signtel.inc

http://www.signtelinc.com/

sign language public address and emergency system (signtel interpreter)

Signtel.inc is a company that was established in January of 1999 and is headquartered in North Haven Connecticut. Their mission is to create and bring innovative assistive technology and assistive devices that will better serve the deaf, hard of hearing, deaf blind, visually impared and deaf low-vision communities.

One product that they have is a sign language public address and emergency system (signtel interpreter). This communication device allows members of the public who are deaf to be addressed by sign language and the hearing to be addressed by text.

The sign language public address and emergency system comes with a microphone in which you can speak into and it will translate the message into sign language or if you have a speech you can type it into the system and it will translate the text into sign language.

The signtel interpreter is a windows based communication program which will provide real time translation of spoken or written English into sign language facilitating one on one communication between the hearing and the deaf .

This system is alot better than the old tele-typewriter (tty) which tended to be cumbersome and time consuming not to mention less private as the deaf/ hearing impared person would have to go through a live operator to relay messages from one to another. Not only was the tele-typewriter not private for the people using it but not all words in the english language can be interpreted into sign language such as different phrases that we use the deaf person whould not understand so the (tty) caused problems with accuracy.

This is a great communication tool for any company that already employs people who are deaf or hearing impared or will at some point in the future. The signtel interpreter system will also encourage the hearing people to interact more closely with the deaf or hard of hearing both in the workplace and in social situations.

For the relative ease of use and the fact that it opens doors to communicate with people we would not normally be able to communicate with due to the language barrier this product gets a 4.8 out of 5.