WorldGate And Aequus Technologies Bring Ojo Video Phones To Deaf Individuals
Trevose, PA - WorldGate Communications, Inc. announced that Aequus Technologies Corp., a provider of communication solutions for individuals with disabilities, has chosen the Ojo Personal Video Phone to supply Video Relay Services (VRS) across the United States to individuals who are deaf or hard of hearing. The parties have signed a multi-year agreement to purchase Ojo Video Phones.
Aequus recently won approval from the Federal Communications Commission to supply VRS services, and wanted to acquire video phone technology that was easy to use, compatible with broadband networks, and capable of providing a high quality video phone experience for face-to-face visual communications. Aequus found all that with WorldGate's Ojo Personal Video Phones. It is expected that over the next two years, Aequus' wholly-owned subsidiary, Snap Telecommunications, Inc., under the Snap!VRS brand, will install thousands of Ojos for deaf and hard of hearing customers. In addition, Snap will utilize the Ojo directory service to support its Snap!VRS offerings.
VRS is a form of Telecommunications Relay Service (TRS) that enables persons with hearing disabilities who use American Sign Language (ASL) to communicate with voice telephone users through video equipment, rather than through typed text. Video equipment links the VRS user with a TRS operator - called a "communications assistant" (CA) - so that the VRS user and the CA can see and communicate with each other in signed conversation. Because the conversation between the VRS user and the CA flows much more quickly than with a text-based TRS call, VRS has become an enormously popular form of TRS in the deaf community.
"Obtaining functionally equivalent telephone services has long been a challenge for people who are deaf or hard of hearing," says Richard L. Schatzberg, founder and Chief Executive Officer of Aequus. "Now, by pairing our Snap video relay services with Ojo Personal Video Phones, people who communicate with American Sign Language or through lip-reading have an exciting new way to call friends and colleagues, family members, and business and professional services. We believe Ojo is the first consumer-focused video phone capable of providing the high quality transmission required to support accurate visual communications for the community that we serve."
Ojo is the first broadband video phone to feature a friendly and intuitive user interface and realistic, face-to-face, personal communications experiences over DSL and cable broadband networks. Users simply connect their Ojo Personal Video Phone to their broadband network to experience true-to-life video phone calls.
"We've known Aequus for some time and share their vision of helping those with disabilities to better communicate," says Hal Krisbergh, founder, Chairman, and CEO of WorldGate Communications. "We're thrilled to finally work directly together and see Ojo playing a key role in helping the more than 8 million deaf and hard of hearing Americans communicate effectively."
SOURCE: Aequus Technologies