Fw: USA-L News, 01/31/00 No. 1

[Randy Mays]

----- Original Message -----
From: Nan and Sandy Sanders <esanders@erols.com>
To: 'Randy' <randy@pobox.com>
Sent: Tuesday, February 01, 2000 4:51 PM
Subject: FW: USA-L News, 01/31/00 No. 1


>
>
> ----------
> From: Philip N. Moos[SMTP:pmoos@PLUTO.NJCC.COM]
> Reply To: Deaf List
> Sent: Monday, January 31, 2000 7:22 PM
> To: DEAF-L@SIU.EDU
> Subject: USA-L News, 01/31/00 No. 1
>
>  From the newsroom of the PRNewswire, Monday, January 31, 2000 ....
>
>
> New Text Telephones are the First to Allow Worldwide Text Communication
For
> People Who are Deaf
>
> MADISON, WIS., Jan. 31 /PRNewswire/ -- For the first time ever, new text
> telephone technology makes it possible for people who are deaf to
> communicate with one another around the world, regardless of which country
> they live in. Previously, text telephone communication across country
> boundaries was impossible, because each country relies on different
> communication protocols for text telephone users.
>
> The breakthrough in communications protocol technology was announced this
> week by Ultratec, Inc., the largest manufacturer of text telephones. Text
> telephones, also known as TTYs, enable people who are deaf or hard of
> hearing to communicate over the telephone system by typing messages back
> and forth on a specialized keyboard.
>
> The new text telephones utilize a special communications protocol called
> V.18, which is designed to allow text telephones from many different
> countries to communicate with one another. Ultratec's version of the V.18
> protocol, known as "V.18/T," is included in the company's new Minicom
> Pro8000a* series of advanced text telephones, being launched this week in
> Great Britain.
>
> "The new V.18/T mode in Ultratec's text telephones marks the beginning of
> universal compatibility for text telephone users around the world," states
> Christopher Jones, President of Teletec International, one of Great
> Britain's largest providers of telecommunications equipment for people
with
> special needs.
>
> "Text telephones have evolved over the years more or less independently in
> several countries, leading to a mixture of unique and often
> non-standardized communications codes being used," explains Kevin Colwell,
> Vice President of Research and Development at Ultratec. "Ultratec's V.18/T
> mode automatically sorts through various codes and finds a code that the
> text telephones at both ends of the call can use. It is similar to the way
> that fax machines find a code that both fax machines can communicate in,"
> Colwell states.
>
> The V.18 concept has been developed through the efforts of many persons
and
> organizations around the world who saw the need for a universal method of
> communicating between text telephones from different countries. British
> Telecom took on the commitment to develop the first V.18 modems to both
> prove the concept and for experimentation to shake out the technical bugs
> of the V.18 protocol. Ultratec, working with several experts and
> organizations involved in the development of V.18, then developed a
> functional system for implementing the V.18/T system into its text
> telephones. The Ultratec system is unique in that it includes Turbo
Code(R)
> among several other text telephone codes making V.18/T equipped text
> telephones compatible with a majority of text telephones and dual party
> relay systems worldwide.
>
> "After years of development work," said Ultratec President Robert Engelke,
> "we are pleased to announce the first production text telephone with V.18
> capabilities."
>
> The technology comes at no cost to British users since Ultratec's text
> telephones in the UK already have the necessary hardware to perform
V.18/T.
> "It was simply a matter of designing the appropriate software and doing a
> lot of testing," stated Colwell.
>
> "This is a starting point for the industry, a benchmark to be improved
upon
> as we learn more about universal compatibility," stated Engelke. "Ultratec
> is proud to be the first text telephone manufacturer to offer V.18
> capability in a production text telephone. We plan to introduce V.18/T
into
> additional text telephones in our line and hope that other manufacturers
> will follow the example by offering V.18 communications capabilities as
> well," he said.
>
>         *  The "a" after Pro8000 should read as a superscript.
>
> Contact: Jackie Morgan of Ultratec, Inc., 608-238-5400, Voice - TTY,
> jmorgan@ultratec.com
>
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> +-------------------------------------------------------+
> |  Philip N. Moos              pmoos@pluto.njcc.com     |
> +-------------------------------------------------------+
>
>
>
>