate device that will allow them to access the telephone.

• The customer completes the application and submits it to the RC.

• The RC staff screens the application and forwards it to the DSDHH office in Raleigh.

• If the customer requires training in the use of the equipment, the RC refer him/her to the speech therapist or NCATP (whoever assisted them in selecting their equipment).

Please note that the equipment is to stay in North Carolina. In the future, if the customer moves to other states, they are required to return the equipment to the DSDHH.

Division of the Service for the Deaf and the Hard of Hearing Offers Free Equipment for People with Speech Disabilities

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There are several different types of speech disabilities, including stuttering, lisps, aphasia, voice disorders and articulation disorders. It is common that each person with speech disabilities may

have different ranges of speech intelligibility and patterns. Some of them have mild, severe or light. The STS operator is professionally trained to re-voice all types of speech disabilities. Here are some tips that may be useful while you try to communicate by using STS:

Shorter messages – For example, use 4 to 5 word sentences instead of 12 to 15 word sentences.

Slow rate of speech - Speak slowly and clearly. Speaking fast will distort the sound and make us hard to understand you.

Listeners perspective - Imagine if you were in the listener’s position, what would help you understand him or her?

Describe – Try many different ways to explain things with different adjectives or descriptions. Expand the idea in depth.

Separate each word with a small pause – It is helpful if you pause for a few seconds between every word so it will help you speak clearly and not sound like mumbling, or a run-on sentence.

Proximity to phone – Make sure the speaker is next to your mouth, not away from your mouth. This will ensure your sounds go directly to the speaker and will enable the other people to hear you clearly.

Fill out the new STS profile form – You can download it from www.relaync.com/sts and send it to STS customer service. You can check the features on the form that best fit your needs and jot down any important notes for the relay operator to make the call more effective and efficient.

Speech Tips for an effective communicationby using the Speech to Speech service

PICTURES FROM COMMUNITY EVENTS

Walk with Me (Easter Seals) at Wilmington, NC CEO Connie Hoffman (left), Gary Miner, STS Outreach Specialist (middle), and Robert Frazier, Chief Development Officer for NC & VA (right)

LEFT and RIGHT:

Walk with Me (Easter Seals)

at Wilmington, NC

Gary Miner, STS Outreach Specialist, with consumers

Louisberg Senior Day at the Park in Louisberg, NC

Kimberly Parker, CapTel Outreach Specialist, explaining the Relay NC CapTel brochure to a consumer

Walk4Hearing in Clemmons NC

Kim Calabretta, CapTel NC Manager, with a mascot

Buddy Walk at Jacksonville, NC

Gary Miner, STS Outreach Specialist, with consumers

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PICTURES FROM COMMUNITY EVENTS

PICTURES FROM COMMUNITY EVENTS

LEFT and RIGHT:

Autism Society of North Carolina‘s Run

and Walk Event at Raleigh, NC

Jimmy Miller,

Relay NC Outreach Specialist, with

participants

Charlotte Southern Womens Show at Charlotte, NC

Kimberly Parker, CapTel Outreach Specialist, with a consumer

Onslow County Senior Expo at Jacksonville, NC

Gary Miner, STS Outreach Specialist, with a consumer

MUM FEST

CapTel Outreach Specialists: (L to R)

Debbie Canupp Johnston, Libby Caviness, Kimberly

Parker and Marcel Bellamy

Raleigh IAB Health Fair at Raleigh, NC

CapTel NC Outreach Specialists, Libby Caviness

and Kimberly Parker

RelayNC4030 Wake Forest RoadSuite 300Raleigh, NC 27609www.relaync.com

mailing label here

Relay NC Customer Service 800-676-3777 (Voice/TTY) 800-676-4290 (Español - Voz/TTY)877-787-1989 (Speech-disabled only)

CapTel Customer Service 1-888-269-7477 (Voice/TTY)

Website: www.relaync.com

1) Who is the new TRS Administrator?2) How much does it cost to purchase a CapTel phone

if you are not qualified for a free phone?3) What is the name of the new STS feature for

sending email call instruction prior the call?4) How many hours in advance do you need to book

Relay Conference Captioning? 5) How many regional centers does DSDHH have in

state of North Carolina?

ANSWERS:1) Mark Whisenant

2) $99.00

3) My email set up

4) At least 48 hours

5) Seven

Fun QuestionsDial 7-1-1 or use these toll-free relay numbers:800-735-2962

877-735-8200

888-762-2724

877-735-8260

877-735-2962

877-735-8261

877-825-2448

877-243-2823

TTY to Voice

Voice to TTY

ASCII

Voice Carry-Over

Hearing Carry-Over

Speech-to-Speech

Spanish Relay

Voice to CapTel