Upcoming Trade Shows

May 29th, 2008

HLAA
Reno, NV
June 11th - 15th

AG Bell
Milwaukee, WI
June 27th - 30th

NAD
New Orleans, LA
July 7th - 12th

ALDAcon
Chicago, IL
October 29th - November 2nd

Ribbon-Cutting Ceremony

CapTel President Robert Engelke and Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett at a ribbon-cutting ceremony to officially open the new CapTel call center in downtown Milwaukee, WI. They are joined by Milwaukee Alderman Robert Bauman, WI Deputy Secretary of Commerce Aaron Olver, and WI Secretary of Administration Michael Morgan.

CapTel® Opens New Call Center in Milwaukee

CapTel, Inc., officially opened a new call center in downtown Milwaukee at a ribbon-cutting ceremony led by Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett, Alderman Robert Bauman, and Wisconsin Department of Administration Secretary Michael Morgan. The new center, the company's second center in Wisconsin, expects to employ several hundred people over the next five years.

The new CapTel call center provides captioned telephone service that enables people who are deaf or hard of hearing to view text captions during their phone conversations. The captions appear on a CapTel phone, allowing people who have difficulty hearing to continue enjoying the telephone regardless of their hearing ability.

"We're grateful to the state and to the City of Milwaukee for making it possible to expand our high-tech operations right here in Wisconsin," stated CapTel President Robert Engelke. "In addition to creating new jobs and training opportunities for the Milwaukee community, this state-of-the-art center helps to further CapTel's leadership position in the assistive technology field."

"Job creation is a number one priority for Milwaukee and we are aggressively seeking opportunities to partner with Wisconsin companies that are poised to grow," said Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett. "CapTel's expansion into Milwaukee will mean new jobs for our residents and continued growth of this impressive company."

The new call center was opened in response to the popularity of the CapTel telephone, which has been well received by people with hearing loss. Having multiple centers also ensures minimum interruptions in service if something unexpectedly halts operations in one center or the other, such as a flood or a tornado. In those instances, traffic from one center can automatically be routed to another.

CapTel technology was developed by Ultratec, Inc., the world's largest manufacturer of text telecommunications equipment for people with hearing loss.

FCC Approves IP Captioned Telephone Service

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) today announced its approval of Internet-based captioned telephone technology for compensation from the Interstate Telecommunications Relay Services (TRS) Fund. Today's decision paves the way for people who have difficulty hearing over the phone to receive written captions of their conversations, via the Internet. In announcing the ruling, the commissioners praised IP-based captioned telephone technology as a "giant step forward" for people with hearing loss, noting the potential to improve employment, social, and economic opportunities for people who are hard of hearing.

New USB Option for Large Print Captions

Now CapTel users can view conversation captions on their computer screen, at any size or font style they choose. The new CapTel USB option lets you connect the CapTel phone to a computer to view captions on the computer monitor. Ideal for CapTel users with low vision concerns. Learn more.

CapTel Featured in Hearing Loss Magazine

The March/April 2006 issue of Hearing Loss magazine features an in-depth article about CapTel entitled, "Fighting for Captioned Telephone in New York State." The article is written by David Branfield, who is the chair of the Captioned Telephone Advocacy Committee for the New York State Association of the Hearing Loss Association of America (formerly SHHH). In the article, Mr. Branfield discusses CapTel technology, including 2-Line CapTel, and outlines the steps the NYSA is taking to try to bring CapTel service to New York state residents.

For more information about Hearing Loss Association, visit: www.hearingloss.org

PDF copy of article, "Fighting for Captioned Telephone in New York State."

New FCC Regulations Affecting CapTel

Effective January 12, 2006, a new regulation by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) requires that any long distance charges associated with TRS calls, including CapTel calls, must be billed to the caller. This ruling affects both regular TRS calls as well as CapTel. This means, if you make a long distance captioned call on your CapTel phone (or if you are calling a CapTel user and the call is long distance), any long distance charges will be billed to your local telephone number. If you would like the charges to be billed through your preferred long distance company, please contact CapTel Customer Service to designate a carrier of choice. If you have any questions when you receive your phone bill, please contact your local phone service provider.

Caller ID Capability Now Available with CapTel

CapTel users who subscribe to the Caller ID feature from their telephone service are now able to view Caller ID information directly on the CapTel phone display. Previously, Caller ID subscribers had to check their Caller ID box to see who was calling. CapTel also now features True Caller ID, which displays the name and/or number of the person calling. In the past, CapTel users with Caller ID would only see the Captioning Service telephone number displayed whenever a person called, because all calls are routed through the Captioning Service to be captioned.

The new Caller ID improvements go into effect automatically after an initial call is placed through the Captioning Service. If you are a Caller ID subscriber and you do not see Caller ID information on your CapTel telephone, please contact CapTel customer service for assistance.

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