Sprint Relay Blog

Media Contact:

Sukhi Sahni, Sprint, 703-592-7779

sukhi.sahni@sprint.com

Southwest Airlines’ Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing Customers to Benefit from Partnership with Sprint Relay

Southwest Airlines and Sprint Relay team up to provide TTY and Video Access to its deaf and hard-of-hearing customers.

OVERLAND PARK, Kan. – June 24, 2009 – Sprint (NYSE:S) and Southwest Airlines (NYSE: LUV) have joined forces to offer toll-free TTY (teletypewriter) and video relay access, giving deaf and hard-of-hearing customers direct access to Southwest Airlines customer service. 

Beginning today, deaf, hard-of-hearing, and speech disabled customers needing to call Southwest Airlines can dial a dedicated toll-free TTY telephone number: 800-533-1305. That number is answered by a Sprint relay agent who immediately connects to the Southwest Airlines customer service representative. The Sprint relay agent relays information between the Customer Service representative and the relay user in English or Spanish.

Video Relay customers can access the service using a videophone by calling SWAVRS.TV to reach a video interpreter who will connect to Southwest Airlines. By providing video access, those whose native language is American Sign Language (ASL) can communicate with a video interpreter in ASL who then acts as the ‘voice’ to Customer Service representatives. Sprint Video Relay Service (VRS) is offered at no cost to deaf and hard-of-hearing customers who use a videophone or web camera with a computer to connect with a qualified Sprint video interpreter who interprets the call in English or Spanish.

“Offering video access, preferred by many of our deaf or hard-of-hearing customers, facilitates information exchange faster and in a more personal way than via the traditional telecommunications device for customers who are deaf,” said Lance Morton, director of Automation Resources for Customer Support & Services for Southwest Airlines. “This is a good fit for Southwest Airlines – we’re committed to providing the highest quality of Customer Service to each of our customers.”

“Sprint offers many types of relay services including TTY, voice, voice-carry-over, speech- to-speech, internet-based relay, video relay, caption telephone services, conference captioning, and a variety of hearing aid compatible wireless devices to meet the unique communication needs of our customer base,” said Mike Ellis, director of Relay Services at Sprint. “Sprint applauds Southwest Airlines for its commitment to all its customers, including those deaf and hard-of-hearing, to ensure they have equal access to Southwest Airlines travel services.”

Sprint is the largest and most technologically advanced Telecommunications Relay Service (TRS) provider in the nation, with more than 18 years experience in providing relay services to those who are deaf, hard-of-hearing, or deaf-blind, or have a speech disability. Sprint’s experience in this field assures Sprint Relay users receive quality services regardless of the type of relay service they are using.

Customers can access a Southwest Airlines Customer Service agent by calling the Southwest Airlines TTY toll-free number: 800-533-1305 or go to SWAVRS.TV for video access. These numbers are also posted on the Southwest Airlines website at http://www.southwest.com/about_swa/phone_numbers.html.

ABOUT SPRINT NEXTEL
Sprint Nextel offers a comprehensive range of wireless and wireline communications services bringing the freedom of mobility to consumers, businesses and government users. Sprint Nextel is widely recognized for developing, engineering and deploying innovative technologies, including two wireless networks serving more than 49 million customers at the end of the first quarter of 2009; industry-leading mobile data services; instant national and international push-to-talk capabilities; and a global Tier 1 Internet backbone. For more information, visit www.sprint.com.

ABOUT SOUTHWEST AIRLINES
After nearly 38 years of service, Southwest Airlines continues to differentiate itself from other low fare carriers—offering a reliable product with exemplary Customer Service.  Southwest Airlines is the most productive airline in the sky and offers customers a comfortable traveling experience.  Southwest recently updated its gate areas and improved its boarding procedure to make flying southwest convenient and simple.  And, best of all, Southwest Airlines is famous for No Hidden Fees!  Southwest Airlines currently serves 65 cities in 33 states.  Based in Dallas, Southwest currently operates more than 3,300 flights a day and has more than 35,000 Employees systemwide. For more information, visit: www.southwest.com.

The most talked about Palm Pre wireless device is going to be available June. Go ahead and pre register. We will let you know when it becomes available. Go to www.sprintrelaystore.com to pre register.

The Sprint Relay Blog website is now modified to be read on your wireless device. Now you can view all the announcements online right on your pager or mobile devices.

Sprint Relay is proud to announce a new address book feature for Sprint IP users who use AOL Instant Messaging or Google Talk. Now you can access your address book and make calls on Sprint Relay without having to look for a phone number. Be sure to go to sprintrelay.com to register and get calls on Sprint IP using IM.

Click here to view more details.

Sprint offers more choices to customers requiring captioning services for telephone calls; New model of CapTel® phone provides captions over the Internet

OVERLAND PARK, Kan. – April 1, 2009 – Sprint (NYSE:S) today announced the upcoming availability of the next generation CapTel® phone for it’s hard of hearing and deaf users. The CapTel 800i is the latest offering in Ultratec’s CapTel line, joining the CapTel Model 200® – a captioned telephone designed for use with traditional analog phone lines. The CapTel 800i works on any telephone line *, bringing with it the advantages of a telephone with text capabilities via the Internet and the ability to read the captions during telephone conversations. The CapTel 800i will be available for purchase in the near future. Those interested can visit www.sprintrelay.com/800i  to be placed on a list and be first in line to order the new phone when it becomes available.

“Sprint Relay is fully committed to offering our customers with the newest technology and a variety of unique options to most effectively meet their particular needs when it comes to telecommunication access” says Mike Ellis, director of Sprint Relay.

The CapTel 800i phone requires a landline telephone (can be analog, VoIP, DSL, or digital cable telephone service) and an Internet connection (high-speed internet or broadband service). Designed specifically for use with high-speed Internet service, the CapTel 800i offers CapTel users the advantage of written text captions to help understand what their callers are saying. Other enhancements include:

• A 5-inch, high quality, tiltable screen for easy to read captions
• The screen offers a variety of font sizes and colors for easiest reading
• High powered volume control (up to 40 DB) with adjustable volume for clarity

One of the greatest benefits of the CapTel 800i phone is the automatic routing of inbound calls to the captioning service without having to dial a toll-free number to reach the CapTel Call Center first. Operators using voice-recognition technology transcribe everything the caller says into text, which is instantly transmitted to the CapTel 800i phone over the Internet. Captions appear on the phone’s LCD screen. This enables CapTel users the ability to utilize their hearing with written captions to read. This process is transparent and can be turned on or off at any time before or during the call.

* Not compatible with digital PBX office systems unless analog port used.

The following links may be accessed to learn more about Sprint’s captioning services:
www.sprintrelay.com/captel
www.captionedtelephone.com
www.sprintcaptel.com
www.sprintrelay.com/rcc

Sprint Relay Portfolio of Services
CapTel is a registered trademark of Ultratec, Inc. In partnership with Ultratec, Inc., CapTel services are available as a component of Sprint’s array of Relay services. Designed for hard of hearing users, CapTel users place a call in the same way they would when using a traditional phone - by dialing the number directly on a special phone model. CapTel phones connect callers directly to the CapTel service when the phone is dialed. When the person being called answers, callers can listen to what the other person is saying, and read captions on the phone’s display screen to catch words that were missed. Captions appear nearly simultaneously with spoken words. An Internet-based service, WebCapTel®, is also available to let people view captions of any telephone call in their computer’s web-browser window.
Sprint is the largest and most technologically advanced Telecommunications Relay Service provider in the nation with more than 17 years of experience in providing relay services to persons who are deaf, hard of hearing or deaf-blind or have a speech disability to communicate with hearing persons on the phone. Sprint’s experience in this field assures Sprint Relay users receive quality service regardless of the type of relay service they are using. Sprint’s relay service is available 24 hours-a-day, 365 days-a-year, with no restrictions on the number of calls placed or call length. For more information, visit www.sprintrelay.com.

ABOUT SPRINT NEXTEL
Sprint Nextel offers a comprehensive range of wireless and wireline communications services bringing the freedom of mobility to consumers, businesses and government users. Sprint Nextel is widely recognized for developing, engineering and deploying innovative technologies, including two wireless networks serving more than 49 million customers at the end of the fourth quarter 2008; industry-leading mobile data services; instant national and international push-to-talk capabilities; and a global Tier 1 Internet backbone. For more information, visit www.sprint.com.

ABOUT ULTRATEC INC.
Ultratec, Inc. is the world’s leading developer of text telecommunications equipment for people who are deaf or hard of hearing. Since 1978, the company has been responsible for numerous advancements in telecommunications technology, including a full range of text telephones, public telephones, amplified telephones, and signaling systems for people with hearing loss. Ultratec works extensively with government agencies, emergency services, and local and national advocacy groups to ensure equal telecommunications access for people who are deaf or hard of hearing.