April 22, 2014, Aurora Neb. – Hamilton Relay, a leading provider of telecommunications relay and captioned telephone service, is pleased to announce that it will continue as the provider of Virginia Relay Captioned Telephone (CapTel®) service as part of a recent contract extension agreement between Hamilton and the Commonwealth of Virginia.
Hamilton has served as the contracted provider of Virginia Relay CapTel since 2011, and the one-year contract agreement extends this term of service through March 31, 2015.
Virginia Relay CapTel service is designed for individuals who have difficulty hearing on the telephone and are able to speak for themselves. Through the use of a CapTel phone, users listen while viewing word-for-word captions of what’s being said to them during phone conversations. Captions are generated by specially-trained Captioning Assistants who repeat everything said by the standard phone user into state-of-the-art voice recognition software. The speech is then converted almost simultaneously into text that appears on the screen of the CapTel phone. Captions are available in English or Spanish. More information is available at www.VACapTel.com.
“Hamilton Relay has provided superior service and support for Virginia Relay CapTel over the past three years, and we are pleased that our partnership is continuing into 2015,” said Ron Lanier, Director of the Virginia Department for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing, the agency that oversees Relay services in Virginia. “Together, we continue to ensure that Virginians who are hard of hearing or late-deafened have access to the service offered through Virginia Relay CapTel.”
Dixie Ziegler, vice president of Hamilton Relay stated, “Hamilton is thrilled to have the opportunity to continue serving consumers in the Commonwealth. CapTel service can be life changing for individuals with hearing loss as it allows them to easily connect with friends, family and businesses without missing a word of what’s said in telephone conversations.”
In addition to the CapTel phone, Virginia residents have access to additional CapTel services offered by Hamilton on a nationwide basis, including Hamilton CapTel for PC/ Mac, smartphones and tablets.
About Virginia Relay CapTel and the Virginia Department for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing
Virginia Relay CapTel is a public service of the Commonwealth of Virginia and is administered by the Virginia Department for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing (VDDHH). Through the use of a CapTel phone, Virginia Relay CapTel service allows individuals who have difficulty hearing over the phone, to listen while reading captions of what the other person says on the phone’s display screen. The captioning service is provided at no cost. Long distance charges and equipment charges may apply. Individuals may be eligible to receive a CapTel phone at no charge through VDDHH’s Technology Assistance Program which provides the most up-to-date technologies and assistive communication devices for persons who are deaf or hard of hearing, including Veterans living with a hearing or speech loss. VDDHH also provides community outreach services and referral, coordination, and skills assessment for sign language interpreters. For more information on VDHH, please visit www.vddhh.org, or call VDDHH at 800-552-7917 (voice/TTY).
About Hamilton Relay
Hamilton Relay provides contracted Telecommunications Relay and/or Captioned Telephone services to 16 states and the Island of Saipan, and is a provider of Internet-based Captioned Telephone services nationwide. More information is available at hamiltonrelay.com and at www.hamiltoncaptel.com.
Hamilton Relay is a division of Hamilton Telecommunications, a diversified communications and technology service provider based in Aurora, Neb. Founded in 1901, Hamilton Telecommunications encompasses seven primary company divisions that allow Hamilton to operate on a local, regional and national basis.
CapTel is a registered trademark of Ultratec, Inc.