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Are there any special phone equipment or services available for elderly or disabled people? |
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There is a wide range of equipment and services for elderly or disabled people available from phone service providers. The client can contact phone service providers to see what each offers, and choose which to subscribe to, depending on what is available.
The phone service provider may offer:-
specialised equipment. This may be free of charge, or social services may pay if the client has been assessed as having particular needs - see paragraph 87
priority fault repair services for disabled customers. All phone service providers are required to provide this service for blind clients, bills in braille or large print or a talking telephone bill, followed up by a written bill. Contracts with the customer and information about the services provided should also be available in these formats. All phone service providers are required to provide these services as part of their licence conditions
for clients who cannot hold, handle or read a printed phone book, free directory enquiries if the client registers this need in advance, and connection to that number if required. All phone service providers are required to provide this service, and most of them do so through BT
for clients who use textphones, quick dial access to emergency services, operator assistance and directory enquiries; reduced charges to compensate for the fact that conversations by textphone take longer; access to a reply system to connect textphone users with those who use a voice phone (normally via BT TextDirect); and call progress information, for example, engaged tone or ringing tone, in a standard text format. All phone service providers are required to provide these services and most of them do so through BT
BT's 'In-Contact' service which provides only for incoming calls and outgoing calls in emergencies, at a reduce rental charge for elderly or disabled clients, a scheme whereby the client can nominate someone else to handle billing enquiries on her/his behalf. All phone operators are required to provide this service as part of their licence conditions.
BT has set up the Text Users Rebate Scheme to help its customers who are deaf or speech impaired, and who can make telephone calls only if they use a text terminal. The scheme is to help these customers to pay their bills.
To get help under the Text Users Rebate Scheme, a client must: be speech impaired or deaf; and provide evidence of her/his disability; and be over nine years old; and
have a telephone with a text terminal. More information on the scheme is available from:-
The Text Users Rebate Scheme
Typetalk
John Wood House
Glacier Building
Harrington Road
Brunswick Business Park
Liverpool
L3 4DF
Tel: 0151 709 9494
For further information call in or telephone your local CAB.
Please note that this answer is correct as of 07 May 2007
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