(Click here for a larger view of Sprint's WebCapTel)The new offering is a mobile version of a service first announced by Sprint for its customers in March of this year. To place an outgoing call on the WebCapTel service, hearing-impaired users log onto their accounts on a Sprint website (above), then enter phone numbers for themselves and the person they want to call.
Once this has been done, the WebCapTel service calls both phone numbers to establish a connection. At that point, the hearing-impaired user speaks into his or her phone normally. Meanwhile, the voice of the person being called is routed through a speech-recognition server maintained by Sprint. Captions appear on a user's web browser fast enough that it's possible to "enjoy a natural phone conversation," the carrier claims.
As described so far, WebCapTel would operate with any phone, including a land line, and any desktop web browser. But now, Sprint adds, its WebCapTel website is compatible with Internet Explorer running on Windows Mobile devices. Therefore, a mobile phone's web browser can now be used to view the captions that the service provides.
Noting that the mobile phone may not allow web browsing while a voice call is in progress, Sprint suggests the use of two cell phones for on-the-go use of the WebCapTel service. The Windows Mobile smartphone would be used to initiate calls by logging onto the website, and employed to read captions while a call is in progress. Meanwhile, a second phone -- which need not be a smart device -- would relay a user's speech to whomever they're calling.
Sprint adds that the WebCapTel service can also be used to receive calls. In order to contact a user, callers dial an 800 number provided by the company, then enter the number of the person they want to call. At that point, a connection is established and, once again, the hearing-impaired individual sees captions of a caller's speech.
Mike Ligas, director of Sprint Relay, said, "Sprint is committed to equal access to all individuals. This new solution offers the hard of hearing community mobility by being able to read real-time Web-based captions on Windows-enabled mobile devices."
Further informationAccording to Sprint, the WebCapTel service is free to Sprint/Nextel customers, with no restrictions on the length of calls that can be made. Service is limited to within the continental U.S. or U.S. territories, however.
For more information, see the Sprint WebCapTel site,
here.
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