Verizon to end voice-dialing service
AP Worldstream
Sunday, February 27, 2005
Verizon to end voice-dialing service
By The Associated Press
BALTIMORE, MD (AP) - Verizon Communications Inc. is ending its voice-dialing
service, a system relied upon by people with blindness or paralysis.
About 60,000 customers from West Virginia to Maine use the service.
"That's something that helped me be relatively self-reliant," said Steve Topchik,
a vision-impaired Baltimore man.
As an alternative, Verizon is offering users a voice-activated dialing terminal
that attaches to their phones at what it says is a deeply discounted price of
about $200, including taxes and shipping.
Verizon is also offering disabled customers unlimited free dialing assistance
through specially trained operators.
The price is steep enough to put the terminal out of reach for people such as
him, said Topchik, who is retired on a fixed disability income. And for a person
who has enjoyed the independence of voice-dialing, dependence on operator
assistance will be an ego-deflating experience, Topchik contends.
It's not a new story, said Linda J. McCarty, director of public relations for
the Baltimore-based National Federation of the Blind. People who are blind or
have limited vision often have to pay extra for access to technologies that
others take for granted.
The $200 voice-dialing terminal is one example, and the Internet is another, she
said. In late 2003, the federation demonstrated software that can "talk" a blind
person through specially programmed Web sites, but it costs hundreds of dollars.
Voice-dialing, which cost $3.75 to $5.50 a month depending on the market, was
never a big seller and consequently was a substantial money-loser for Verizon,
said Jim Smith, director of media relations for Verizon's Retail Markets Group.
The number of subscribers peaked at about 90,000 a year ago.
That's when the hardware and software vendors Verizon relied on said they were
leaving the business. Not only would those suppliers be ending support services,
they also were halting the sale of spare parts, Smith said.
Verizon would not identify the vendors but said three companies were involved.
Faced with those problems and the service's low market penetration - fewer
than one-half of 1 percent of Verizon customers - Verizon concluded that it
wasn't worth investing the tens of millions of dollars it would take to
construct its own system, Smith said.
Verizon stopped accepting new subscribers and told customers the service would
end this year. About two weeks ago, subscribers received letters notifying them
that it would begin shutting down the service Feb. 19 and detailed the
alternatives. The shutdown is in progress.
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