Bring on the relay provider complaints. Monday marked the deadline for states and providers of interstate telecom relay services (TRS) to file a year’s worth of consumer gripes with the FCC Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau from June 1, 2011, to May 31, 2012. TRS allows people with hearing or speech disabilities to make calls via a text telephone or other device. The FCC describes a two-fold reason for the demand. The complaint logs “are intended to provide an early warning to the Commission of possible service quality issues,” and the process “also allows the Commission to determine whether a state or interstate TRS provider has appropriately addressed consumer complaints, and to spot national trends that may lend themselves to coordinated solutions,” the commission said in a recent reminder about the deadline. The complaints, which address a variety of technical and customer service problems, come in just as the FCC has shifted the rules for IP relay due to allegations of fraud from earlier this year.
The Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau adopted per-minute compensation rates to be paid from the interstate telecom relay services fund (http://xrl.us/bncx9d). Beginning July 1, the per-minute rates will be $2.03 for interstate traditional TRS; $3.16 for interstate speech-to-speech relay service; $1.77 for interstate captioned telephone service and IP captioned telephone service, and $1.29 for IP relay. The fund carrier contribution factor will be 0.01053.
States and providers of interstate telecom relay services (TRS) must submit their annual consumer complaint log summaries by July 2, according to an FCC public notice (http://xrl.us/bnb5vx). The summaries must include the total number of interstate relay service calls by type of TRS, the number of complaints alleging a violation of federal TRS mandatory minimum standards, the date and nature of the complaint, and the date and explanation of the resolution.
Purple Communications doesn’t offer recruiting or placement services for deaf and hard-of-hearing individuals, it told the FCC in an ex parte last week (http://xrl.us/bm2w3k). The letter responded to a Sorenson meeting with Wireline Bureau officials to address “Purple’s practice of placing deaf individuals at call centers for employers such as Allstate,” which it said violated the commission’s rules barring the use of incentives by video relay service providers (http://xrl.us/bm2w3p). According to Purple, Sorenson’s ex parte “intentionally misstates facts and makes false and baseless allegations.” Although Purple does offer Allstate “its expertise” regarding employing the deaf and hard of hearing, Allstate employs the deaf “of its own volition,” Purple said. “Sorenson is attempting to mislead the Commission and the public by drawing conclusions and making careless allegations based upon practices that do not exist.” “Sorenson looks forward to the Commission’s decision in this matter and is confident that if such programs are deemed compensable from the Interstate TRS fund that Sorenson will significantly grow its volume of” VRS minutes, the company said in an email response.
AT&T overcharged U.S. businesses millions of dollars by improperly handling and billing thousands of Internet Protocol relay calls made by Nigerian scammers, the Department of Justice alleged in a complaint filed Wednesday. The DOJ says AT&T violated the False Claims Act by seeking payment for IP relay calls made by international callers who sought to use the system for fraudulent purposes. The Telecommunications Relay Services Fund has reimbursed AT&T more than $16 million since December 2009, of which up to 95 percent of payments were made for non-compensable IP relay calls, the complaint said.
AT&T overcharged U.S. businesses millions of dollars by improperly handling and billing thousands of Internet Protocol relay calls made by Nigerian scammers, the Department of Justice alleged in a complaint filed Wednesday. The DOJ says AT&T violated the False Claims Act by seeking payment for IP relay calls made by international callers who sought to use the system for fraudulent purposes. The Telecommunications Relay Services Fund has reimbursed AT&T more than $16 million since December 2009, of which up to 95 percent of payments were made for non-compensable IP relay calls, the complaint said.
Telecommunications relay service provider Sorenson asked the FCC to act on a Nov. 18 request for clarification that data submission rules should be interpreted to mean that TRS providers must submit only the data they receive to be compensated. TRS providers “have no control over whether they receive a complete telephone number or IP address from the interconnecting carrier on any particular call,” Sorenson said (http://xrl.us/bmp8oi). “The request remains pending, and resolution is pressing as the TRS Fund administrator is withholding payment on video relay service call submissions that do not include all of the data listed.” Sorenson noted that it filed the petition on the same day the FCC released its intercarrier compensation reform order. “The Order addresses issues related to Sorenson’s request, but it fails to resolve the central issue for which Sorenson seeks clarification,” the company said. In a second filing on the TRS, executives of Purple, which also provides relay services for the deaf and hard of hearing, met with FCC officials to express general support for a recent further notice of proposed rulemaking from the FCC. Purple supports “the FNPRM’s objectives of creating a predictable outlook on the industry that encourages continued investment and innovation and market competition,” the company said in an ex parte. filing (http://xrl.us/bmp8ox).
Rent-a-Center and Aaron’s are expanding outside their core rent-to-own business with formats aimed at broadening their customer reach, executives at both companies said.
The FCC should define “functional equivalency” so the deaf and hard of hearing “are able to participate equally in the entire conversation” and “they experience the same activity, emotional context, purpose, operation, work, service or role (function) within the call,” a coalition of deaf and hard-of-hearing advocates told the FCC. In the group is Telecommunications for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing, National Association of the Deaf, Association of Late-Deafened Adults, Hearing Loss Association of America, California Coalition of Agencies Serving the Deaf and Hard of Hearing, American Association of the Deaf-Blind, Speech Communication Assistance by Telephone, Communication Service for the Deaf, and Deaf Seniors of America. They laid out a 10-point platform, met with FCC staff and posted their comments in an ex parte notice in docket 10-51. The groups said telecommunications relay service (TRS) vendors “must provide full benefit to all parties on a call, regardless of the complexity and/or cost,” provide an experience that is “at the minimum … equivalent” to the experience of hearing people and use “mainstream products and services” that are “high quality.” TRS vendors also should provide equipment and services that are “accessible and address the diverse needs of” the deaf and hard of hearing, provide interoperable communications, “be motivated to bring products to market that keep up with mainstream technological advancements,” give a “wide selection of choices” for software and hardware, and allow for emergency calls that “fully satisfy the safety and security needs of” users. Customers should get “prompt, comprehensive customer care” and provider should commit “to uphold the integrity of the TRS Fund,” the groups said.
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