New captioned phone helps deaf

Published: 4:39PM Tuesday July 27, 2010

Source: AAP

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Source: ONE News

Life for hearing-impaired grandmother Wendy Home just got better with the introduction of new captioned phone technology which will allow her to speak to her grandchildren.

Home, 62, was one of the first to use the new technology in Australia when she phoned her daughter Michelle in Brisbane today while sitting beside Communications Minister Stephen Conroy.

With the help of an operator trained to understand the speech of the hearing impaired, Home learned that her pregnant daughter visited the doctor on Monday in Brisbane and "everything is going fine".

The operator repeated what Michelle said and it immediately appeared, voice-activated in writing on the screen of Home's telephone in Melbourne.

"This means I can talk directly to someone, rather than using SMS or email, and I'll be able to get an immediate response," Home said.

"In the past I've always phoned my daughter and it's hard to hear her, my grandchildren would say `nanny can't hear me'.

"But now with the new phone I can understand everything.

"The phone was very clear and I could read the text of what was being said."

Telco Australian Community Exchange (ACE) has copied the technology used in the United States and is funding the trial in Australia where it hopes to roll out 600 of the telephones.

ACE chief executive Sandy Gilliland says the technology has 98 to 99% accuracy and operates close to conversational speed.

"We've already installed about 30 phones in homes and the response has been fantastic," Gilliland said.

"There's nothing quite like seeing someone's joy when they pick up the telephone for the first time.

"The telephone is a device that can be daunting if you keep missing what the other person is saying but with the captioned telephone there is confidence that you don't have to worry about missing a word."