About Sprint Relay
Sprint provides FCC-compliant relay services for the federal government,
30 states, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico and New Zealand.

("Hands On") to eliminate its Brown Bag Rewards Program.
The FCC disagreed.
Mr.
However, Mr. "Nevertheless, Hands On will continue its quest to remove
barriers to communication; much like the discriminatory practice that requires
deaf and hard of hearing persons to pay increased costs merely to communicate
in their natural visual language," said Mr.

points involve

A free trial, specifications ,
subscriptions and more information are at http://www.sprint.

About Sprint
Sprint offers an extensive range of innovative communication products and
solutions, including global IP , wireless, local and multiproduct bundles.com/mr .

FCC Requires Hands on to Eliminate Brown Bag Rewards Program

At its very simplest, augmentative communication can be a page with picture choices or alphabet letters that a person points to.

sophisticated communication

95/year or $2. OVERLAND PARK, Kan.sprintrelay. Information about Sprint Relay
services is available at http://www.

scanning involve

Sprint Continues to Provide Relay Services to the Deaf and Hard of Hearing in Florida

The new center will employ approximately 160 individuals who will serve as
communication assistants, the intermediary for communications between a deaf
user and a hearing party. This service
is currently funded by the Interstate TRS fund. For more information , visit http://www. require that users of telecommunications relay services
pay rates no greater than the rates paid for functionally equivalent voice
communication services with respect to such factors as the duration of the
call, the time of day, and the distance from point of origin to point of
termination .

scanning person

, the developer of the Visual
Thesaurus, announced today.
Sprint's traditional relay service (TRS) is accessible throughout Florida
by dialing 711 or one of several toll-free numbers.
"The Brown Bag Program was adopted to assist Hands On's VRS users in
paying the high cost of their DSL or cable modem bills," said Hands On
President Ronald Obray.

simplest assistive

95. This allows for a much more natural-
sounding conversation with the hearing party.com , or with a D-Link videophone (used with
television monitors) by entering the IP address 'sprintvrs.com . Other forms of
TRS, also known as text-based relay, merely require a standard telephone line.
"That's not functionally equivalent compared to what is provided to hearing
persons, who only need a standard telephone line to communicate in their
natural auditory language.
The Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau stated that rewards programs
of the type Hands On offers, entices "the consumer to make calls they might
not ordinarily make," and thus held that the programs are inconsistent with
the "intent and nature" of the Communications Act provisions governing the
service and the FCC's implementing rules.

auditory persons

A
Fortune 100 company with more than $27 billion in annual revenues in 2004,
Sprint is widely recognized for developing, engineering and deploying state-
of-the-art network technologies, including the United States' first nationwide
all-digital, fiber-optic network; an award-winning Tier 1 Internet backbone;
and one of the largest 100-percent digital, nationwide wireless networks in
the United States .sprint.

Products and equipment designed to help persons with speech disabilities or writing difficulties to communicate.

communicate sophisticated

With 16 different semantic relationships embedded in a fun-to-use
format, the Visual Thesaurus builds vocabulary, sparks brainstorming, deepens
understanding and is a tool valued by anyone who needs to learn, communicate
or do business in English. ROCKLIN, Calif.
Hands On is a provider of Video Relay Service ("VRS"), headquartered in
Rocklin, CA. Its Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau stated
that any program that involves the use of any type of financial incentives to
encourage or reward a consumer for placing a TRS call is inconsistent with
Section 225 of the Communications Act and the FCC's regulations governing the
TRS service.

speech simplest

visualthesaurus.
The Visual Thesaurus uses a graphic interface to animate the English
language in a unique way, revealing the meaning, the origins, the
pronunciation and the relationship between words.
"Assisting those who are deaf and hard of hearing to communicate
effectively with family and friends and for business purposes through a
variety of options is important to Sprint," said Mike Ligas, region vice
president - Sprint Relay."
Since March 2004, CapTel Relay Service (Captioned Telephone), developed by
Ultratec, Inc.

telecommunication speech

The
interpreter then relays the conversation back and forth with the hearing
person over a standard telephone connection. Obray stated that Hands On initially raised the issue with the FCC
itself because it wanted to be certain that its VRS service and programs fully
complied with the FCC's requirements.

communicate augmentative

The Visual Thesaurus 3.0 Debuts on Disk and on the Web

Florida citizens who are
deaf, hard of hearing or deaf-blind or have a speech disability will continue
to receive seamless communication with hearing persons on the phone through
TRS, which involves a relay operator serving as an intermediary for phone
calls between a deaf user and a hearing party . In fact,
Section 225(d) of the Federal Communications Act specifically provides that
FCC regulations " .

technology simplest

" "Hands On has assumed that responsibility by subsidizing the
difference in cost to assure functionally equivalent access to the public
telephone system," Mr. He stated that Hands On will continue to honor points awarded prior
to March 1, 2005, under the program, until all point balances have been
honored unless the FCC advises Hands On not to do so.

difficulties communicate

0, a software
program that combines an extensive English language dictionary and thesaurus
with a propriety visualization technology to encourage literacy , learning and
exploration, is being introduced to consumer, educational and corporate
markets , Michael Freedman, CEO, Thinkmap, Inc.
The Visual Thesaurus 3.

Press Contact: Fern Flamberg
212-961-1769
Thinkmap, Inc.com/government ) is
based in Herndon, Va. The
deaf person communicates with the interpreter via a video Internet link using
a web-enabled video camera or a video phone connected to a television set.

technology communicate

95/month. By using an Internet Text Streaming platform
supported by skilled captioners, RCC provides highly accurate real-time
captioned text for any live conference call., has been available for those who are hard of hearing or have
experienced hearing loss later in life or deaf individuals with good
vocalization skills. The Brown Bag
Program merely gives the deaf, hard of hearing and speech disabled consumers
an opportunity to be reimbursed for the cost of the DSL or cable modem line.

communication alphabet

0 is designed for easy use with both Windows and
Macintosh operating systems and synchronizes with Internet Explorer 4+ ,
Firefox, Netscape 7+ and Safari browsers. Floridians may access VRS
through http://www.. The FCC's ruling does not
cite any specific prohibition in its rules or the Communications Act. Hearing individuals are not required to pay
for a DSL or cable modem line in order to make a phone call.

points difficulties

In June 2005, Sprint will open a new relay service center in Jacksonville,
Fla . VRS allows a deaf, hard of
hearing or speech disabled person to communicate in his or her natural visual
language, rather than conducting a telephone call by typing on a TTY or other
text device ."
Mr. The Bureau suggested that such
programs would increase the cost of providing VRS which is paid for by the
Interstate Telecommunications Relay Fund. Obray argues that the bigger picture is about providing a level
playing field for all consumers. Obray stated that Hands On is disappointed that the FCC did not even
feel the matter important enough to ask for public comment so as to allow the
deaf and hard of hearing community a say in the decision.

writing speaking

VRS requires that the deaf, hard of hearing or speech disabled person have a
broadband Internet connection such as a DSL or cable modem. "Deaf people have to pay for a
Plain Old Telephone Service (POTS) line and a DSL line," said Mr. Obray.. "We were not aware of any provision of
the law or the FCC's rules that states anything relating to the Brown Bag
Program, or similar rewards programs," said Obray.

letters assistive

, Building on a four -year
relationship, Sprint (NYSE: FON) will continue to provide assistive
communications services to individuals within Florida who are deaf or hard of
hearing or have a speech disability through a new three-year contract awarded
by the state of Florida. Obray when on to ask, "Whose responsibility is it to absorb the
increased financial burden that a deaf and hard of hearing individual incurs
to communicate in their natural visual language?" He believes the Interstate
Telecommunications Fund should always have reimbursed either the provider or
the consumer for the added monthly cost of the DSL or cable modem. Obray explained.
"We do not understand why it chose to act here without even getting input from
the deaf, hard of hearing and speech disabled public that VRS is designed to
serve," he said.

sophisticated communicate

Sprint Relay
began in 1990 and provides state-of-the-art technology, a full range of
features, and highly trained, professional staff to ensure users can
communicate easily and effectively every time they place a relay call.
Mr.

alphabet technology

, which will be dedicated to support Sprint Relay(SM) traffic in Florida. The captions are displayed on the CapTel phone's built-in screen so the
user can read the words while listening to the other party's voice. The TRS operator speaks words
typed by a deaf user on a text telephone (TTY) or via the Internet and relays
the hearing person 's spoken response by typing back to the deaf user. Obray explained that to communicate in their
natural visual language, VRS users pay significantly more for connectivity to
the telephone network than hearing persons.
Mr.

difficulties highly

Dictionary, Interface, Functionality Upgraded To
Accelerate Learning, Understanding and Brainstorming

NEW YORK, The Visual Thesaurus 3. The Desktop edition is $29. "We've enjoyed a long relationship with the state
of Florida and are now excited to bring additional services and new jobs to
the community.
Sprint also offers Video Relay Service (VRS), which uses a similar process
but enables the deaf user to communicate in American Sign Language through a
video interpreter via a computer or television monitor equipped with a Web
camera or videophone instead of typing. Relay
service is available 24 hours a day , 365 days a year, with no restrictions on
the number of calls placed or call length.
Sprint Government Systems Division ( http://www.

augmentative speech

Sprint also will employ an account manager who will
be dedicated to serving and educating the Florida community about relay
services., A Bureau of the Federal
Communications Commission recently released a ruling requiring Hands On Video
Relay Services , Inc. In a variety of
other matters where a ruling is requested concerning relay service, the FCC
regularly gives the consuming public an opportunity for comment he explained. Obray.

alphabet disabilities

Turning the cliche "a
picture is worth a thousand words" on its head, the Visual Thesaurus creates a
matrix of type, colored dots and floating lines to display the meanings, parts
of speech, synonyms, antonyms , and the relationships between 145,000 English
words. The Visual Thesaurus meets the educational resource
criteria of the "No Child Left Behind" initiative
"Writers, thinkers, students, businesspeople , teachers, parents and poets
have embraced the Visual Thesaurus because it shows them the English Language
in ways that make connections, prompt understanding and spark new ideas," says
Michael Freedman. Sprint delivers approximately 750,000 minutes of
assistive communications services each month in Florida.sprintrelay.

Since the FCC approved VRS as a form of TRS in 2000 it has steadily grown
in popularity among the deaf, hard of hearing and speech disabled community .

very assistive

com.
Sample Visual Thesaurus log-ins are available on request.
Through the new contract , effective June 1, a one-year trial of Relay
Conference Captioning (RCC) will be available. RCC , developed by Caption
Colorado, is a free service that combines real-time captioning and standard
relay service to provide relay conference captioning calls for deaf and hard
of hearing individuals . CapTel allows nearly simultaneous voice and text
captioning via a special, CapTel-equipped phone using a standard telephone
line., and offers the full range of Sprint product and service
offerings for federal and state government customers. The Bureau accordingly is requiring
the cessation of the Brown Bag Rewards Program by March 1, 2005.

It can also involve highly sophisticated speaking computers with on-screen communication boards and auditory or visual scanning.

highly telecommunication

The
Online edition is $19.tv '. VRS is a form of telecommunications relay service ("TRS"), which
allows deaf, hard of hearing and speech disabled persons to communicate with
hearing persons through the use of a sign language interpreter who is
connected with the deaf person through a video link over the Internet. Mr. Obray stated that in accordance with the ruling, Hands On
will discontinue the award of points under the Brown Bag Program on February
28, 2005.