Viable Opens Call Center and Sign Language Interpreting Service in Baltimore County
Deaf-owned provider of video communications services for deaf and hard of hearing people to expand to Baltimore County with call center and interpreting service.
Towson, MD (PRWEB) September 8, 2008 -- Viable, Inc., a provider of video relay services (VRS) for deaf and hard of hearing people, has opened a call center in Baltimore County in the neighborhood of Towson Hospital and Towson University. Viable will also launch a community interpreting service for Baltimore County entities such as medical offices and classrooms where on-site communication facilitation with sign language users may be needed.
"Our expansion to Towson will benefit the large deaf and hard of hearing community in Baltimore County as well as ViableVRS customers throughout the country," said Jason T. Yeh, Vice President of Technology. "The increased operational capacity enables ViableVRS callers to continue experiencing fast response times for their calls and -- what we are most excited about - our local presence will allow us to provide citizens and businesses of Baltimore County with access to sign language interpreting services in their neighborhood."
Deaf and hard of hearing people for whom American Sign Language is their native language use interpreters for communication access. In face-to-face meeting scenarios such as a patient's visit to the doctor's office, a sign language interpreter is physically present. For their phone calls, however, deaf and hard of hearing people use VRS and utilize video technology to connect to a Video Interpreter, who will dial out to another party then interpret their phone conversation.
People who want to call ViableVRS have a variety of connection options:
| | - Via dialing ViableVRS.tv on any videophone
- Via one-click connection on the VPAD, a videophone developed by Viable
- Via one-click connection with Viable Vision for the PC
- Via dialing ViableVRS.tv using XMeeting for the Mac
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"We are thrilled about coming to Towson, especially with the call center serving as the springboard for our community interpreting program, slated to start this November," said Alan Abarbanell, who manages Viable's three other call centers throughout Maryland. "Baltimore County has a significant deaf and hard of hearing population that desperately needs access to sign language interpreting services and we aim to respond to that need."
Viable has its flagship call center in Rockville along with call centers in Ellicott City and Frederick. The Towson call center will be operational in October and will employ up to 20 interpreters. Persons interested in employment opportunities at Viable are welcome to visit the Jobs section at the company website.
About Viable, Inc.
Viable provides next-generation video relay services for deaf and hard of hearing persons that can be accessed wherever there is Internet or wireless connectivity, opening them to a world of communication possibilities. Founded in 2006, Viable is a private, deaf-owned company, and the majority of its employees are deaf and hard of hearing and are personally vested in the innovation and development of the company's products and services. Further information is available at www.viable.net .
About Telecommunications Relay Services
Mandated by Title IV of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, telecommunications relay services (TRS) enables individuals with hearing or speech disabilities to achieve functional equivalence by accessing telephone systems to place or receive calls through an intermediary known as a relay operator or relay interpreter. Emergent IP technology has given rise to video-based solutions, which are known as video relay services (VRS). VRS options include using a webcam or a videophone to connect to a video relay interpreter, and allow deaf and hard of hearing callers for whom sign language is native to fully achieve the ideal of functional equivalence.
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