TMCnet News
SPRINT to Launch SPRINT RELAY WIRELESS Service Sprint (NYSE: FON) announced Sprint Relay WirelessSM powered by GoAmericaTM, an easy way to make a relay call while mobile. Based on technology developed by GoAmerica (NASDAQ: GOAM), the provider of WyndTell® service, Sprint Relay Wireless enables users, for the first time, to connect to Sprint Relay OnlineSM from virtually anywhere using a choice of wireless handheld devices and pagers."Sprint Relay Wireless effectively makes calling via relay—from the park, the restaurant, or even the backyard—as easy as connecting to Sprint Relay Online from a computer," said Mike Ligas, region vice president, Sprint Relay. "We're excited to continue delivering on our commitment to provide anytime, anyplace communication for the deaf and hard of hearing communities. Working with GoAmerica was a great match because of their experience in wireless technology as well as their experience with their WyndTell customer base." Sprint will demonstrate Sprint Relay Wireless at the Deaf Expo East show on May 7 and 8 in Fort Washington, Pa. and DeafNation show on May 8 in Hartford, Ct and the service will be widely available on a variety of handheld devices by the end of June. The service will be free to use. "Our WyndTell customers have expressed a strong desire to access relay from their wireless devices," said Joe Karp, vice president of marketing for GoAmerica. "Building the technology and extending access to Sprint Relay Online was the natural choice given the popularity of the Sprint service within the Deaf Community." Sprint Relay Wireless blends the easy-to-use capabilities of Sprint Relay Online with the power of WyndTell service. The service is immediately accessible through the RIM 950 pager running WyndTell service. By the end of May, the service will be available on the RIM 850 and RIM 857 devices running WyndTell or Deafwireless service, and on an additional device by the end of June. Those interested in the service can send an email including contact information to [email protected], then an email alert will be sent as soon as the service is available on the additional handheld devices. Users of WyndTell service via the RIM 950 device can access Sprint Relay Wireless by choosing "Relay" in the service's TTYchat feature. Then they simply choose a number to be dialed from their address book, or enter a new number. Once entered, the call proceeds as a standard relay call with the operator and user interacting on the wireless device, as they would on a computer connected to Sprint Relay Online. RIM users also can copy and paste or save transcripts of relay conversations. "When we developed this service, we wanted to make sure it felt as natural to use as Sprint's popular online service," said Karp. "Simple things like the ability to dial people already entered in the user's address book, the ability to save conversations and having a recent call list turned out to be very important to users." |