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Helpful Conversation Tips

Handling Delays with the CapTel Phone

CapTel makes using the telephone as fast and easy as using a standard telephone. Ideally, this means that delays are kept to an absolute minimum, but there typically is a 3 to 5 second delay between the time a CapTel Communications Assistant (CA) transcribes the other end of the conversation until the time it appears on your display screen as captions. Occasionally, delays may be longer, depending on the speed and complexity of the conversation, or problems on the line that could interfere with the rate at which captions are displayed. To make sure that the other person knows that you are there during these delays:

Use the Signal Meter: This square graphic appears in the CapTel display screen during a captioned call (outgoing and incoming) and lights up to indicate sounds on the line. When a call begins, if you see the meter moving, whether or not you hear a voice or see captions, you may want to say something like, "I'm on the line, I will be with you shortly," to let the other party know that you are there. Many CapTel users simply let the other person know that they are using a CapTel phone. You may choose to explain, "I am using a captioned telephone for this call. You may experience a slight delay before I respond while I read the captions, OK?"

Avoid Awkward Pauses: Inform your callers that you are waiting for captions so as to avoid any "awkward pauses" during conversations. For example, if someone with whom you were speaking asked an emotionally weighty question, and there was nothing but silence on the line for a longer-than-normal period of time, it could be misconstrued as a negative response, when in fact you were simply waiting to find out what the question was. When appropriate, you may want to make small acknowledgements such as, "Uh-huh," or "Hmm," while waiting for captions to appear. Alternately, you might simply say something like, "One moment, I'm reading captions."

Ask Them to Slow Down: If you notice sizable delays in the captions, you may ask the other party in your conversation to slow down slightly if it appears that they are speaking faster than their words can be captioned, or to spell out complicated words or names, to insure the most accurate CapTel experience possible.

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Using Proper Names

When using proper names, feel free to ask the individual you are speaking with for clarification or the correct spelling. CapTel Captioning Assistants will do their best to spell proper names but ultimately you have control of the call as the operator never has contact with the "hearing" party.

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How Voice Recognition Errors Affect Captions

The more you use CapTel, the more likely you are to see odd words occasionally sneaking into your captioned conversations, words that don't seem to fit with what was being said at all: your neighbor talking about the "crunch sale" he's having over the weekend; being told to "leave a message at the sound of the town," or being asked, "Howard cue viewing?" when you could have sworn you heard, "How are you doing?" These are examples of the kinds of errors that may occur during a CapTel call. While they don't happen often, captioning errors can be confusing at times.

CapTel captions are provided by computerized voice recognition technology, which sets the CapTel phone apart from traditional relay systems. Instead of typing, a Communications Assistant (CA) is actually speaking the words your caller says into a computer, which "translates" what the CA says into the captions that you see on your CapTel display screen.

Because captions are sent "live," the only way to fix errors is after-the-fact. Have you ever encountered words in arrow brackets, <like this>? Those are corrections. When a CA spots an error, he or she makes corrections as quickly as possible, so that the CapTel user can see the correction while the error is still visible (making it easier to figure out what was really being said). A sentence with an error and subsequent correction might look like this: "I will meet you at the vest want at 1:30 <restaurant>" In this example, the words "vest want" are errors, corrected in arrow brackets as "<restaurant>."

If a word or words are consistently being captioned incorrectly, especially if a call is very fast, involves multiple speakers (as in a conference call), or contains many unusual words or phrases, you may want to ask whomever you are speaking with to clarify, "spell out" certain words, or simply slow down slightly to allow the CapTel CA to make any needed corrections in a timely manner.

Errors may also occur because of "line noise," or interference somewhere along the signal path. If a call is proceeding with no captions or erratic captions, or if you see "(static)" appear on your display, it could be that the CA is not receiving audio, or that there is interference hindering the captioning process.

If you receive a captioned call with numerous errors, corrected or not, please contact CapTel Customer Service. Make a note of the date and time of the call, and use the "Reviewing Captions" feature of your CapTel Phone, as outlined in your CapTel User Manual. Scroll up so that you can see the number of the CA handling the call, as indicated by "CA#xxxx" in the display. This information will help us trace and correct any problems, so that we may provide the best possible service for our valued CapTel customers.

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You Have the Power: Clearing Things Up with CapTel

During a CapTel call, you (the caller) have complete control, just as you would during calls on any other telephone. There is absolutely no interaction with the Captioning Assistant (CA) who provides the written captions that appear on the CapTel display. This is a little different than a traditional relay call, during which the relay CA might get involved to ask for a proper spelling of a name or ask the caller to repeat themselves for clarity.

If you are talking with someone who speaks very quickly, who is in a noisy environment, or who has a heavy accent, you may sometimes see "(Unclear)" on your CapTel display. This simply means the CA could not hear that particular word or words clearly enough to determine what was said. Simply ask the person with whom you are speaking to repeat the unclear word. The CapTel CA cannot get involved to ask for clarification.

It may help your caller if you relate the last few words that were readable. For example, if your CapTel display reads, "I think I'll go to (Unclear) at about 1:30 pm," you might say something like, "You think you'll go where at 1:30 pm?"

Should you ever experience a conversation that sounds clear to you, yet has numerous "(Unclear)" designations, please note the date and time of the call, and, using the "Review Captions" feature, note the number of the CA who handled that call. Contact CapTel Customer Service right away. We will be happy to follow up, to make sure that every CapTel call is clear!

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CapTel in Action!

Learn more about CapTel with this introductory video you can view online.

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