New Remote Services

Broadband communication technologies are already available.
They can sustain advanced services to support people with
disabilities and elderly people. Relay services, virtual
communities, enhanced communication, etc., are being
successfully tested in a number of countries. The section
entitled "Novel broadband-based services: new opportunities
for people with disabilities" describes seven trials of advanced
broadband-based support services, conducted by the National
Post and Telecom Agency in Sweden (Post- och telestyrelsen, PTS),
to test the validity of current and future broadband telecommunications
services in providing remote support that is tuned to the needs
of specific groups of people with disabilities.

Relay services usually act as communication mediators between
users, one of whom at least has a disability that prevents them from
using standard communication devices or services. These services
are able to translate from signsto-voice (and vice versa), from
text-to-voice (and vice versa), etc. They can also provide other
services such as the description of a received image to a blind person.
Some pre-existent relay services may be enhanced, universalised and
made less expensive by means of the currently available advanced
telecommunication technologies. The section entitled "Access to video
relay services through the pocket Interpreter (3G) and Internet (IP)"
presents two experiences developed by the Swedish National Post
and Telecom Agency: The IP access project, a video telephony relay
service based on IP and the pocket interpreter for mobile video
communication, both for signing deaf people.               

Efficient use of relay services requires that a number of steps be
closely followed in order to speed up the service. The section
entitled "Convenient invocation of relay services" describes the best
way to invoke various relay services currently existing in Sweden.
These experiences may be taken as examples of good practice
that help optimise the design of the access to future relay services.

The rise of Short Message Services (SMS) tied to the expansion
of mobile telephony, is frequently associated in our minds to
young people. Short messages are cheaper than voice calls and
don’t require that both interlocutors are simultaneously engaged.
Nevertheless, SMS can be also useful for other groups of
the population. A remarkable application of SMS is shown in section
"Ways of using mobile telephones by people with dementia", revealing
that elderly people with cognitive restrictions can take advantage of this
technology for verbal, text or symbol communication and support.

SMS technology is also used in the "Implementation of an SMS-based
emergency service in Finland" to allow not only deaf people, but any
other user, to contact the universal 112 emergency service sending
emergency text messages. After making contact the user receives an
acknowledgement message and can be located for assistance.


From the books:


Towards an inclusive future
Edited by Patrick R.W. Roe

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