Factsheet 5 Telephones and electronic communications Text telephones Information on text telephones (textphones), including tables of comparative features, is contained in catalogues issued by RNID Shop and Connevans Ltd. (See Factsheet 1, Section c for contact details). RNID Shop offers a twenty-eight day money-back guarantee. Prices (2009 figures) range from around £200 to £400. The more expensive models feature a larger keyboard and display, incorporated printer and answer phone. Textphones supplied by local authority social services, on interest free, extended loan terms will be in the middle of the price range, e.g. a Minicom Pro 400 or Uniphone 1150. There are a number of communication protocols and until recently it has only been possible to communicate with a textphone that uses the same protocol. The standard in the UK is ITU-T (formerly CCITT) V21 but the standard in America is Baudot. Most textphones now sold in the UK operate on both V21 and Baudot, and this gives better communication possibilities. A new European standard, V18, has been developed, which can communicate with the majority of protocols currently used by textphones, so they are usually V18 compatible. It is hoped that in time all new textphones will be V18 compliant, i.e. will use V18 as their basic protocol. Text Relay Service (formerly RNID Typetalk) There have been changes recently in the marketing of text relay services. The Outreach team at Text Relay (formerly RNID Typetalk) has been withdrawn, and the RNID Typetalk website has been replaced by a new website for text relay hosted by BT. This can be found at www.textrelay.org or you can ring 0800 7311 888. Members of the former Typetalk Outreach Team have set up independently as Communication Access Consultants, offering Text Relay awareness and textphone training. They will continue to offer home visits to textphone users who require assistance, but will make a small charge for doing so. Their website can be found at www.communicationsaccessconsultants.co.uk which lists the members of the team and the areas they cover. They can also be contacted at 0800 118 2484. Mobile phones Although most deafened people are unable to hear voice telephone, there must be very few who do not carry a mobile phone to make use of the SMS service (texts). For SMS calls only, it will probably be more appropriate to buy a suitable phone and use the “Pay as you go” system to cover your limited use, rather than pay an agreed contract price for calls and get a free or low cost phone. Before purchasing a phone however, think about whether: You will you want to send text messages or go through Text Relay (formerly RNID Typetalk). (Keys on some mobiles are very small). The volume is adequate if you intend to use it as a voice telephone. Check with and without a hearing aid. Also check that interference isn’t troublesome. (Ask if you can make a call to someone you know and see if they will let you take the phone outside to check on traffic noise). It is possible to use a neckloop. You can send an SMS from a mobile phone to any telephone, including your ordinary home landline telephone. Some landline telephones can now be SMS enabled and you can send SMS from those and receive SMS from mobiles as text. If your landline is not SMS enabled the SMS sent from the mobile will be converted to a voice message and delivered to the landline in that way. The phone does not need to be registered for this service and it will work with any phone. If you are out and do not have an answerphone the voice message will be sent at intervals until either it is received or the time limit is reached. The main problem is that the person sending the message cannot be sure it will be received immediately. E-mail is now the main means of long distance communication for deaf people. As well as use on a standard desktop computer (PC) its increasing availability on mobile phones, personal digital assistants (PDAs), laptops and mobile computers is now often making it a preferred choice by hearing people also.