RTT application
Mobile telecommunication has been available for some 20 years now. At first to a small group of people, because of its high cost price. Then, as scale grew and prices went down, larger and larger numbers started benefiting from its advantages. In November of 2007 a estimated 3.3 billion subscriptions existed world wide, and these numbers are still growing.
Everyone needs it, but some still dont have it. For deaf people, heard of hearing, speech impaired and their relatives are not capable of using the full array of possibilities offered by cell phone technology. Text messaging, email and chat are not sufficient, for they do not reflect the dynamics of direct communication through a mobile device. That means, across the globe, there remains
a fundamental barrier to the way that deaf and speech-impaired people would like to communicate with each other, and with
hearing people; an equivalent to voice.
Real Time Text is the solution to this. Real Time Text is an international standard (including T.140 and RFC 4103) for the provision of text-based telephony services, in essence to provide the ubiquity and unique benefits of voice calling, but in textual form.
The RTT Service promoted by the RTT Alliance is a carrier-class implementation of the Real Time Text standard, offering mobile and web-based user interfaces. The RTT Service is also fully compatible with existing fixed-line services for Real Time Text. As such, the RTT Service is not an alternative, but an extension of an already universally embraced capability, by making it available on mobile phones and personal computers.
Real Time Text is an alternative to voice telephony, whereas other systems are non-conversational, store and forward applications. Three significant features characterize voice and Real-Time Text communication;
1. Connection is dialed
2. Information flows in real-time
3. Participants can “barge in” or interject
The RTT Service addresses a sizeable global market, and will generate new revenue from phone upgrades, data contracts and monthly subscription charges.
Subscribers pay a fixed amount per month for mobile and Internet access, in addition to or bundled with a device and data contract. The potential for attracting subscribers, with a likelihood of device upgrade and long-term contract, is tremendous.
The RTT Service is available on BlackBerry (8000 series) and as an Internet client, with fixed-mobile convergence built-in.
Hearing friends and family of subscribers can be engaged through a free-of-charge web client, helping to maximize viral adoption and break down the communication barrier between the hearing and disabled worlds. Businesses and other organizations can be provided with access to the RTT network, for improved communication between hearing and deaf colleagues, or to provide more socially responsible customer care.
