Utah Public Service Commission’s Relay Utah Now Offers 
Amplified Cordless Phone For Hard of Hearing

Salt Lake City—July 10, 2006—For Utahns living with hearing loss and limited mobility, an amplified cordless phone is now available through Relay Utah, a division of the State of Utah Public Service Commission.

The Public Service Commission is offering an amplified cordless phone to help meet the needs of the hard of hearing who also experience mobility limitations with wheelchair, walker or oxygen use. Until the availability of the Clear Sounds A50 amplified cordless phone, only corded amplified and captioning phones were available.

“Many of the seniors we serve are experiencing the dual challenge of hearing and mobility loss,” said Mary Beth Green, telecommunications relay specialist at the Public Service Commission. “Wheelchairs, walkers or being connected to oxygen units can make it very difficult, and sometimes impossible, to physically go to the location of the corded phone in the house. With an amplified cordless phone we are helping to eliminate the physical barriers to enable communication with family or obtain help in an emergency.”   

The amplified cordless phones are available, at no charge, to hard of hearing individuals in Utah who currently participate in the Supplemental Security Income (SSI) program, Medicaid and other Department of Human Service or Public Assistance programs. Individuals who do not participate in these programs can purchase the phone by contacting Clear Sounds at 800-965-9043 or www.clearsounds.com.

The Public Service Commission’s Relay Utah elected to offer the Clear Sounds A50, following a user trial-testing program. The Clear Sounds A50 was the only amplified cordless phone that met both user expectations and the quality and hearing aid compatibility performance standards set by the Public Service Commission.

“Amplified phones that are available at retail and wholesale stores are not hearing aid compatible, though most of the packaging states that they are,” said Green. “It’s been our experience that individuals will almost always get squealing and other feedback when using these more commercial phones. The Clear Sounds phone features volume control so the user can customize the tone level that is best for them and is specifically designed to work with hearing aids.”

In addition to portability and volume/tone quality, additional features of the amplified cordless phone include:
-      Large caller ID display
-      Vibrating ring alert and extra loud ringer
-      Amplification up to 50dB
 
Corded amplified phones, captioning “CapTel™” phones, and text telephones are also available through Relay Utah. Information about the equipment program can be obtained on the relayutah.gov site, by calling 801-530-6638 (V/TTY), or by emailing mbgreen@utah.gov.
 
To date, the Public Service Commission has placed more than 1,270 phones with Utah residents.

Relay Utah was established in 1988 and was one of the first relay services to be established in the United States. The Public Service Commission continually strives to provide a service for the more than 220,000 Utahns who have difficulty with hearing and/or speaking over the telephone to communicate with each other and with the hearing community. Relay Utah is subsidized though a $.10 telephone surcharge