SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (May 23, 2012) — Today, CSD announced that it has formed a partnership with Deaf Services Center (DSC) to broaden its scope of video remote interpreting (VRI) into Ohio.

CSD Video Remote Interpreting (CSDVRI) enables businesses to communicate — in real time — with deaf/hearing sign language users  who are in the same room or location (meeting, doctor’s appointment, etc.), all by accessing a video interpreter working from a distant location. CSDVRI is convenient for a business needing communication access for their deaf consumers when traditional community based interpreting services are not available or practical.

“As a nationwide provider of interpreting services for over 36 years, CSD is excited to bring CSDVRI to Ohio,” said Ben Soukup, CSD chief executive officer. “Aligning our organization with a deaf and hard of hearing service provider like DSC makes perfect sense, because we share a core mission and bring the same focus on quality to our consumers.”

DSC is a provider of both community and interpreting services for people living in central and southeast Ohio. Along with interpreting, DSC specializes in serving the deaf and hard of hearing community with programs like case management, youth programs, peer support, advocacy, and even more.

“Deaf Services Center looks forward to expanding our offerings to include video remote interpreting so the deaf, hard of hearing and hearing communities can use it to enhance their interpreting services in the workplace, school or personal appointments,” said John Moore, DSC chief executive officer/executive director. “We are excited to partner with CSD to ensure that users of video remote interpreting receive top quality services.

CSD’s national interpreting referral center will handle all billing, scheduling and processing for DSC’s VRI requests. The CSD platform allows access to Web chat, e-mail, TTY, fax and more for businesses to schedule or request interpreters. DSC will also market the CSDVRI brand in Ohio and the surrounding areas where they currently operate offices. While DSC is a VRI provider itself, CSD will handle the overflow once DSC’s interpreting pool is maxed out. It’s a win-win situation for CSD, DSC and especially for deaf and hard of hearing people who otherwise may not be able to access an interpreter.

For more information about DSC, go to www.dsc.org, and to learn more about CSD, go to www.c-s-d.org.

About CSD — CSD (a.k.a. Communication Service for the Deaf, Inc.) was established in 1975, primarily to provide sign language interpreting services to deaf and hard of hearing adults in South Dakota. Today, CSD offers employment opportunities to nearly 2,000 individuals in 27 offices and locations all across the nation and internationally, providing a broad continuum of social and human services programs, as well as interpreting, telecommunications relay and contact center services. CSD is a private nonprofit agency dedicated to providing quality services; ensuring public accessibility; and increasing awareness of issues affecting the deaf, hard of hearing and individuals with speech disabilities. For more information, please visit www.c-s-d.org.
 
About Deaf Services Center — Since 1991, DSC has grown to be one of the largest community centers for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing in the State of Ohio.  We mandate in our bylaws that the majority of our Board of Trustees be Deaf or Hard of Hearing.  Currently, the DSC Board of Trustees is made up of a majority of Deaf and hard of hearing individuals.
We provide the following services: Case Management/Peer Support, ADA Assistance, Advocacy, ASL Instruction, Education, Deaf Equipment Modification Program, C- Print, Interpreting Services(Community and Video), Information and Referral, Rural Outreach, Speaker’s Bureau, Career Options for Deaf, Hard of Hearing Youth and the Deaf Youth Program and Kids of Deaf Adults (KODA).. (DSC) is a non-profit 501 C-3 organization based in Worthington, Ohio committed to providing direct-based services to Deaf, hard of hearing and late-deafened.
      We have two offices in which we provide services though a 24 county service area.  The offices are located at 5830 North High Street, Worthington and Communication Services for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing of Portsmouth, 1835 Oakland Avenue, Portsmouth, OH.
     We have long have been committed to the betterment of the lives of people who are deaf or have hearing loss. Our mission is to empower the deaf and hard of hearing people and to promote access to communication, services and events in the community.  For more information, log on to www.dsc.org or call 614-841-1991 V/TTY.

Who determines whether an interpreter is qualified? Is holding an interpreting certification sufficient or should we focus on interpreter’s aptitude and experiences as outlined in Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)? These questions were always up for debate among my Deaf family members and answer never came more clearly to me until the night I went to watch the play, The Busybody, by Susanna Centlivre.

The play script was tough to understand. Even with 6 years of experiences in theater, it took me weeks to read and understand the Shakespearean-equivalent language aspects and historical context so richly packed into this script. I was understandably alarmed when a red haired certified interpreter introduced herself to me and flippantly admitted that she did not read a script.

With only a few minutes left until the play begin, I offered her my script as a source of reference during the play. She quickly declined. The lights darkened, and after her stunned silence upon hearing the first a few lines, the interpreter frantically stood up: “I can’t understand what they’re saying! I can’t do this!” She fled to the back of the theater, leaving her team interpreter alone to interpret for the remaining two hours. I remember spending the rest of the play feeling sorry for the lone team interpreter and wishing that the red haired interpreter would at least give it a try. Indeed, I felt no animosity against the red haired interpreter; I could empathize with her panic. It was a learning experience for all of us.

From the experience, I realized that while interpreting certification is a great tool in indicating whether an interpreter can utilize even the smallest nuances of ASL, it still is not sufficient in preparing an interpreter for just any assignment. Perhaps recognizing more depth to qualifications than simply certification, Title II of ADA takes a stance on which steps should be taken to ensure that communications between a Deaf person and a hearing person should be as effective, clear, and understandable as those among hearing people. Furthermore, a “qualified interpreter” is loosely described as someone able to sign and convey important concepts between Deaf and hearing people. With that requirement entails an unconditional expectation for accurate, objective, and unbiased interpretation, and utilization of knowledge of specialized vocabulary.[¹] Certification is not used to define qualification, nor is it required by ADA for those pursuing an interpreting career.

Should certification be required? That is still up for debate. From my standpoint, to be a qualified interpreter means a combination of certification, vital spirit, positive attitude, skills, adherence of Code of Professional Conduct, and continuous education. When I say education, I mean attending training and workshops, applying constructive feedback, researching new terminologies, and understanding concepts. A successful accomplishment takes experiences and training.

No one can better determine whether an interpreter is qualified than the interpreter him/herself. With honest self-assessment, only the interpreter can identify his/her area of strengths and weaknesses. Only the interpreter can apply the tools learned in CEUs and training. It is up to the interpreter to ensure efficient communication by determining whether he/she is qualified for any given assignment.

And hey, life still happens. If you have carefully chosen an assignment believing that you were qualified and end up finding otherwise, that’s okay. Give it a shot, and hang on for your dear life. Get your team to help you facilitate communication, and if you can, ask for clarification on concepts and terminologies. The experience may not be fun at the moment, but it will be a priceless learning experience.

[¹] 28 C.F.R. § 35.104.

Formerly referred to as a “call center”, a contact center is defined as a place where contacts are made and received. It is often the “front door” to a business and is the place where most crucial customer interactions take place. Therefore, its effective and efficient operation is a key ingredient to the overall success of any organization.

The definition of a contact center increasingly includes mention of the handling of various types of interactions in addition to telephone calls which include email, webchat, fax, etc. As a result, the industry has evolved and now more commonly uses the term “contact center” to refer to the place where these transactions take place.

In addition to defining a contact center as a place for customer interactions, it is important to denote what makes an entity a contact center and not just a place where telephone calls are answered. A contact center is typically defined as an operation where more than one person is responding to contacts and where an interaction can be handled by anyone within a group.

The contact center profession employs a large number of employees. Studies from The Call Center School using U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics estimate that approximately 4.5 million frontline agent positions are active today. Approximately 3 million of these positions are filled by full-time staff and the remaining 1.5 million positions are shared by part-time staff. These millions of contact center employees represent approximately 2% of the total U.S. population and about 3.5% of the working population.

From interpreting to equipment distribution to managing personnel, Adam Ellsworth, our Senior Database Administrator, has been a rock star in developing custom software to meet our unique needs for over 7 years. Adam originally developed the Interpreter Scheduling software that allows CSD’s nationwide Interpreter Referral Services to be centrally managed and accessible from anywhere. Along the way, he also engineered a program that keeps track of all of our contact center agents:

Today, he’s mainly focused on making equipment distribution more efficient so agents can spend more time helping consumers instead of entering data.

A native of Southeast South Dakota, Adam went to school at Dakota State University and earned a degree in Computer Science. While working for a software development firm, he became interested in CSD’s projects and passionate work environment. He appreciates the opportunity to work at a non-profit company where the focus is serving a community.

When not swimming in SQL programming, Adam spends his spare time mixing live music for bands and being a stage manager for regional concerts. In January, he spent 8 days on a mission trip in Haiti which culminated in a 3-day music festival where he was lead engineer. “What I love about both live music production and software development is that, at the core, you’re just problem solving.”

CSD Technology Group is opening a new Technology+Design Studio (TDS) in Austin, Texas. The mission of TDS Austin is to design and develop our next generation web environment, mobile applications, and network/communication infrastructure. The terminology “technology+design” was chosen to communicate the integration of information technology and creative design skills essential to building modern web applications. Designers and technologists have become one community.

New Design

The formation of TDS Austin creates an unprecedented opportunity for CSD to amplify our existing enterprise services team by hiring individuals with expertise in emergent technologies for web and mobile applications. This new software development group will serve as the technical engine for our enterprise computing environment as well as our sales and marketing team. The creation of a core technology group to empower all CSD business units is part of an overall modernization of the CSD organization.

TDS Austin will work closely with other Technology Group teams, including Enterprise Services and Business Solutions in Sioux Falls, and our technical resources in California.

Work Environment 

The TDS Austin office is being designed as a studio environment, utilizing open space, meeting and huddle rooms, and lots of natural light. The goal is creativity and collaboration. Dreary cubicle farms need not apply. The Technology Group team will share the office with sales and marketing teams, thus accelerating product strategy and sharing of ideas.

Recruiting

CSD is recruiting with a focus on flexible skills rather than static roles. We are looking for highly talented individuals who are jazzed about open technology and positive social values. Areas of expertise include:

• Technical Leadership
• Web and Mobile Application Development
• UX/UI Design (User Experience / User Interface)
• Network Architecture
• Systems Administration (Linux, Windows, OS X)
• Project Management

Technology  

TDS Austin will leverage open standards technology such as Linux, PHP, HTML5, Ruby, Java, and Drupal. Open source software powers the majority of web sites on the Internet. Building our future products in this manner ensures that CSD can participate in popular and emerging technologies, and will have the option to contribute to open source projects.

Location

We believe that Austin is an ideal location for the new studio. Austin’s combination of dense technology resources and creative arts culture reflects the esthetics of our future technology-driven business strategy. Add to that the excellent Texas School for the Deaf and you have a wonderful environment for CSD to thrive.

We are excited about our new product strategy, excited about the new TDS, and excited to be in Austin!

We are excited to announce a significant professional employment opportunity within CSD to join our executive leadership team as the Chief Sales and Marketing Officer (CSMO). This senior-level position will provide strategic support to all of our revenue acquisition and retention efforts organization-wide. Specifically, the CSMO will oversee the planning, implementation and management of CSD’s sales, account management, and marketing programs. Through the achievement of a global awareness of and demand for the continuum of products, services, and programs provided by our organization, the CSMO will create and retain revenue channels vital to the organization’s success. The CSMO will be based either in Austin, Texas or Sioux Falls, SD. For more information on this position as well as other career opportunities, view our website.  If you are interested in working with us, you may apply online.

Deaf and hard of hearing job seekers now have access to employment training resources in American Sign Language.

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (April 23, 2012) — Since July of 2010, CSD’s Project Endeavor program has created over 7,000 new broadband users in the deaf and hard of hearing community, but besides only focusing on creating new broadband subscribers, the multi-faceted Project Endeavor sustains a large training component as well. For instance, the Project Endeavor website houses an established information resource center with hundreds of videos — all of them captioned, voiced and filmed with actors using American Sign Language (ASL). Today, CSD is announcing an enhancement to this resource center with the release of the online course “Your Road Trip — Destination Employment.”

This online course targets non-college bound deaf and hard of hearing adults, who are either looking for their first job or thinking about changing their current employment situation. The interactive, Web 2.0 course focuses on three main components of a career search: Getting Started (helps the consumer decide if they are ready to work and how working will affect income;) Working at Getting a Job (how to conduct a job search, complete job applications, write a resume, dress for an interview and interview tips, and your communication needs;) and Success on the Job (what to do on your first day on the job and how to problem solve.)

The unique aspect of the training resource is that each quiz and module is accompanied with an ASL video, meaning students can access 100 percent of the information in ASL instead of having to read text, which is how nearly all online training resources are developed. You can find the online course at www.projectendeavor.com. Just click on the graphic that reads “Your Road Trip — Destination Employment,” sign up, and begin training.

Project Endeavor was created when in July of 2010 the National Telecommunications and Information Administration announced CSD was awarded a multi-million dollar grant to make discounted high-speed Internet/broadband accessible to the nation’s deaf and hard of hearing population. It’s all part of this groundbreaking program that brings Internet access to deaf and hard of hearing people and works towards sustaining long-term access once Project Endeavor comes to completion.

“We want to do everything we can to ensure that deaf and hard of hearing consumers have access to broadband services and that they have the opportunity to maximize their Internet experience,” said Ben Soukup, CSD chief executive officer. “Project Endeavor not only provides equipment and broadband access but also helps to ensure that deaf and hard of hearing Americans have equal access and exposure to online training opportunities, employment resources and enhanced communications — making their search for employment easier than ever before.”

For more information about Project Endeavor, go to www.projectendeavor.com, and for more information on CSD, go to www.c-s-d.org.

Made possible by the Broadband Technology Opportunities Program, also referred to as BTOP. 

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (March 30, 2012) — As we near the end of our two year Project Endeavor grant, CSD will no longer be focusing on subsidized equipment as we have over the past 18 months. In fact as of April 13, we will only be accepting applications for handheld mobile devices and either wired or wireless broadband services.  If you are an eligible consumer or want to see eligibility requirements, and also are interested in access to broadband and handheld/mobile devices at a discounted price, please go to our Project Endeavor website and apply today.

In July 2010, the National Telecommunications and Information Administration announced that CSD was awarded a multi-million dollar grant to make discounted high-speed Internet/ broadband services accessible to the nation’s deaf and hard of hearing population. Since that time, Project Endeavor has reached out to and enlisted thousands of new adopters of broadband and broadband technology from all parts of the country. It’s all part of this innovative, groundbreaking program that brings Internet access to deaf and hard of hearing people, maximizes that access, and works towards sustaining long-term access once Project Endeavor comes to completion.

Once again throughout this final stage of Project Endeavor, we will continue to accept broadband subscription applications (landline, wireless, hotspots, etc.) until the grant ends later this year. We hope to reach all qualified deaf and hard of hearing applicants before the program closes so please go to www.projectendeavor.com and click on the “Apply” tab to see if you qualify. Eligibility guidelines can be viewed on that page, and there you can download the application form to begin the process.

“Our goal is to provide Internet access to as many eligible deaf and hard of hearing people as possible, in the time allowed,” said Ben Soukup, CSD chief executive officer. “If you have not applied for Project Endeavor yet, please do so and experience what this tremendous program can do for you.”

Project Endeavor also has an established information resource center on its website where you can view educational videos in the areas of technology, employment, advocacy, finance, equipment/products, and even general information. All of the videos are signed, captioned and voiced, to provide access to all deaf, hard of hearing and hearing people as well. For more information about Project Endeavor, go to www.projectendeavor.com, and for more information on CSD, go to www.c-s-d.org.

If you prefer to talk to one of our staff in person and have more questions, the Project Endeavor contact center has agents fluent in sign language that can speak to you point to point via video, and can also be accessed by a video relay service, AIM, telecommunications relay service, e-mail, fax, TTY or in the traditional telephonic way. Reach them by voice at 1 (877) 638-6377; by AIM (screen names: CSDPE1, CSDPE2, CSDPE3); by videophone at (605) 550-4056; or by fax (605) 782-8446; or by e-mail at info@projectendeavor.com

Made possible by the Broadband Technology Opportunities Program, also referred to as BTOP.  

A veteran leader of information technology, Fortenberry brings more than 20 years of experience leading the development and delivery of telephony projects and network switching applications, as well as strategic planning, project management, infrastructure design, the development of engineering products and mobile applications and employee management, all specifically in the areas related to information technology.

“CSD presents an ideal opportunity for me to help further develop an outstanding technology platform that will deliver effective business solutions to both internal divisions and their customers,” said Fortenberry. “CSD is addressing the most critical problems that service providers currently face — how to cut costs and quickly roll out quality-based, revenue-generating services.  Service providers like CSD face a complex challenge managing network issues and serving a wide variety of mobile devices equipped with the latest video/android/smart technologies all while trying to reach out to the public in order to meet their communication needs. I look forward to leading the information technology team and to developing CSD’s new platform to provide a simple, uniform interface to manage multiple service environments.”

Fortenberry will oversee CSD’s entire mainframe platform and server infrastructure and will focus on the continued development of CSD’s newest product, Video Remote Interpreting services, which automates communication access via video connections to sign language interpreters in a contact/call center environment through wireless, dial-up and/or network applications. In his role, Fortenberry will build on the platform’s current core capabilities and will work to solve some of the industry’s most compelling management challenges, including automatic call distribution and traffic engineering, firewall issues, remote/mobile/Wi-Fi access, the reliable and consistent delivery of newly emerging video applications and services, connectivity, quality of service and security to name just a few.

“Tony’s specific background in technology development, operational assessments, data management and auditing procedures, RFP development and the management of communications networks for groups like the California Public Utilities Commission and the Deaf and Disabled Telecommunications Program makes him an ideal addition to our management team,” said Chris Soukup, CSD’s president of operations. “He has significant expertise and knowledge of operational challenges and network demands faced by deaf and hard of hearing consumers and by service providers like us who try to provide access to video communications. Tony has also led the implementation of major information and technology expansion initiatives, putting him in a great position to expand the vision of our new platform.”

Currently, Tony resides with his wife and two children in the Sacramento, Calif. area.  He will be dividing a part of his time working out of CSD’s contact center in Stockton, Calif. as well as at CSD’s headquarters in Sioux Falls, S.D.  His first day with CSD is today, Feb. 1; however, his first day in Sioux Falls will be Feb. 6.

Mike Melvin, who has recently served on the executive team as the acting or interim director of information technology, will continue with the organization for the time being. He will spend the next few months working with Fortenberry to prepare for a more complete transition. Melvin has been with CSD for more than a decade and has served in many different management and consulting capacities, playing an instrumental role in the design and implementation of the technology division when it was first created in 2000.

CSD’s Project Endeavor Brings Videophone Accessibility to CSUN

Thanks to Project Endeavor, Public Access Videophones for deaf and hard of hearing people are being installed nationwide in community anchors like Independent Living Centers and universities.  

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (Jan. 31, 2012) — CSD staff installed two Public Access Videophones (PAV) for public use at California State University, Northridge (CSUN), located at 18111 Nordhoff Street, in Northridge, Calif. One more is in the planning stages to be installed.
CSUN is home to the National Center on Deafness (NCOD). The NCOD has served over 2,500 students who are deaf and hard of hearing over the past 44 years. NCOD provides communication access, leadership opportunities, scholarships, academic advisement, tutoring, and direct communication classes for approximately 200 students who are deaf and hard of hearing each year. Established in 1964 on the campus of CSUN, NCOD was the first postsecondary program in the nation to provide paid sign language interpreters for deaf students. Since that time, the program has grown to be the largest of its type in the Western United States. (http://www.csun.edu/ncod/programs/mission.html.)

As part of Project Endeavor, CSD has been funded to install a limited number of PAVs at private, nonprofit organizations around the nation. These are high-quality, durable videophones, and this device allows deaf and hard of hearing people to make point to point, video relay service (VRS) and telecommunications relay service calls, or use the Internet to check e-mail, etc. CSD provides and installs PAVs at no cost to the organization or the consumer. As home to the NCOD, installing PAVs at CSUN made perfect sense.

Back in July 2010, the National Telecommunications and Information Administration announced CSD was awarded a multi-million dollar grant to make discounted high speed Internet accessible to the nation’s deaf and hard of hearing population, and the PAV is an integral part of the project. CSD titled this new program “Project Endeavor” (www.projectendeavor.com).

“CSD, per Project Endeavor, is placing approximately 200 of these PAV units in community anchors like deaf schools, vocational rehabilitation offices, and universities, for instance,” said Ben Soukup, CSD chief executive officer. “It’s such a boon for deaf people — for deaf consumers — to enter these public facilities and access a PAV to make VRS, TRS or point to point video calls. The organizations that provide the PAV for their consumers are proving that they aren’t only interested in making their facilities ‘physically’ accessible, but ‘communication’ accessible as well.”

Besides the PAV, eligible deaf and hard of hearing people can pick up new technology like the iPad2, Toshiba Thrive, Sprint handhelds, and even more, for up to 50 percent off retail prices. Subsidized broadband plans are also available. It’s all part of this groundbreaking program that brings Internet access to deaf and hard of hearing people, maximizes that access, and works towards sustaining long-term access once Project Endeavor comes to completion.

For more information about the PAV and Project Endeavor, go to www.projectendeavor.com. For more information about CSD, go to www.c-s-d.org. You can also find more information about CSUN at www.csun.edu.