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MCI teams with America Online to provide IP-Relay services |
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Sunday, 11 July 2004 |
08 July, 2004:
MCI today announced it has reached an agreement with America Online
('AOL') to allow deaf, hard of hearing and speech disabled individuals
to access MCI's IP-RELAY.com services via AOL, AOL 'Instant Messenger'
and Apple Computer 'iChat' services. Deaf, hard of hearing and speech
disabled AOL members and AIM users can now establish an instant text
conversation with MCI Relay operators to complete calls from computers
and mobile devices with Internet access.
"The
popularity and convenience of AOL's instant messaging services adds
another significant dimension to our IP-RELAY.com services", said Paul
Orloff, MCI director of Relay Services. "Our agreement with AOL is yet
another example of how MCI is delivering innovative IP-based solutions
that help the deaf and hard-of-hearing community communicate more
simply and effectively."
The
AIM service is available free-of-charge on a variety of
Internet-enabled devices. Users will be able to instantly connect to
MCI's IP-RELAY.com services anywhere, at any time. To establish a call,
AOL members, AIM users and iChat users can simply add the MCI Relay
screen name, 'My IP Relay', to their 'Buddy List' feature. When users
click on the 'My IP Relay' screen name and open a message window, they
will be prompted to initiate an IP-RELAY.com call. Users simply type
what they want to say into the message window and an operator
facilitates the call.
The
new relationship with AOL and its instant messaging services is an
expansion of MCI's IP-RELAY.com and Wireless IP-RELAY.com services. In
June 2004, MCI announced the launch of one of the first, nationwide
Wireless IP-Relay services. MCI's Wireless IP-RELAY.com service turns a
wireless device into a 'cell phone' for the deaf and hard of hearing
and provides users the ability to communicate on-the-go rather than
being limited to placing relay calls from a computer.
There
is no charge to use MCI's IP-RELAY.com services in the United States,
but normal wireless device and Internet connection rates may apply.
Users must have a text- or web-enabled wireless device and wireless
service plan in order to access the feature.
www.mci.com
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