LaRonda shares a fascinating tip she learned today about communication after a phone call using a VRS (Video Relay Service) interpreter. Well worth watching and reading! Click the link below to see video clip and transcript.
(For YouTube watchers who don’t have QuickTime, click here)
Transcript:
Hi. I learned something today that I found quite fascinating, about using VRS (Video Relay Service). I decided to share it with you. It’s a good tip.Today while I was at work, I made a call through VRS to another professional. That person wasn’t there, but she had a recording to leave a message, which was fine. So, I began to give the interpreter my name, my contact information, my e-mail address, and so on. I signed slowly because as a caller, I have part of the responsibility for the communication. If I spelled my name or gave my information too fast, and it goes right over the interpreter’s head, and then I complain that the interpreter is lousy, that’s not ok!
No. As a deaf caller, I must accept responsibility for giving my information, such as the spelling of my name or e-mail address, slow enough so that the interpreter can skillfully and easily capture it.
Yet, as I slowly gave my contact information, I noticed that the interpreter was talking fast and way more than she should. I looked at her puzzled. I wondered why she was talking so much! I was simply leaving a few letters (i.e.: s-j-c-d-.-o-r-g). But that interpreters seemed to be talking so fast and way too much! I remained completely puzzled and it showed in my expressions. In fact, the interpreter noticed my puzzled face.
As we finished the call and were about to hang up, the VRS interpreter said, “Wait! Wait! Wait! I noticed your puzzled face when I was talking a lot.”
I nodded, “Yes. Yes.” (I should’ve been assertive and asked her what was up and why she seemed to be talking so much, but I didn’t. Gulp!) But the interpreter, herself, asked me if I wanted an explanation, and of course, I did.
“Please, yes. I was puzzled. I wasn’t sure why you were talking so much and so long when I was only giving my e-mail address.”
The interpreter explained that when she interprets a call and has to give the letters to e-mail addresses or the spelling of names to another hearing person on the other end, she has to make sure she is heard clearly. Sometimes the hearing person on the other end of the phone confuse the sounds of certain letters. For example, a “C” might sound like a “Z.” This can lead to misunderstandings. I started to understand what the interpreter was explaining.
I asked her what she did to be sure she was understood clearly by the other hearing person. That’s when she told me she makes up words that begin with that certain letter I am giving her. For example, “C” for cat. For example, using part of my work e-mail address - s-j-c-d -, she explained she said, “S as in shoe, J as in jump, C as in cat and D as in dog.” This would help her articulate and differentiate the letters distinctly.
I understood.
She also told me that our military has a “phonetic code” they use when they are communicating over their walkie-talkies or radio transmitters. They use this code to give instructions about what to do and where to go, etc. If, for example, a leader was explaining something like go to point A, point B or point C, they will use the words “Alpha-Bravo-Charlie” to clearify A-B-C on their radio transmitters. This way, the other person will understand clearly where they are to go. They will not misinterpret what they mean.
Again, I was able to grasp this.
Us deafies are not involved much in the military world and obviously we are not very familiar with the military phonetic code. But it stuck me as interesting. At first, I thought maybe I should learn about the military phonetic code. Maybe that would help in my VRS calls. But I also realized that I had no visual image in my brain for the word “Alpha.” What’s that mean? And Bravo? What picture is that? People cheering or making the sign for “congratulations?” What about “Charlie?” That’s a name of a person. It just doesn’t make sense to me visually.
However, I think we, deaf people, can come up with more visual images for the letters we spell out to VRS. Maybe going back to visit the ABC charts and posters we saw back in Kindergarten — you know the ones that had A for apple, B for ball, C for cat, and so on. I think this would be fairly easy to do.
So from now on, when I’m calling VRS and spelling out the letters of my name, I try something like “L as in lady — wait! No, no — L as in Lion…. Z as in zebra or zoo — something creative like that. This tip can help interpreters capture and translate things to another hearing person more clearly. In this way, the hearing person on the other end of the line will understand the difference between the sound of a “C or a Z,” a “D or a T,” or an “S, F or X.”
I completely understand this. I think this is a good tip. Maybe it will be a little bit challenging to come up with some words to go along with the letters, but I think it’s worth it. The point is that communication is important. We need to make sure that both sides are understanding each other clearly. We are equally responsible for communication on both ends.
I’ve seen the similar method used in some TV shows - especially cop shows where the cop would be behind a car with a license plate and he/she would make a dispatch call and say “ABC 123 as in Alan, Bruce, Charlie 123″ something like that.
Left by Renee J. on June 26th, 2007
Hi LaRonda ,
I never thought about it … I havent Notice that When Every Time I call Whoever so Already you Hit me and I have some of Reason . Thanks for Let me know .IT was so Neats. you know what I am talk about it
See you around
Sara or Shrimpy
Left by Sara or Shrimpy on June 27th, 2007
interesting tip, thanks for sharing.
here in Aus we don’t have VRS yet, but we do have relay services for TTY - I need to remember that.
Left by SusanA on June 27th, 2007
This is a very good tip - I know many people confuse my verbal “S” with “F”… I use this hint all the time!
Grace
Left by Grace on June 27th, 2007
LaRhonda,
Not common in deaf world which is true. As a deaf person working for the government, I do use a lot of “Alpha Bravo Charlie Delta” when communicating with other military and civilians. I ‘ve work over 20 years so it comes natural for me to use the Alpha-Bravo-Charlie phonetic system.
Below is the whole phonetic alphabet that’s pretty current and popular (widely used by NATO). It has changed over the years.
The phonetic alphabet:
Alpha Bravo Charlie Delta Echo Foxtrot Golf Hotel India
Juliet Kilo Lima Mike November Oscar Papa Quebec Romeo
Sierra Tango Uniform Victor Whiskey Xray Yankee Zulu
[This alphabet dates from about 1955 and is approved by the
International Civil Aviation Organization, the FAA and the
International Telecommunication Union; ]
The phonetic digit (number):
zero one two tree fower fife six seven eight niner
Bear in mind that when hearing person need to communicate in a very loud noisy environment (i.e. soldier in battefield or 747 pilot or officer in noisy area), they tend to yell or talk loud but clear as possible.
Sometimes they change the phonetic alphabet a little. Instead of say India, they say indigo or indiana. I guess it’s personal preference or depending on the local dialect/accent that works best for them.
Sometimes I use ‘Pope’ instead of ‘Papa’.
Sometimes the sign language terp would ask the speaker to spell out the acronyms. After the speaker says something like, “UAV, uniform alpha victor, Unmanned Aerial Vehicle” and the terp was really stupefied. I get a chuckle once a while.
Left by Mark M on June 27th, 2007
Mark,
Thank you for sharing the full Military Phonetic Alphabet. I find this fascinating! The words are so unusual though and not always visual, which is why I think some deaf people might have a hard time coming up with those words. Alpha? Delta? Zulu? Ha. These words just don’t have an immediate picture for some and it’s hard to remember them. This is why I was thinking we might have an easier time coming up with an image from our ABC charts from childhood.
At any rate, I completely enjoyed your comment above and appreciate seeing the full phonetic alphabet now. I’m egar to learn it just for something fun to do. I bet my 10 year old son and i will have a good time learning it together. A fun thing to do this summer!
Thanks for your comment and thanks to the rest of you who left comments above as well.
~ LaRonda
Left by LaRonda on June 27th, 2007
Yes it happened to me a few times — when I would use IP relay (on Instant messaging), the person would use the names for each letter if I were to meet someone for an appointment or whatever, I thought it was strange until I figured it out and it helps the person on the other line know which letter I was talking about. I didn’t know that the military uses this specific type of thing for communication purposes.
thanks for the educational tip.
Left by michele on June 27th, 2007
As a person with a hearing impairment but able to use the telephone I always use words with my letters; for example H=human, U=umbrella m=monkey a=apple n=nancy. This is to make sure I am understood and when they spell something out I ALWAYS ask them to use a word after the letter to make sure I got the spelling correctly..
Thanks LaRhonda; I love your posts.. Human
Left by human on June 27th, 2007
Didn’t realize they do that. Something that other operators are picking up on? I’m not one to use VRS (rather use IM relay or TDD relay), it’s frustrating when they can’t understand your signs. I tried spelling my street sign one time, “Cherry…” No dice. Signing it “Cherry.” Still no dice considering potential regional sign conflict. Ok… signing “Cherry tree.” Got it. Whew.
Left by drmzz on June 27th, 2007
Interesting, I learned something –never thought about that.
VRS has some different ways to tell something like simple so the hearing people get a message correctly. Thanks for a good tip.
DRMZZ, True, some VRS do not get what I say in my fingerspelling even slowly and clearly so I had to use the white board to write and show so they finally got it! LOL
Left by Jac on June 27th, 2007
LaRhonda,
Just want to clarify a little bit .. it’s not limit to military only .. think ham radio operator, lifeguard, civil air patrol, SAR (S earch A nd R escue), detective, FBI, CIA, NASA, etc.
Have a good one.
Left by Mark M on June 27th, 2007
Personally, I do not use the VRS at all. ‘Never have. I do not feel comfortable with it and much prefer IRS. I feel (my own point of view) that VRS is for those who do not feel comfortable with their own English and who are Native ASL users. One of these days I will give it a try and see what developes.
Thanks LaRonda for another fascinating post!
Lantana
Left by Lantana on June 27th, 2007
Wow .. never thought of this. I am pretty stunned at this moment. I must lagged behind in this hearing world - even I grew up as an oralist.
LaRonda — You sign beautifully! Even you become deaf when you were only 17! Yes that’s true - you were given a call to adventure!
Dog Indoor Apple November Earth eh.. it is cool.
Lantana quoted this
“I feel (my own point of view) that VRS is for those who do not feel comfortable with their own English and who are Native ASL users…………….
Lantana–
I completely understand your own point of view. I read and write English well and I love VRS! It is very easy and fast! I hope you can try it one day. Trust me you will love it (even I don’t know you!)
Left by Diane on June 28th, 2007
That’s GREAT! your share information… COOOL!
:o)
PinkyVRS
Left by Pinky on June 29th, 2007
LaRonda - I tried to watch your VLOG, but sadly am I the ONLY one who does not have Quick Play (Time)?? I really truly wanted to see this one :-0 I am planning to Vlog one day about my time (frustrations) with VRS but no matter what I support them - AM HAPPY FOR VRS than TTY. Won’t say anymore as I have no Idea what the Vlog was about - only going by comments
Left by B.A.D. on June 29th, 2007
Hi B.A.D.
Not everyone has QuickTime, but my posts are all up on YouTube under LZupp. Go here to see it:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nLOeUUWf7jo
~ LaRonda
Left by LaRonda on June 29th, 2007
I picked up on doing this as a young girl when I would watch my mother giving our last name, which starts with a B. B can be so easily confused with other letters (C, D, or P) that she would automatically say “Beach - B as in boy, E-A-C-H.”
Now it has become a habit for me to do the same thing, and when asked for my name on VRS, I tend to do the same thing (I use my own voice on VCO with most calls).
I’m a little curious…how many Deaf people use their own voices (i.e. VCO) on VRS? I do, but I have noticed that some individuals who do have good speech skills still tend to turn off their voices and let the interpreter speak for them when using VRS services.
I’m not criticizing by any means, I just wonder. I have had friends tell me later that an interpreter did voice me wrong when I chose not to use my own voice… one time I was discussing my Ireland poster that a friend was to mail to me, and the interpreter kept saying “potato poster.” Thank goodness my friend knew enough signs to understand what I was talking about!
Left by Virginia L. Beach on June 30th, 2007
Hi LaRonda - THANKS!!!
Yes this has happened to me, sometimes ( I must admit) I don’t have the patient for this. BUT I can understand it is hard for the other party to understand the “word”…this part I get frustrated:
When I make a call, and give out my name and last name (which is somewhat common), and the caller does not understand my last name, the VRS pronunces it in 3 syallables, again, caller doesn’t unnderstand, then the VRS spells out my last name, on top of it all has say each word….liike “D” for Dave, “N” for Nancy, etc…..allll that in under 5 minutes for ONE simple last word, then at the end the caller says “OHHHHHHHHH…….” and apologizes for making her spell/pronunce/and spell it out….I laugh and said it is OK. The VRS Smiles sometims rolls his/her eyes….we smile…….
It is no one’s fault, I’m sure if I was hearing, I would have to go thru the same thing, but only longer because I have sign, then VRS translates to hearing,then hearing goes back to VRS and VRS signs for me -
I know the puzzle face like why is she talking too long over a s j n c word??? 
We all learning something new!!
Keep Vlogging!:
Left by B.A.D. on July 1st, 2007
Good topic. This is one more advantage of ASL because each handshape is different, so there is no need to clarify “A as in apple”. You only need to clarify when you are voicing.
This reminds me of a funny story. My grandmother’s first language was Spanish, and her accent in English was hard to understand. One day, she was telling someone her apartment number and she said “Apartment 18-D as in dedo” Dedo is the Spanish word for finger. I laughed and said “She doesn’t know Spanish, so you are confusing her with the word ‘dedo’ ” My grandmother smacked her head and said “Oh! I should have said ‘finger’ !” Then I laughed and said “Yeah…but ‘finger’ doesn’t start with ‘D’, so how would that help?” Ha ha! Spoken language can get so complicated!
Another interesting fact: My dad, who was in law enforcement, said that the reason the phonetic alphabet uses such strange words is because people with a variety of regional and foreign accents can say them and still be understood!
Left by Cuban on July 1st, 2007
Hi LaRonda!
Nice to meet you! My name is Bill. This is my first time to visit your site. I visited from SeekGeo’s website. I wanted to thank you for having a transcript of your vlog. I’m a hearie and used to know ASL well many years ago…
It took one time watching your vlog, then looking at your transcript and then watch your vlog again to not need the transcript! I surprised myself to remember so much ASL! Pah! Wow!
Please continue to have transcripts. You inspire hearies to learn ASL!!!
Anyway, I thought I would share a funny story. I work with computers and sometimes I call service for printers for other offices in other states. I have to call an outsourced company which outsourced phone calls to India. First, I call and say my name is Bill. They ask me how to spell Bill! A common name! I say “B-I-L-L.” They usually ask me to spell it 2 more times again. Then they ask me if that is “V” as in “vhiskey” (whiskey) or “B” as in “boy.” For people from India, B and V sound the same exact thing. My last name makes them CRAZY to spell! LOL
I can understand, though. When I was a child, I couldn’t distinguish between “F” and “TH” and many other sounds. I went to an audiologist. Even mother took me to a university audiologist. Before I sat in the back seat in elementary school and did bad in school, then the audiologist said I should sit in the front row and I did and got good grades! Even this day I always have a problem in one ear that makes me crazy. Whatever! I can never listen to a phone in the left ear. Drive me crazy!
Funny, as an adult in high school & college I studied Japanese, Spanish, French, Latin, ancient Greek, German, Middle Egyptian, Catalan, and other languages. I love accents too!
My 2 favorite languages? *blush* French and ASL! Most beautiful and romantic languages in the world! If I had to chose one… ASL! Most beautiful, expressive language in the world!!!
*hugs*
Left by PhillyBill on July 2nd, 2007
I’m somewhat familiar with the alpha bravo charlie code, but I didn’t think it was commonly used (or at least by VRS interpreters!!) That’s great to know!
Cheers
Left by Heather on July 3rd, 2007
Hi there!
I am also a hearie like the person above. My friend and I were actually having a little bet as to whether the official word for E was echo or eagle. I lost. But looking it up was what led me to this site.
I was so amazed when I saw your post… not using a phonetic alphabet of some kind was something I had never considered. I don’t know anyone (civilian, anyways) who actually uses the official military version though, it’s usually people’s names, or simple words like “boy”, “cat”, etc. But especially working at a call center, I can’t imagine communicating without it. I had to explain to an elderly gentleman that he should park in parking lot Q. He said, “parking lot 2?”.. “no, sir, the letter Q like Quincy”…”the letter 2?”… “no, sir, 2 is a number not a letter. Q like Quincy, Quality, Quack-Quack-Quack”……….. “So I should park in Q?”… “yes, sir!” Luckily he didn’t get mad at me for quacking at him, but he did finally understand.
In the world of hearies, the VRS stands for Voice Response System. The machine is supposed to understand the letters and words you say to help you navigate a phone menu. Mostly it’s a nightmare, the machine doesn’t understand something like “LRP” very well - it’s so much easier to get a live person and say L-as-in-Lake, R-as-in-Robert, P-as-in-Paul.
Ever since I was a kid, my last name has not been spelled with the letters N or V. My name is spelled with the letters N-as-in-Nancy and V-as-in-Victor. I’ve never spelled it any other way. It’s the advantages we create after years of people trying to communicate with one another, I suppose.
Anyways, I know living in a world without these advantage seems inconceivable to me at least. Which is why your post was both interesting and educational for me. Thank you so much!
Left by booper on July 8th, 2007
Thanks everyone for your comments. You guys are great! A smart group!
~ LaRonda
Left by LaRonda on July 10th, 2007
Hi,
I just ran across your blog on spelling out letters. Too many times I’ve tried to spell out my name over the phone with a home made mix of an Alpha-Bravo-Charlie alphabet. While I created a small Google tool for this, I’ve learned that there are a few different official alphabets for this, e.g.
NATO phonetic alphabet:
Alpha Bravo Charlie Delta Echo Foxtrot Golf Hotel India Juliet Kilo Lima Mike November Oscar Papa Quebec Romeo Sierra Tango Uniform Victor Whiskey Xray Yankee Zulu
Telecom B:
Alfred Benjamin Charles David Edward Frederick George Harry Isaac Jack King London Mary Nellie Oliver Peter Queen Robert Samuel Tommy Uncle Victor William Xray Yellow Zebra
British A (there are a few other city-based alphabets):
Amsterdam Baltimore Casablanca Denmark Edison Florida Gallipoli Havana Italia Jerusalem Kilogramme Liverpool Madagascar New_York Oslo Paris Quebec Roma Santiago Tripoli Uppsala Valencia Washington Xantippe Yokohama Zurich
New York City Police (other police alphabets exist in the US):
Adam Boy Charlie David Edward Frank George Henry Ida John King Lincoln Mary Nora Ocean Peter Queen Robert Sam Tom Union Victor William X-ray Young Zebra
For the Google Gadget tool and a reference to the complete list of phonetic alphabets in various languages, see
http://www.braju.com/ig/
Hope this help you to get some ideas for new words in sign language too and that would immediately translate to a clear phonetically spoken word.
Cheers
Henrik
Left by Henrik Bengtsson on July 17th, 2007
the english and europe ones are
alpha juliet sierra
bravoe kilo tango
charlie lima unifrom
delta mike victor
echo november whisky
foxtrot oscar x-ray
golf papa yanke
holtel qubec zulu
india romeo
this is what i got taught at army cadets so it carnt be wrong
hoped this helped
papa echo alpha charlie echo
Left by CHRIS on May 29th, 2008