**Introduction**

This website contains some background materials on VoIP accessibility
intended for review in advance by attendees at the FCC Solutions
Summit.  The main sections are:

-   [[VoIP Has Many
    Facets]{.underline}](http://inclusive.com/trng/voip/facets.htm) (see
    page 8)

-   [[Potential
    Barriers]{.underline}](http://inclusive.com/trng/voip/barriers.htm)
    (see page 11)

-   [[Potential
    Opportunities]{.underline}](http://inclusive.com/trng/voip/opps.htm)
    (see page 15)

-   The Importance of Standards

-   The VoIP Accessibility Chain

-   The Information Burden

Much of the information on this site was provided by Summit presenters. 
We are especially grateful to [[Gunnar
Hellstrom]{.underline}](http://inclusive.com/trng/voip/gunnar.hellstrom@omnitor.se)
of [[Omnitor]{.underline}](http://www.omnitor.se/) for his input into
the barriers, opportunities, and standards sections.

The FCC has an excellent [[informational page on
VoIP]{.underline}](http://www.fcc.gov/voip/), largely for consumers
considering VoIP for personal or small-scale use.

 

**The Many Facets of VoIP**

VoIP is not one product or service; it has many facets.  Different parts
of the telecom industry (manufacturers, carriers, software developers,
system integrators, and more) play different roles in VoIP
implementation. Users with disabilities may be confronting VoIP as
employees, system administrators, or residential customers.  The
different facets can either extend or retrict telecom accessibility, as
shown in the [[VoIP Facets
table]{.underline}](http://inclusive.com/trng/voip/facets.htm).

**Positive and Negative Accessibility Implications of VoIP**

New technologies have often been a two-edged sword for people with
disabilities.  For example, the computer\'s graphical user interface
offered improved access for people with cognitive impairments, but
originally excluded people who could not see the icons on the screen or
manipulate the mouse.  It may be the same with VoIP; certainly the
policy air is filled with panics and panegyrics.  In an effort to
identify the concrete accessibility issues facing us, we have prepared
two tables: [[Potential VoIP Accessibility
Barriers]{.underline}](http://inclusive.com/trng/voip/barriers.htm) and
[[Potential VoIP Accessibility
Opportunities.]{.underline}](http://inclusive.com/trng/voip/opps.htm)

 

**Importance of Standards**

VoIP requires successful interoperation between several pairs of
technology elements.  For example, peer-to-peer VoIP over the Internet
depends on the following:

-   that the microphone works with the sound card

-   that the sound card works with the rest of the PC hardware

-   that the PC hardware works with the operating system

-   that the operating system works with the VoIP softphone

-   that the operating system works with the networking hardware

-   that the networking hardware and software work with the access
    network

-   that the access network works with the ISP

-   that the ISP works with the Internet backbone

-   \... and back again on the receiver\'s side until the sound card
    works with the speaker

Obviously, most of these are not specific to VoIP.  But the chain of
interoperability is vulnerable at all points.  Standards strengthen this
chain by creating and maintaining public agreements about how the links
are to be shaped and joined.

Many variations and different protocols, and few gateway services
between them create fragmentation and less usability for all protocols,
because you cannot reach everybody from the same service. The telephone
network was created when such tendencies were cancelled by regulation
for the benefit of voice users who now have a universal voice network.
What forces can make VoIP and IP Multimedia the true interoperable
super-network giving higher functionality for all with reachability to
all regardless of what operator or equipment manufacturer they have?

Even if voice and video is implemented with compatibility according to
VoIP standards, the real time text component is not, even when there are
well established real time text conversation standards for the major
VoIP environments.

In order to gain the described benefits, it requires co-ordination and
keeping back the temptation to rush away in various directions with
different solutions to similar problems. That is the big challenge!
Avoid fragmentation to gain in volume and uniformity to get a snowball
effect. How likely is it that we can require multimedia access to
emergency services if there are 10 variants of access protocols? How can
the positive forces be created that can cause harmonization and
concentration on a very small set of protocols?

Luckily, many of the standards organizations concerned with
interoperability and communication protocols include accessibility
experts.  More work needs to be done, of course, but there has already
been much progress.

**VoIP and the \"Accessibility Chain\"**

Just as the chain of interoperability can be broken by one product that
does not comply with standards, the chain of accessibility is
vulnerable.  The accessibility features built into mainstream products
must work with related features in other mainstream products, or with
assistive technologies.  For example, a VoIP system may offer text
communication over IP, but at some point there must be a way to
communicate by text to a TTY.  This can be built into the VoIP system,
or it can be a compatibility feature with assistive technology network
products that act as TTY gateways.  Either way, there are technical
issues to address that are similar to standard interoperability issues;
there are also some issues that are unique to accessibility:

-   assistive technology firms may lack the technical resources needed
    to \"keep up\" with mainstream technological developments

-   the assistive technology industry as a whole, being composed of a
    few small firms, has not developed a robust standards environment
    for its own products

-   given the shortage of standards, mainstream technology designers may
    develop compatibility with only one model of assistive technology

-   mainstream developers may not understand user needs in enough detail
    because people with disabilities are by definition atypical

-   mainstream developers may not understand how people actually use
    assistive technologies and may focus only on technical compatibility
    issues

There are probably other issues.  The point is that the strength of the
VoIP environment may be one of its weaknesses as far as accessibility is
concerned. 

What is VoIP\'s strength?  A highly decentralized, low-barrier-to-entry
industry environment where value can be added at any point encourages
rapid innovation in products and services, as well as low prices.  In
many ways, VoIP may be the most convincing and powerful argument ever
made in favor of breaking up telephone monopolies.  VoIP potentially
enables almost anyone to create a new telecommunications product or
service, because it is not necessary to build or invest in a worldwide
network.  Because developers of those new products and services have low
costs, they can focus on smaller markets.  One of these markets may be
people with disabilities.  It is entirely possible that some companies
--- maybe even current assistive technology companies --- will offer
assistive network services for VoIP.  That would be a wonderful
development.

But it wouldn\'t essentially solve the accessibility problem, because
we\'d still have the same issues of the compatibility and
interoperability between mainstream and assistive technologies.  And a
highly decentralized industry means that there is another potential set
of problems based on information about accessibility.

**The VoIP Information Burden**

\...on Industry

If we had a telecommunications monopoly where all hardware, software,
and networks came through one provider (public or private), information
flow about accessibility would be simple.  The company would probably
have a large accessibility office with good connections with public
agencies and regulators, as well as internal working relationships that
fostered accessibility improvements.  The level of commitment would be
clear to everyone involved.  This is not to say that all problems would
magically disappear, but there would not be much confusion about what
the problems were or what the next steps should be.

In fact, that is what we had in some jurisdictions.  In California circa
1980, Pacific Bell had a large disability services office, with national
support from Long Lines, Bell Labs, Western Electric, and other parts of
the Bell System.  Pacific Bell was able to assign field engineers to
individual customers, who designed, built, and maintained highly
customized telephones.  Those field engineers were free to inform
themselves about the needs of people with disabilities and develop the
solutions they wanted.  Correspondingly, those solutions were guaranteed
to work, because the field engineers were embedded in the one company
that was responsible for end-to-end operations.

Today\'s telecom engineers faced with addressing accessibility have no
such luxury.  Their companies may compete with each other, making
cooperation tentative.  Upper management may make decisions on new
platforms and standards adoption that swamp or ignore the accessibility
issue. Staff churn and corporate re-engineering mean that scarce
accessibility wisdom are being discarded.  All these result directly
from today\'s competitive telecom environment that otherwise has
provided unique benefits.

The bottom line is: what will the information cost be for a VoIP
engineer in Company X to learn about an accessibility solution required
in a new product?  It may require research, attending meetings, reading
up on standards, and testing, all the time navigating through a jungle
of companies, technologies, and consultants.   If that information cost
is too high, it will not be paid.  For many of the newer, smaller firms
--- the ones most often pointed to as the engines of VoIP innovation ---
it may almost always be too high.

\...on End Users

Now consider the information burden on consumers with disabilities. 
That community\'s innovators and early adopters consist of a few
thousand technologically sophisticated, advocacy-oriented people with
disabilities, who know how to use their personal information networks to
find out about accessible products.  Most of the rest of the disability
demographic is lower in income, less well educated, and more socially
isolated.  To them VoIP (as with much of modern technology) may appear
as an impossibly complex maze, navigating through which may lead them to
a goal they are not convinced they want.  They may have had enough
disappointments trying to use technology to lead to a profound sense of
pessimism.

Their bottom line is: how far down in the user manual will they have to
dive to find something that addresses their disability? What will it
take to explain their needs to a customer service representative?  Can
they stand the need to communicate with a mainstream company and an
assistive technology company to solve a problem?  Consumers pay
information costs as well, and have to make the same kind of \"is it
worth it?\" decisions.

**VoIP Facets**

VoIP is not one product or service; it has many facets.  Different parts
of the telecom industry (manufacturers, carriers, software developers,
system integrators, and more) play different roles in VoIP
implementation. The different facets can either extend or retrict
telecom accessibility, as shown in the table below. 

+------------+--------------------+------------------+-----------------+
|            | **Definition**     | **Negative       | **Positive      |
|            |                    | Implication**    | Implication**   |
+------------+--------------------+------------------+-----------------+
| *          | VoIP is used in a  | \"VoIP           | Lower cost to   |
| *Segment** | transmission       | insertion\" is   | carriers may    |
|            | facility for a     | unknown to and   | result in less  |
|            | portion of a PSTN, | uncontrolled by  | expensive       |
|            | but calls begin    | the end user so  | service.        |
|            | and end on         | accommodation is |                 |
|            | non-VoIP           | not possible;    |                 |
|            | equipment.         | TTY performance  |                 |
|            |                    | and audio        |                 |
|            | Late Breaking      | quality may be   |                 |
|            | News: On April 21, | degraded.        |                 |
|            | 2004 the [[FCC     |                  |                 |
|            | ruled that this is |                  |                 |
|            | a                  |                  |                 |
|            | \"                 |                  |                 |
|            | telecommunications |                  |                 |
|            | s                  |                  |                 |
|            | ervice\"]{.underli |                  |                 |
|            | ne}](http://hraunf |                  |                 |
|            | oss.fcc.gov/edocs_ |                  |                 |
|            | public/attachmatch |                  |                 |
|            | /FCC-04-97A1.doc), |                  |                 |
|            | and therefore      |                  |                 |
|            | regulated.         |                  |                 |
+------------+--------------------+------------------+-----------------+
| **PBX**    | VoIP is used as    | The management   | Voice and data  |
|            | the only protocol  | of the           | integration may |
|            | within a private   | organization     | allow improved  |
|            | network (owned and | purchasing the   | accessibility   |
|            | managed by an      | PBX may not      | within          |
|            | organization such  | consider needs   | organization    |
|            | as a company,      | of users with    | and to external |
|            | municipality,      | disabilities.    | callers, such   |
|            | university,        |                  | as unified      |
|            | etc.).  The PBX is | PBX selected by  | voice and text  |
|            | connected to the   | the organization | messaging, TTY  |
|            | public network.    | may lack         | gateway.        |
|            |                    | important        |                 |
|            |                    | accessibility    |                 |
|            |                    | features.        |                 |
|            |                    |                  |                 |
|            |                    | The organization |                 |
|            |                    | may administer   |                 |
|            |                    | the PBX so as to |                 |
|            |                    | limit its        |                 |
|            |                    | accessibility.   |                 |
|            |                    |                  |                 |
|            |                    | Employees with   |                 |
|            |                    | disabilities may |                 |
|            |                    | not be able to   |                 |
|            |                    | choose           |                 |
|            |                    | accessibility    |                 |
|            |                    | solutions (for   |                 |
|            |                    | example, if the  |                 |
|            |                    | PBX uses only    |                 |
|            |                    | inaccessible     |                 |
|            |                    | proprietary      |                 |
|            |                    | phones).         |                 |
|            |                    |                  |                 |
|            |                    | Inaccessibility  |                 |
|            |                    | may affect both  |                 |
|            |                    | employees and    |                 |
|            |                    | callers from     |                 |
|            |                    | PSTN.            |                 |
+------------+--------------------+------------------+-----------------+
| **         | Device designed to | Phones may have  |                 |
| Hardware** | be used for VoIP   | been designed    |                 |
|            | calls, including   | without          |                 |
|            | phones, adapters,  | attention to the |                 |
|            | and routers        | accessibility of |                 |
|            |                    | physical         |                 |
|            |                    | controls, TTY    |                 |
|            |                    | connectability,  |                 |
|            |                    | and displays     |                 |
+------------+--------------------+------------------+-----------------+
| **PBX      | Software that      | Softphones       | Some softphones |
| so         | emulates a PBX     | available for    | are highly      |
| ftphones** | phone\'s           | any given PBX    | compatible with |
|            | functionality,     | may not be       | assistive       |
|            | sometimes          | accessible.      | technologies.   |
|            | integrated with    |                  |                 |
|            | related            |                  | Some softphones |
|            | applications such  |                  | have their own  |
|            | as email and       |                  | screen reading  |
|            | instant messaging. |                  | capability.     |
|            |                    |                  |                 |
|            |                    |                  | Hard of hearing |
|            |                    |                  | users can       |
|            |                    |                  | select audio    |
|            |                    |                  | output devices  |
|            |                    |                  | and adjust them |
|            |                    |                  | for optimal     |
|            |                    |                  | use.            |
+------------+--------------------+------------------+-----------------+
| **Internet | A softphone        | Profusion of     | Low cost        |
| pe         | intended for a PC  | softphones may   | telecom         |
| er-to-peer | user to place and  | complicate       | service.        |
| so         | receive direct     | finding one with |                 |
| ftphones** | VoIP calls over    | the              | Profusion of    |
|            | the Internet,      | accessibility    | softphones may  |
|            | without a carrier. | features needed  | provide a wide  |
|            |                    | by any given     | range of        |
|            |                    | individual.      | accessibility   |
|            |                    |                  | features.       |
|            |                    |                  |                 |
|            |                    |                  | Hard of hearing |
|            |                    |                  | users can       |
|            |                    |                  | select audio    |
|            |                    |                  | output devices  |
|            |                    |                  | and adjust them |
|            |                    |                  | for optimal     |
|            |                    |                  | use.            |
+------------+--------------------+------------------+-----------------+

**Potential Accessibility Barriers, Viewed in Context of Section 255
Guidelines**

The table below shows for each Section 255 Guideline (the rows) whether
there is a potential barrier in VoIP hardware, software, or networks. 
In some cases there is a direct comparison between current conventional
telephony and VoIP.

+-----------+----------------+-----------------------------------------+
| **Sec.    | **Short        | **Barriers Specific to VoIP That Are    |
| 255       | description**  | Rare or Absent in \"Conventional\"      |
| Gu        |                | Telephony[[\*]{.underline}](http://incl |
| ideline** |                | usive.com/trng/voip/barriers.htm#ast)** |
+-----------+----------------+-----------------------------------------+
| 1         | Product        | Carrierless operation (no phone         |
| 193.33(a) | documentation  | company) means limited commitment to a  |
|           | and customer   | business-to-consumer relationship.      |
|           | support        |                                         |
+-----------+----------------+-----------------------------------------+
| 1         | Accessibility  | Smaller, internet- or software-oriented |
| 193.33(b) | point of       | firms may ignore business-to-consumer   |
|           | contact        | relationship.                           |
+-----------+----------------+-----------------------------------------+
| 1         | Employee       | Smaller, internet- or software-oriented |
| 193.33(c) | training       | firms may lack significant employee     |
|           |                | training programs.                      |
+-----------+----------------+-----------------------------------------+
| 1193.37   | Pass-through   | TTY signal compatibility is known to be |
|           | of             | jeopardized in some implementations.    |
|           | codes/formats  |                                         |
|           |                | Captioning and video description of     |
|           |                | videoconferencing may be jeopardized in |
|           |                | some implementations.                   |
|           |                |                                         |
|           |                | Not all routers or networks permit VoIP |
|           |                | or IP multimedia                        |
+-----------+----------------+-----------------------------------------+
| 1         | Operable       | Some VoIP softphones are not compatible |
| 193.41(a) | without vision | with screen readers.                    |
|           |                |                                         |
|           |                | Some VoIP hardware phones rely on       |
|           |                | hardware displays and softkeys with     |
|           |                | contextual meanings.                    |
|           |                |                                         |
|           |                | At least one VoIP hardware phone model  |
|           |                | uses a single large touchscreen for     |
|           |                | operation.                              |
+-----------+----------------+-----------------------------------------+
| 1         | Operable with  | Some VoIP hardware phones have small or |
| 193.41(b) | low vision and | hard to read displays.                  |
|           | limited or no  |                                         |
|           | hearing        |                                         |
+-----------+----------------+-----------------------------------------+
| 1         | Operable with  | No VoIP-specific barriers               |
| 193.41(c) | little or no   |                                         |
|           | color          |                                         |
|           | perception     |                                         |
+-----------+----------------+-----------------------------------------+
| 1         | Operable       | No VoIP-specific barriers               |
| 193.41(d) | without        |                                         |
|           | hearing        |                                         |
+-----------+----------------+-----------------------------------------+
| 1         | Operable with  | Some VoIP hardware phones have          |
| 193.41(e) | limited manual | hard-to-use controls, including         |
|           | dexterity      | touchscreens.                           |
+-----------+----------------+-----------------------------------------+
| 1         | Operable with  | No VoIP-specific barriers.              |
| 193.41(f) | limited reach  |                                         |
|           | and strength   |                                         |
+-----------+----------------+-----------------------------------------+
| 1         | Operable       | No VoIP-specific barriers.              |
| 193.41(g) | without        |                                         |
|           | time-dependent |                                         |
|           | controls       |                                         |
+-----------+----------------+-----------------------------------------+
| 1         | Operable       | No VoIP-specific barriers.              |
| 193.41(h) | without speech |                                         |
+-----------+----------------+-----------------------------------------+
| 1         | Operable with  | Managing softphone installation and     |
| 193.41(i) | limited        | configuration may be hard to            |
|           | cognitive      | understand.                             |
|           | skills         |                                         |
|           |                | Arranging for peer-to-peer service is   |
|           |                | complex.                                |
|           |                |                                         |
|           |                | Some VoIP softphones have graphics-rich |
|           |                | screens that may be hard to understand. |
+-----------+----------------+-----------------------------------------+
| 1         | Availability   | Some VoIP PBXs do not provide an        |
| 193.43(a) | of visual      | audible method of delivering visual     |
|           | information    | information.                            |
|           |                |                                         |
|           |                | Some VoIP hardware phones have small or |
|           |                | hard to read displays.                  |
|           |                |                                         |
|           |                | Some VoIP softphones are not compatible |
|           |                | with screen readers.                    |
+-----------+----------------+-----------------------------------------+
| 1         | Availability   | Some VoIP softphones have graphics-rich |
| 193.43(b) | of visual      | screens that may be hard to navigate    |
|           | information    | through and read.                       |
|           | for low vision |                                         |
|           | users          | Some VoIP softphones are not compatible |
|           |                | with screen magnifiers and high         |
|           |                | contrast settings.                      |
+-----------+----------------+-----------------------------------------+
| 1         | Access to      | Some VoIP softphones use moving text    |
| 193.43(c) | moving text    | methods that are not compatible with    |
|           |                | screen readers.                         |
+-----------+----------------+-----------------------------------------+
| 1         | Availability   | Some VoIP PBXs do not provide a visual  |
| 193.43(d) | of auditory    | method of delivering audible            |
|           | information    | information.                            |
+-----------+----------------+-----------------------------------------+
| 1         | Availability   | Reduction in audio quality may reduce   |
| 193.43(e) | of auditory    | intelligibility.                        |
|           | information    |                                         |
|           | for people who | Loss of synchronization between audio   |
|           | are hard of    | and video in IP videotelephony reduces  |
|           | hearing        | their intelligibility during            |
|           |                | speech-reading.                         |
+-----------+----------------+-----------------------------------------+
| 1         | Prevention of  | No VoIP-specific barriers.              |
| 193.43(f) | vi             |                                         |
|           | sually-induced |                                         |
|           | seizures       |                                         |
+-----------+----------------+-----------------------------------------+
| 1         | Availability   | VoIP hardware phones without a separate |
| 193.43(g) | of audio       | headset jack cannot implement cutoff.   |
|           | cutoff         |                                         |
+-----------+----------------+-----------------------------------------+
| 1         | No             | Softphone use on a PC may cause         |
| 193.43(h) | n-interference | additional interference.                |
|           | with hearing   |                                         |
|           | technologies   |                                         |
+-----------+----------------+-----------------------------------------+
| 1         | Hearing aid    | No VoIP-specific barriers.              |
| 193.43(i) | coupling       |                                         |
+-----------+----------------+-----------------------------------------+
| 1         | External       | No VoIP-specific barriers.              |
| 193.51(a) | electronic     |                                         |
|           | access         |                                         |
+-----------+----------------+-----------------------------------------+
| 1         | Connection     | Many VoIP hardware phones have no       |
| 193.51(b) | point for      | separate headset jack.                  |
|           | external audio |                                         |
|           | processing     |                                         |
+-----------+----------------+-----------------------------------------+
| 1         | Compatibility  | Touchscreens on some VoIP hardware      |
| 193.51(c) | of controls    | phones may not be compatible with       |
|           | with           | prosthetics.                            |
|           | prosthetics    |                                         |
+-----------+----------------+-----------------------------------------+
| 1         | TTY            | Many VoIP hardware phones have no way   |
| 193.51(d) | connectability | to connect a TTY.                       |
+-----------+----------------+-----------------------------------------+
| 1         | TTY signal     | TTY signal compatibility is jeopardized |
| 193.51(e) | compatibility  | in some implementations.                |
+-----------+----------------+-----------------------------------------+

\* Note: The entry \"no VoIP-specific barriers\" in this table does not
mean that VoIP is automatically accessible or conformant to that Sec.
255 Guideline.   It only means that there is nothing unique to VoIP as a
platform; many barriers continue to exist in \"conventional\" telephony
as experienced by average users with disabilities.

 

# Potential Accessibility Opportunities: VoIP and Related IP-enabled Applications

Here is a table of the potential accessibility opportunities for VoIP,
with applications in the rows and disability categories in the columns.

+----------+----------+----------+-----+-----+------+-----+--------+
|          | **Deaf** | **Hard   | **B | **  | **Sp | **  | *      |
|          |          | of       | lin | Low | eech | Dex | *Cogni |
|          |          | H        | d** | Vi  | Im   | ter | tively |
|          |          | earing** |     | sio | pair | ity | Impa   |
|          |          |          |     | n** | ed** | I   | ired** |
|          |          |          |     |     |      | mpa |        |
|          |          |          |     |     |      | ire |        |
|          |          |          |     |     |      | d** |        |
+----------+----------+----------+-----+-----+------+-----+--------+
| **Int    | Sign     | Speech   |     |     | Hea  | Wi  | Mu     |
| egrated, | language | -reading |     |     | ring | rel | ltiple |
| simu     | commu    |          |     |     | c    | ess | media  |
| ltaneous | nication | C        |     |     | arry | im  | makes  |
| voice,   |          | aptioned |     |     | over | pro | c      |
| text,    | Voice    | v        |     |     | is   | ves | ommuni |
| and      | c        | ideoconf |     |     | ea   | e   | cation |
| video    | arryover | erencing |     |     | sier | ase | more   |
| commun   | is       |          |     |     | to   | of  | comp   |
| ication, | easier   |          |     |     | set  | use | elling |
| wired    | to set   |          |     |     | up   |     | and    |
| and      | up and   |          |     |     | and  |     | intell |
| wi       | use      |          |     |     | use  |     | igible |
| reless** |          |          |     |     |      |     |        |
|          | Video    |          |     |     | Impr |     |        |
|          | relay is |          |     |     | oved |     |        |
|          | easier   |          |     |     | spee |     |        |
|          | to set   |          |     |     | ch-t |     |        |
|          | up and   |          |     |     | o-sp |     |        |
|          | use      |          |     |     | eech |     |        |
|          |          |          |     |     | u    |     |        |
|          | C        |          |     |     | sing |     |        |
|          | aptioned |          |     |     | v    |     |        |
|          | v        |          |     |     | ideo |     |        |
|          | ideoconf |          |     |     |      |     |        |
|          | erencing |          |     |     |      |     |        |
+----------+----------+----------+-----+-----+------+-----+--------+
| **Int    |          |          |     |     |      |     |        |
| egration |          |          |     |     |      |     |        |
| with     |          |          |     |     |      |     |        |
| IP-based |          |          |     |     |      |     |        |
| TRS      |          |          |     |     |      |     |        |
| (        |          |          |     |     |      |     |        |
| relay)** |          |          |     |     |      |     |        |
+----------+----------+----------+-----+-----+------+-----+--------+
| **       |          | Improved |     |     | Impr |     |        |
| Wideband |          | intelli  |     |     | oved |     |        |
| audio    |          | gibility |     |     | int  |     |        |
| (better  |          |          |     |     | elli |     |        |
| audio    |          |          |     |     | gibi |     |        |
| qu       |          |          |     |     | lity |     |        |
| ality)** |          |          |     |     |      |     |        |
+----------+----------+----------+-----+-----+------+-----+--------+
| **Full-  | Easier   |          |     |     | Ea   |     |        |
| featured | to use,  |          |     |     | sier |     |        |
| two-way  | more     |          |     |     | to   |     |        |
| simu     | ex       |          |     |     | use, |     |        |
| ltaneous | pressive |          |     |     | more |     |        |
| text     | than TTY |          |     |     | ex   |     |        |
| commu    |          |          |     |     | pres |     |        |
| nication |          |          |     |     | sive |     |        |
| (full    |          |          |     |     | than |     |        |
| screen,  |          |          |     |     | TTY; |     |        |
| fonts,   |          |          |     |     | easy |     |        |
| em       |          |          |     |     | to   |     |        |
| oticons, |          |          |     |     | pre  |     |        |
| etc.)**  |          |          |     |     | pare |     |        |
|          |          |          |     |     | ut   |     |        |
|          |          |          |     |     | tera |     |        |
|          |          |          |     |     | nces |     |        |
|          |          |          |     |     | in   |     |        |
|          |          |          |     |     | adva |     |        |
|          |          |          |     |     | nce, |     |        |
|          |          |          |     |     | in   |     |        |
|          |          |          |     |     | sert |     |        |
|          |          |          |     |     | into |     |        |
|          |          |          |     |     | mes  |     |        |
|          |          |          |     |     | sage |     |        |
+----------+----------+----------+-----+-----+------+-----+--------+
| **User   | Easier   | Easier   | Eas | Eas | Ea   | Eas | Easier |
| profile  | to set   | to set   | ier | ier | sier | ier | to set |
| autom    | up       | up       | to  | to  | to   | to  | up;    |
| atically |          |          | set | set | set  | set | r      |
| est      |          |          | up  | up  | up   | up; | educes |
| ablishes |          |          |     |     |      | r   | mental |
| in       |          |          |     |     |      | edu | effort |
| dividual |          |          |     |     |      | ces |        |
| pre      |          |          |     |     |      | ph  | Buddy  |
| ferences |          |          |     |     |      | ysi | list   |
| and      |          |          |     |     |      | cal | simp   |
| network  |          |          |     |     |      | eff | lifies |
| services |          |          |     |     |      | ort | use    |
| (tran    |          |          |     |     |      |     |        |
| scoding, |          |          |     |     |      |     |        |
| relay,   |          |          |     |     |      |     |        |
| text     |          |          |     |     |      |     |        |
| macros,  |          |          |     |     |      |     |        |
| speech   |          |          |     |     |      |     |        |
| sy       |          |          |     |     |      |     |        |
| nthesis, |          |          |     |     |      |     |        |
| etc.)**  |          |          |     |     |      |     |        |
+----------+----------+----------+-----+-----+------+-----+--------+
| **User   |          |          | Eas | Eas |      | Eas | Easier |
| profile  |          |          | ier | ier |      | ier | to set |
| and      |          |          | to  | to  |      | to  | up;    |
| account  |          |          | set | set |      | set | r      |
| inf      |          |          | up; | up; |      | up; | educes |
| ormation |          |          | s   | s   |      | r   | mental |
| can be   |          |          | kip | kip |      | edu | effort |
| used on  |          |          | st  | st  |      | ces |        |
| multiple |          |          | eps | eps |      | ph  |        |
| devices  |          |          | on  | on  |      | ysi |        |
| (home,   |          |          | vis | vis |      | cal |        |
| work,    |          |          | ual | ual |      | eff |        |
| and      |          |          | ter | ter |      | ort |        |
| wireless |          |          | min | min |      |     |        |
| phone)   |          |          | als | als |      |     |        |
| and      |          |          |     |     |      |     |        |
| public   |          |          |     |     |      |     |        |
| t        |          |          |     |     |      |     |        |
| erminals |          |          |     |     |      |     |        |
| with     |          |          |     |     |      |     |        |
| \"follow |          |          |     |     |      |     |        |
| me\"     |          |          |     |     |      |     |        |
| s        |          |          |     |     |      |     |        |
| ervice** |          |          |     |     |      |     |        |
+----------+----------+----------+-----+-----+------+-----+--------+
| **Mu     | Improved | Improved |     |     | Impr |     | Im     |
| ltimedia | access   | access   |     |     | oved |     | proved |
| e        | via text | via      |     |     | ac   |     | access |
| mergency |          | wideband |     |     | cess |     | by     |
| s        |          | audio    |     |     | via  |     | using  |
| ervice** |          |          |     |     | wide |     | video  |
|          |          |          |     |     | band |     | to     |
|          |          |          |     |     | a    |     | e      |
|          |          |          |     |     | udio |     | xplain |
|          |          |          |     |     |      |     | eme    |
|          |          |          |     |     |      |     | rgency |
+----------+----------+----------+-----+-----+------+-----+--------+