Congratulations TAD as the first Deaf State Association to use Vlog!
Where is NAD....?
I understand your concern...but not only Sorenson uses VR interpreters CSDVRS, HOVRS Hawk and others do use VR interpreters. I am sure they are aware of our concerns. I hope someone from there respond to your vlog.
I could be mistaken; If the local community Deaf service centers took better care of their interpreter pool, this Sorenson human capital 'grab' would probably have not occurred.
I noticed this same problem affecting South Florida, but this is entirely subjective on my part. Like you, I would like to see a solution to the community interpreter shortage created by the VRS industry.
I shared your vlog with my friend who works at sorenson, here's her response below (I removed her contact info) --------------------
The man in the vlog wasn't referring to interpreters having to do community service, but requiring them to do freelance work at a community agency. His concern is stemming from interpreters switching from freelance work to work for Sorenson. The problem with his argument is
(1) it is not only sorenson that is tempting interpreters for leave their freelance work, but Hawk, Verizon, Viable and the list goes on (so using other VRS services instead of Sorenson will not stop the "problem")
(2) freelance interpreting is more preferred by some interpreters as VRS in more attractive to others, it's a personal decision based on a variety of factors (family, steady schedule and pay, transportation, simple preference, etc),
(3) the amount of interpreting taking place via video relay is rising at an exponential rate, the same freelance interpreter working 2-3 jobs as their schedule permits, vs. interpreting for 20-30 different people working a 4 hour shift for a video relay service shows that the VRS interpreter not only (depending on the type of call) is working harder but is serving more (d)Deaf and hard-of hearing people, by a long shot.
(4) In relation to #3, think about your experience with interpreters, how much you use VRS vs. a freelance interpreter
(5) Sorenson also provides you with a free videophone including free tech support, free upgrades, free repairs and free calling (as long as you provide the internet connection), and free interpreting service at no cost to you and with the up and coming VRI services, interpreting services will not cost you or any other place of business to provide an interpreter. Compare that with the various places of business who are reluctant to hire an interpreter because of the cost, or when the situation arises that you must pay for an interpreter. If given the choice, would you take advantage of sorenson VRS, VRI services or fork out the dough?
And as for the pay of VRS interpreters, consider that the average interpreter cannot work for more than 40 minutes effectively without a break AND the toll it takes on their hands. I can't work more than approximately 4 hours without it becoming painful. All VRS interpreters take their job serious and work hard to ensure quality of every call whether it be to a family member or a 911 call. All aspects of interpreting are important and interpreters chose their career paths (VRS or freelance) based on a plethora of factors.
I could go on, but homework beckons. Think about it. :-)
Thanks for leaving your comments as I really appreciated. Here's my comment what I can tell you:
Please don't me get wrong, but Sorenson VRS is still good service like others, but my question is WHY should we have THREE Sorenson Centers in my state of Tennessee (soon to be fourth center in Chattanooga as not a final decision yet but may be soon) Let me tell you about few differcult things what we already faced:
First, In Chattanooga, The interpreter agency only has TWO staff intrepreters and they have hard time to find any freelance interpreter because of their schedule conflict with the hours of Sorenson(in Atlanta and Knoxville) where they work.
Second, Where are our interpreters go, when our Deaf children need them at the mainsteamed schools during the daytime?
Third, our Deaf people have some hard time to get the interpreters when they need, since we lose a lot of good interpreters from the 6 community centers when three Sorenson centers opens in Knoxville, Nashville and Memphis last year. I already saw myself when I was on the board of Knoxville Center of the Deaf ( KCD is one of 6 Community Centers)
I understand with other states' simlair problem they faced, but this state has 3 centers by the SAME company in our small Deaf communities of Tennessee unlike others, which in too much in my opinion. I understand Sorenson already told their empolyees to need more time with our community centers from their work hours, but I don't see anything BETTER yet since they opened last year.
So this state (Tennessee) is not like other states such as California,Washington, DC or New York, where the largest Deaf community are, so I hope you understand.
As Todd mentioned about South Florida, I know about the Deaf community in Florida well, where I grew up there before went to my college and many of my friends who live there, said the same thing as he said.. Smile.
Billy (Virginia) I agree with Paul Robertson. I live in Virginia. I had heart attack and rush to hospital. Hospital has hard time to get any interpreter in Virginia. I had bad fuss with Ron Lanier of Virginia Department of Deaf and Hard of Hearing...why because Department of Education ask him to get interpreter in mainstreaming school. Not need any interpreter in mainstreaming---all Deaf children goes to Virginia School for the Deaf and the Blind. We need interpreter for Deaf people who has lifeline, court, meeting with interpreter, police need to call interpreter if Deaf arrested. I use VRI in hospital...no help because it shows us bad--blurring and hard to see person who has black people because of skin...very dark black skin that hard to see sign language. If Black people has light skin--easy to see sign language and depend to color wall. Virginia has Sorenson in Virginia Beach. I made SLA (Sign Language Assocation)to put VRS in all hospital to help Deaf people for LIFELINE. Thanks
I am a certified interpreter living in Tennessee and work for Sorenson. I think there are several points that have been missed in this vlog, but I do applaud the exchange of information and ideas that will be forthcoming. 1. I think the most important point related to the comments made is that Sorenson is setting up centers in more cities so that interpreters will have an easier time working for BOTH Sorenson AND the community. I have worked for Sorenson for almost 2 years now and for most of this time was required to travel out of state to work. This left little time for me to do any community work. The closer the center, the easier it is for the interpreter to be near their home and family and the Deaf community they serve. 2. In my case, I was NOT doing any community work for the past several years. I moved to Tennessee 10 years ago and after working for the agency freelance for one solid year, found out that after I paid for wear and tear on my car, maintainance, gas, and parking, I earned $6,000. The agencies in TN are NOT paying what the going rate for certified interpreters is in the rest of the country. I actually went to work in a totally different field for 2 years and did no interpreting work whatsoever because I could earn more money. 3. Not all, but many of the local county school systems are NOT using certified/qualified interpreters in mainstream classroom. They do not care about the level or quality of the interpreter...only who they can get to sit in front of a student and pass as an interpreter for the least amount of money. The solution to this is STATE LICENSURE!!! Until we have licensure in Tennessee, this will be the case in most county school systems and the quality of services to Deaf children will be sorely lacking. 3. Sorenson cares about the Quality of the interpreter. Without going into detail, Sorenson as a company, as paid more money towards continuing education and recruiting of NEW interpreters to the field than any other company. Open up this months issue of the RID Views and see which companies are listed as $10,000 sponsors of the RID National Convention this summer in San Francisco. Also check the Sorenson website and see who totally sponsored the Deaf Olympics in Salt Lake City recently. Sorenson is giving much more than it is taking away. 4. You cannot stop technology. VRS and VRI are here. The quality of the video will only get better and it makes more sense to have a certified interpreter sitting in one place interpreting for several consumers than to have that same interpreter spending all day driving to 3 assigments. I love VRS and Sorenson. It is the first time in my 20 years as a certified interpreter that I have felt that I work for someone that truly CARES about me and the work I do. Instead of encouraging the Deaf Community to stop using Sorenson why not join in and help to make services better for all areas of interpreting...community and vrs/vri. Sorenson also hires more Deaf people than any other company I am aware of. Working together we can make services better for ALL.
Your comment got my attention about your experience at the agency that may not give you any good benefit as you mentioned on the car expense and others. I dont know where are you from, but I know several of agnecies in TN may not be so great to everyone.. That is why they haven't gotten any increase funds from the state in more than 15 years (the cost based on the 1980's cost of living). We are working to push the TCDHH/Dept of DHS to get more money.
However, I know many of the new interpreters may not willing to move here (state of Tennessee) because of the salaries/cost of living or perhaps our Deaf communties are so small may not fit their liftstyle, but this time is much better than 10 years ago so it will take our time to get the level with everyone else.
VRI may be great idea for us to use their service, but it is not 100% perfect working for everyone YET. It may be taking our time for us to accept or perhaps we will have a better technology in next few years, who knows?
As for the state licensure, TAD's education committee are working to get the draft paper for the state licensure law. As soon as the committee approves it, we wiill process to share with our state reprentative and senate in my area. I am sure that you may hear from TRID soon, if you are member of the group.
I really appreiated what you share with us about your experience in our comments.
Hi Paul, I appreciate your response. I think this is going to be a wonderful forum for us to exchange ideas and suggestions. A couple of other things I wanted to mention...I think that VRI will be fabulous once established firmly within the business community. It will save so much time and money rather than having the interpreter traveling and physically being at each assignment. The downside I see from this is somewhat of a loss of culture. VRS/VRI interpreters are less personal than an interpreter that knows the consumer as a friend and has been working with them for years. It's possible with VRI as with VRS now that the interpreter is out of state. This could be viewed depending on each individual position as either a positive or a negative. Positive: No need to worry about any confidentiality issues because the interpreter has no idea who the deaf person is or where they live...Negative: Interpreter isn't familiar with my regional signs. Positive: Exposure to Deaf consumers from all over the country GREATLY IMPROVES the interpreters skills because they are exposed to various levels of sign and are doing a lot of voicing. Therefore, better skilled interpreters in the long run for all! I also wanted to make one other comment on VRI. I read in an earlier response about VRI being FREE and would like to correct that misconception. VRS is free to deaf consumers. VRI is a paid service that will work much in the same way that hiring an interpreter works now. The difference will be that the hospital/doctors office/court will have the interpreter on screen rather than physically there; but the agency will still be billed for the service. On the issue of VRS in general...one other thing I wanted to add was the positive of working WITH other interpreters and having back up when necessary. For many years I would arrive at an assignment only to find that we were not communicating well with each other. 99% of the time we continued the assignment because it was foolish to reschedule. In the case of VRS or VRI if the interpreter and consumer are mismatched, it is only a matter of minutes before another interpreter is in place. I also hardly ever able saw other interpreters and co-workers. It's a very isolated profession. VRS has changed that.
I am a member of my local, state and national organizations. I am extremely happy to hear that licensure is being worked on in Tennessee. I will definately be watching for more news on this...and perhaps will get more involved. Again, thank you for this forum and the opportunity to express ideas. :-)
What did “Jay’s” Sorenson terp friend mean by “Sorenson also provides you with ....free interpreting service at no cost to you and with the up and coming VRI services, interpreting services will not cost you or any other place of business to provide an interpreter.”?? I just recently contacted Sorenson about terping and there IS a charge. The Sorenson rep/VRI accounts manager said:
“we start with asking for a guaranteed minimum usage of 100 minutes per month. Passing that hurdle, here's the break down on costs: the first 10 minutes of each call, if booked >24 hours in advance of the service, is in the $40 range, and each additional minute beyond the first 10 is $3/minute. If you need to schedule an interpreter on the fly for a walk in, your first 10 minutes would be more expensive (to be negotiated). No-shows and cancellations within the 24 hour cancellation window are charged a fee commensurate with what you would expect from an on-site interpreter. There is also a monthly equipment rental fee, which is in the $200 range, and you would need to have a reliable high-speed connection to support the video feed.
VRI suits the needs of those who hold a lot of short meetings. If you have meetings going beyond the 30-45 minute mark or so, it becomes more cost effective just to hire an on-site interpreter and pay the 2-hour minimum, miles, etc. (in your case, provided that they show up). If cost is not an issue, then of course Sorenson can accommodate longer meetings.
I hope that helps. If you're still interested in pursuing VRI, I would be delighted to speak with you further.”
16 comments:
Congratulations TAD as the first Deaf State Association to use Vlog!
Where is NAD....?
I understand your concern...but not only Sorenson uses VR interpreters CSDVRS, HOVRS Hawk and others do use VR interpreters. I am sure they are aware of our concerns. I hope someone from there respond to your vlog.
Congrats, Paul Roberston for using the vlog presentation to reach out nationally as the state association of the deaf.
We need the real leaders like you. Many state association of the deaf presidents and other elected officers just sit on their rear sides!
The state associations of the deaf and other deaf organizations need to be more politically active and responsive to the arising community concerns.
Robert L. Mason (RLM)
I could be mistaken; If the local community Deaf service centers took better care of their interpreter pool, this Sorenson human capital 'grab' would probably have not occurred.
I noticed this same problem affecting South Florida, but this is entirely subjective on my part. Like you, I would like to see a solution to the community interpreter shortage created by the VRS industry.
Call Hamilton Relay VRS for top quality interpreters on your videophone if you want to discontinue using *S*.
Hamilton Relay gives back to the community!
IP address is hamiltonvrs.tv
I shared your vlog with my friend who works at sorenson, here's her response below (I removed her contact info)
--------------------
The man in the vlog wasn't referring to interpreters having to do community service, but requiring them to do freelance work at a community agency. His concern is stemming from interpreters switching from freelance work to work for Sorenson. The problem with his argument is
(1) it is not only sorenson that is tempting interpreters for leave their freelance work, but Hawk, Verizon, Viable and the list goes on (so using other VRS services instead of Sorenson will not stop the "problem")
(2) freelance interpreting is more preferred by some interpreters as VRS in more attractive to others, it's a personal decision based on a variety of factors (family, steady schedule and pay, transportation, simple preference, etc),
(3) the amount of interpreting taking place via video relay is rising at an exponential rate, the same freelance interpreter working 2-3 jobs as their schedule permits, vs. interpreting for 20-30 different people working a 4 hour shift for a video relay service shows that the VRS interpreter not only (depending on the type of call) is working harder but is serving more (d)Deaf and hard-of hearing people, by a long shot.
(4) In relation to #3, think about your experience with interpreters, how much you use VRS vs. a freelance interpreter
(5) Sorenson also provides you with a free videophone including free tech support, free upgrades, free repairs and free calling (as long as you provide the internet connection), and free interpreting service at no cost to you and with the up and coming VRI services, interpreting services will not cost you or any other place of business to provide an interpreter. Compare that with the various places of business who are reluctant to hire an interpreter because of the cost, or when the situation arises that you must pay for an interpreter. If given the choice, would you take advantage of sorenson VRS, VRI services or fork out the dough?
And as for the pay of VRS interpreters, consider that the average interpreter cannot work for more than 40 minutes effectively without a break AND the toll it takes on their hands. I can't work more than approximately 4 hours without it becoming painful. All VRS interpreters take their job serious and work hard to ensure quality of every call whether it be to a family member or a 911 call. All aspects of interpreting are important and interpreters chose their career paths (VRS or freelance) based on a plethora of factors.
I could go on, but homework beckons. Think about it. :-)
Hello for everyone!
Thanks for leaving your comments as I really appreciated. Here's my comment what I can tell you:
Please don't me get wrong, but Sorenson VRS is still good service like others, but my question is WHY should we have THREE Sorenson Centers in my state of Tennessee (soon to be fourth center in Chattanooga as not a final decision yet but may be soon) Let me tell you about few differcult things what we already faced:
First, In Chattanooga, The interpreter agency only has TWO staff intrepreters and they have hard time to find any freelance interpreter because of their schedule conflict with the hours of Sorenson(in Atlanta and Knoxville) where they work.
Second, Where are our interpreters go, when our Deaf children need them at the mainsteamed schools during the daytime?
Third, our Deaf people have some hard time to get the interpreters when they need, since we lose a lot of good interpreters from the 6 community centers when three Sorenson centers opens in Knoxville, Nashville and Memphis last year. I already saw myself when I was on the board of Knoxville Center of the Deaf ( KCD is one of 6 Community Centers)
I understand with other states' simlair problem they faced, but this state has 3 centers by the SAME company in our small Deaf communities of Tennessee unlike others, which in too much in my opinion. I understand Sorenson already told their empolyees to need more time with our community centers from their work hours, but I don't see anything BETTER yet since they opened last year.
So this state (Tennessee) is not like other states such as California,Washington, DC or New York, where the largest Deaf community are, so I hope you understand.
As Todd mentioned about South Florida, I know about the Deaf community in Florida well, where I grew up there before went to my college and many of my friends who live there, said the same thing as he said.. Smile.
Thanks again
-PMRjr
Has anyone asked what the interpreters in Chattanooga would want?
Billy (Virginia)
I agree with Paul Robertson. I live in Virginia. I had heart attack and rush to hospital. Hospital has hard time to get any interpreter in Virginia. I had bad fuss with Ron Lanier of Virginia Department of Deaf and Hard of Hearing...why because Department of Education ask him to get interpreter in mainstreaming school. Not need any interpreter in mainstreaming---all Deaf children goes to Virginia School for the Deaf and the Blind. We need interpreter for Deaf people who has lifeline, court, meeting with interpreter, police need to call interpreter if Deaf arrested.
I use VRI in hospital...no help because it shows us bad--blurring and hard to see person who has black people because of skin...very dark black skin that hard to see sign language. If Black people has light skin--easy to see sign language and depend to color wall.
Virginia has Sorenson in Virginia Beach.
I made SLA (Sign Language Assocation)to put VRS in all hospital to help Deaf people for LIFELINE.
Thanks
I am a certified interpreter living in Tennessee and work for Sorenson. I think there are several points that have been missed in this vlog, but I do applaud the exchange of information and ideas that will be forthcoming.
1. I think the most important point related to the comments made is that Sorenson is setting up centers in more cities so that interpreters will have an easier time working for BOTH Sorenson AND the community. I have worked for Sorenson for almost 2 years now and for most of this time was required to travel out of state to work. This left little time for me to do any community work. The closer the center, the easier it is for the interpreter to be near their home and family and the Deaf community they serve.
2. In my case, I was NOT doing any community work for the past several years. I moved to Tennessee 10 years ago and after working for the agency freelance for one solid year, found out that after I paid for wear and tear on my car, maintainance, gas, and parking, I earned $6,000. The agencies in TN are NOT paying what the going rate for certified interpreters is in the rest of the country. I actually went to work in a totally different field for 2 years and did no interpreting work whatsoever because I could earn more money.
3. Not all, but many of the local county school systems are NOT using certified/qualified interpreters in mainstream classroom. They do not care about the level or quality of the interpreter...only who they can get to sit in front of a student and pass as an interpreter for the least amount of money. The solution to this is STATE LICENSURE!!! Until we have licensure in Tennessee, this will be the case in most county school systems and the quality of services to Deaf children will be sorely lacking.
3. Sorenson cares about the Quality of the interpreter. Without going into detail, Sorenson as a company, as paid more money towards continuing education and recruiting of NEW interpreters to the field than any other company. Open up this months issue of the RID Views and see which companies are listed as $10,000 sponsors of the RID National Convention this summer in San Francisco. Also check the Sorenson website and see who totally sponsored the Deaf Olympics in Salt Lake City recently. Sorenson is giving much more than it is taking away.
4. You cannot stop technology. VRS and VRI are here. The quality of the video will only get better and it makes more sense to have a certified interpreter sitting in one place interpreting for several consumers than to have that same interpreter spending all day driving to 3 assigments.
I love VRS and Sorenson. It is the first time in my 20 years as a certified interpreter that I have felt that I work for someone that truly CARES about me and the work I do.
Instead of encouraging the Deaf Community to stop using Sorenson why not join in and help to make services better for all areas of interpreting...community and vrs/vri. Sorenson also hires more Deaf people than any other company I am aware of. Working together we can make services better for ALL.
TennTerp,
Your comment got my attention about your experience at the agency that may not give you any good benefit as you mentioned on the car expense and others. I dont know where are you from, but I know several of agnecies in TN may not be so great to everyone.. That is why they haven't gotten any increase funds from the state in more than 15 years (the cost based on the 1980's cost of living). We are working to push the TCDHH/Dept of DHS to get more money.
However, I know many of the new interpreters may not willing to move here (state of Tennessee) because of the salaries/cost of living or perhaps our Deaf communties are so small may not fit their liftstyle, but this time is much better than 10 years ago so it will take our time to get the level with everyone else.
VRI may be great idea for us to use their service, but it is not 100% perfect working for everyone YET. It may be taking our time for us to accept or perhaps we will have a better technology in next few years, who knows?
As for the state licensure, TAD's education committee are working to get the draft paper for the state licensure law. As soon as the committee approves it, we wiill process to share with our state reprentative and senate in my area. I am sure that you may hear from TRID soon, if you are member of the group.
I really appreiated what you share with us about your experience in our comments.
Thanks,
PMRjr
Hi Paul,
I appreciate your response. I think this is going to be a wonderful forum for us to exchange ideas and suggestions. A couple of other things I wanted to mention...I think that VRI will be fabulous once established firmly within the business community. It will save so much time and money rather than having the interpreter traveling and physically being at each assignment. The downside I see from this is somewhat of a loss of culture. VRS/VRI interpreters are less personal than an interpreter that knows the consumer as a friend and has been working with them for years. It's possible with VRI as with VRS now that the interpreter is out of state. This could be viewed depending on each individual position as either a positive or a negative. Positive: No need to worry about any confidentiality issues because the interpreter has no idea who the deaf person is or where they live...Negative: Interpreter isn't familiar with my regional signs. Positive: Exposure to Deaf consumers from all over the country GREATLY IMPROVES the interpreters skills because they are exposed to various levels of sign and are doing a lot of voicing. Therefore, better skilled interpreters in the long run for all!
I also wanted to make one other comment on VRI. I read in an earlier response about VRI being FREE and would like to correct that misconception. VRS is free to deaf consumers. VRI is a paid service that will work much in the same way that hiring an interpreter works now. The difference will be that the hospital/doctors office/court will have the interpreter on screen rather than physically there; but the agency will still be billed for the service.
On the issue of VRS in general...one other thing I wanted to add was the positive of working WITH other interpreters and having back up when necessary. For many years I would arrive at an assignment only to find that we were not communicating well with each other. 99% of the time we continued the assignment because it was foolish to reschedule. In the case of VRS or VRI if the interpreter and consumer are mismatched, it is only a matter of minutes before another interpreter is in place. I also hardly ever able saw other interpreters and co-workers. It's a very isolated profession. VRS has changed that.
I am a member of my local, state and national organizations. I am extremely happy to hear that licensure is being worked on in Tennessee. I will definately be watching for more news on this...and perhaps will get more involved.
Again, thank you for this forum and the opportunity to express ideas.
:-)
What did “Jay’s” Sorenson terp friend mean by “Sorenson also provides you with ....free interpreting service at no cost to you and with the up and coming VRI services, interpreting services will not cost you or any other place of business to provide an interpreter.”?? I just recently contacted Sorenson about terping and there IS a charge. The Sorenson rep/VRI accounts manager said:
“we start with asking for a guaranteed minimum usage of 100 minutes per month. Passing that hurdle, here's the break down on costs: the first 10 minutes of each call, if booked >24 hours in advance of the service, is in the $40 range, and each additional minute beyond the first 10 is $3/minute. If you need to schedule an interpreter on the fly for a walk in, your first 10 minutes would be more expensive (to be negotiated). No-shows and cancellations within the 24 hour cancellation window are charged a fee commensurate with what you would expect from an on-site interpreter. There is also a monthly equipment rental fee, which is in the $200 range, and you would need to have a reliable high-speed connection to support the video feed.
VRI suits the needs of those who hold a lot of short meetings. If you have meetings going beyond the 30-45 minute mark or so, it becomes more cost effective just to hire an on-site interpreter and pay the 2-hour minimum, miles, etc. (in your case, provided that they show up). If cost is not an issue, then of course Sorenson can accommodate longer meetings.
I hope that helps. If you're still interested in pursuing VRI, I would be delighted to speak with you further.”
You need to look at http://pr.gallaudet.edu/video/?vid=16 to help you better understand about SLCC....
Do you have a flier I can post to Deafnooga for Fall Creek Falls event? (and any others)
If so, please email to:
webmaster@deafnooga.info
Thanks!
-Kris H.
If you have a pdf flier or similar I can post to Deafnooga website, please email to:
webmaster@deafnooga.info
especially for Fall Creeks Falls event, but for any event you want me to post
Thanks!
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