telecom@bu-cs.BU.EDU (TELECOM Moderator) (12/20/88)
Free TDD (Telecommunications Devices for the Deaf) machines are being distributed at this time to deaf Illinois residents by a Trust established by some 48 telephone companies which do business in Illinois. The Illinois Telecommunications Access Corporation is lending the devices at no charge to Illinois residents who are certified to be totally deaf, severely hearing impaired or both deaf and blind. Lesli Cohan, director of customer services for the ITAC said that over the next two years, the telephone companies expect to distribute up to 20,000 TDD's across the state. The trust fund for the purchase of the machines has about $5.5 million in reserves at this time, collected through a 3 cents per month surcharge on telephone subscribers in Illinois. A special model of TDD will be available to persons who are both deaf and blind which will output braille punch. In addition, several central locations in the state will provide operator assistance and directory assistance to users of the machines. Some relay stations already exist which receive messages from TDD users and repeat them by voice to regular telephone users. To obtain an application for a TDD at no charge, write to the Illinois Telecommunications Access Corporation, PO Box 64509, Chicago, IL 60664. You will be required to provide proof of your disability from your physician. Illinois Bell presently permits listings in the directories it publishes which identify a subscriber as a TDD user. Certain TSPS operator facilities will be equipped in such a way that an operator receiving a call from a TDD machine will be able to respond from the regular terminal at her position by typing normally, and reading the subscriber's message on her screen.