My First Video Relay Service Call

I had my first video relay phone call last week, interviewing Purple Communications' customer care director Diana Herron.

Purple provides text and video relay services and sign language interpreters that give deaf and hard-of-hearing individuals access to real-time phone conversations.

I spoke my questions to an American Sign Language (ASL) interpreter, who signed them to Herron, who was watching via video. The interpreter would then speak Diana's signed responses to me.

What an amazing development VRS is: though less than a decade old, conversations flow in near real-time, making TTY, I'm guessing, feel as antiquated as the telegraph for deaf and hard-of-hearing callers.

The only difficulty I had to overcome was treating the interpreter as part of the conversation. He or she never is, but is rather a neutral interchange for my words and Diana's signs.

Once you realize the interpreter is the persons you're talking to, the conversation flows freely. I look forward to using VRS in the future.