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Call to upgrade phone services for the deaf

The deaf and hard of hearing and those who want to call them are being urged by the telecommunication action group (TAG) to ask their MPs to sign an Early Day Motion (EDM). This calls for the modernisation of deaf telephone services.

The consortium of the UK's major organisations for the deaf and hard of hearing said these services will only become widely available if people pressure the Government for funding.

The EDM follows an Ofcom report, Voice Telephony Services for Deaf People, published earlier this month. This said that services, such as those that convert speech from a telephone into text that can be displayed on the phone's screen or a PC, could enable deaf people to be more productive at work. Ofcom said it would also help reduce the feelings of isolation and loneliness at home and make telephone interactions less stressful and much faster for this section of society.

But these services are only widely available in other countries. Captel, a captioned telephony available in the UK was closed in 2007 due to funding problems.  TAG said that although the RNID's Type Talk service is invaluable there is no incentive for BT, which funds this initiative, to modernise it.

Ruth Myers, chairwoman of TAG, said: "We urge anyone living in the UK to contact their MP asking them to support the motion. An easy way to contact your MP is through the Write to Them website."

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