Deaf Merrill Lynch Executive Increases Client Base by Using Sorenson VP-100 Videophone.COLUMBIA, Md. & SALT LAKE CITY -- When Stephen Hlibok arrives at Merrill Lynch Merrill Lynch & Co., Inc. (NYSE: MER TYO: 8675 ), through its subsidiaries and affiliates, provides capital markets services, investment banking and advisory services, wealth management, asset management, insurance, banking and related products and services on a global basis. (NYSE NYSE See: New York Stock Exchange : MER mer Among the Cheremi and Udmurt peoples of Russia, a sacred grove where people of several villages gathered periodically to hold religious festivals and sacrifice animals to nature gods. ) in the morning, he turns on his Sorenson VP-100(TM) videophone (1) (VideoPhone) A line of videophones (definition #1 below) from AT&T that were introduced in the early 1990s and later pulled off the market due to poor sales. The first models came with a price tag above $1,000, and a pair were needed. See Picturephone. and begins making video relay calls to his hearing clientele and point-to-point calls to his deaf clients. Before it took Hlibok -- who is deaf -- as much as an hour to place a text relay call, now it takes only a few minutes to conduct a video relay call. For Hlibok, a Merrill Lynch vice president and senior financial advisor for the Global Private Client Group, using the videophone and Sorenson Video Relay Service A Video Relay Service (VRS) is a telecommunication service that allows deaf, hard of hearing and speech-disabled individuals to communicate over the phone with hearing people in real-time, using a sign language interpreter. In America, the service is regulated by the FCC. (TM) (VRS (Video Relay Service) A communications service for the hearing or speech impaired. A VRS is the video counterpart of a TTY relay service, in which the user types on a terminal, and the relay operator speaks the messages to the recipient (see TDD/TTY). ) has allowed him to communicate more efficiently with his national retail clients. Sorenson VRS enables deaf and hard-of-hearing individuals like Hlibok to communicate naturally and quickly with the hearing world. Using a high-speed Internet connection and the Sorenson VP-100 videophone appliance connected to a TV, deaf and hard-of-hearing people can place free video relay calls to hearing colleagues, clients and family in their native language, American Sign Language American Sign Language n. The primary sign language used by deaf and hearing-impaired people in the United States and Canada. American Sign Language (ASL), n. (ASL ASL - Algebraic Specification Language ), via a relay interpreter. An alternative way to connect to Sorenson VRS is with a personal computer, Web camera, and Sorenson EnVision(R) SL video relay software or Microsoft(R) NetMeeting(R). "Sorenson VRS has broken down traditional communication barriers between hearing and deaf or hard-of-hearing individuals," said Hlibok. "Clients can easily call me through the video relay service. They no longer need to schedule an on-site interpreter to come into the office to talk with me or communicate through text-based options only. The videophone and video relay service has simplified my life and theirs. Because contacting me is much easier now, Sorenson VRS reduced the amount I travel because I no longer need to set up face-to-face meetings and this in turn has assisted me in obtaining additional business because I am able to spend more time in the office." Hlibok has had extensive experience with the communication difficulties faced by deaf and hard-of-hearing people in the business world. "When I first started working for Merrill Lynch in 1987, I used a text-based telephone (TTY (TeleTYpewriter) See teletypewriter and TDD/TTY. (hardware) tty - /tit'ee/ (ITS pronunciation, but some Unix people say it this way as well; this pronunciation is not considered to have sexual undertones), /T T Y/ 1. teletypewriter. 2. ). It took an average of 30-40 minutes per TTY call to finalize a single decision with one business contact. Basically, my hearing coworkers made 50 calls per hour to my two or three," said Hlibok. "Then in 1995, I began to use e-mail, which made communication easier. However, clients still liked to make their decisions by asking questions back and forth in conversation with me," added Hlibok. "Hearing people were especially impatient with text, so I didn't have the best access to them." "With the release of Sorenson VRS and the Sorenson VP-100 videophone in 2003, I was finally able to converse instantaneously with hearing clients through the videophone and video relay service. I was impressed by the clear picture and the ease of the conversation," said Hlibok. "With Sorenson VRS, I am now able to assist my clients and coworkers in making an immediate decision rather than waste time replying back and forth with text communication. Sorenson VRS provides an improved method of communication which is invaluable when exchanging financial advice and ideas," commented Hlibok. About Merrill Lynch Merrill Lynch is one of the world's leading financial management and advisory companies, with offices in 35 countries and private client assets of approximately $1.5 trillion. As an investment bank, it is a leading global underwriter of debt and equity securities and strategic advisor to corporations, governments, institutions and individuals worldwide. Through Merrill Lynch Investment Managers, the company is one of the world's largest managers of financial assets Financial assets Claims on real assets. , with assets under management Assets Under Management (AUM) is a term used by financial services companies in the mutual fund and money management or investment management business to gauge how much money they are managing. of $513 billion. For more information on Merrill Lynch, please visit www.ml.com. About Sorenson Media Sorenson Media (www.sorenson.com and www.sorensonvrs.com) is the recognized technology leader in video services, video compression, and video communication to improve the quality of communication over the Internet. The company's products and services include the industry's highest quality video relay service, award-winning video compression solutions, and the market-leading broadband Internet videophone technology. (C) 2004 Sorenson Media. All products and brand names are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners. |
|
||||||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion