People who are Deaf, DeafBlind, Hard of Hearing or have a speech impairment must be allowed to communicate by telephone on the same terms as everyone else. Such access to these basic communication tools is a fundamental human right. Telecommunications Relay Services (TRS) give those who are Deaf, DeafBlind, Hard of Hearing or have a speech impairment meaningful accessibility to telephone services, so they can easily call a doctor, make emergency calls, or order takeout.
The following types of TRS are available in the MMX platform:
- Video Relay Service
- Text-based Relay Services, which can also be provided in specific modalities, such as Text Relay from TTY, IP
- Relay, Captions Telephony Relay
- Speech-to-speech Relay, which is provided for people with a speech impairment
The image illustrates how a telephone call is made using a TRS Service:
The MMX Ecosystem - Communication and Access for All
We were quick to recognize the need for this technology, and went on to develop a platform to address this issue for Telecom Relay Services, covering call center functionality, statistics and charging, administration tools, interpreter workstations and end-user apps.
Since 2001, the MMX platform has been in use around the world, and it complies with the most stringent of international standards and regulations. The MMX Ecosystem is the result of many years’ development of our technology for relay services in Europe and North America.
When TRS underwent a reinvention with advancements in wireless tech, handsets, tablets and broadband, nWise took centerstage, with the MMX communication platform becoming widely used in a third of EU countries to help provide meaningful accessibility to telephone services for the Deaf, DeafBlind and Hard of Hearing. MMX is well established in Europe and in the United States, and has been approved by telecom regulators in more than 12 countries.
The Tech Talk:
As a complete platform, MMX has been specially developed to provide the best option for enabling Telecom Relay Services to provide meaningful accessibility to telephone services. The service provides the following:
1. For the Call Center: The complete platform
- Automatic Call Distribution
- Queue Management
- Emergency Call Handling
- Message Handling
- Interactive Video, Voice and Text, IVR
- Statistics and Call Data Record
- Call Center Management and Administration Tools
- High Security Parameters and High Availability
2. For the Agent Workstation: Focus on efficiency and work environment
- Specialized workstations for TRS call agents
- Easy-to-access features, such as 3-party calling, call transfer, reporting
- Virtualization and specialized features for home-office, including overview of status in the service
- Individual settings for personal work environment
3. For end-user Apps: Everyone is included
- Total Conversation, including video, Real-Time Text (RTT) and voice.
- Apps for iOS, Android, PC and Web
- Specialized apps for people who are DeafBlind
Compliance
nWise technology complies with international standards and regulations defined by the toughest regulatory bodies across the EU and North America. These include:
- The European Electronic Communication Codecs (EECC 2018/1972)
- The European Telecom Standards Institute (ETSI – ES 202 975)
- Federal Communication Commission (FCC, USA – SIP Forum VRS US Providers Profile TWG-6.1)
- Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) – RFC 3261 (SIP) and related standards
- Real-Time Text (RTT) standards RFC 9071 and RFC 4103
- International Telecom Union (ITU-T) rec g. 703 – Total Conversation
- Accessibility Requirements defined by WCAG 2.1