Hamilton Relay

By Cheryl Heppner

Hamilton Relay was featuring the new CapTel Model 800i, which is designed for people who have high speed Internet access, telephone service and standard electrical power. This phone has been eagerly awaited for some of its advances, particularly the ability to have a second phone line without paying the monthly charge for a land line. A major advantage of the second line is the ability for people to call you directly without having to first dial a toll-free number for the captioned telephone service.

Some of you may remember Hamilton’s Mitchell Levy from his days working for Virginia Relay. He was my guide in exploring this exciting new CapTel, walking me through feature after feature. Here are some things I found:

- The display screen is sharp with clear text, and you can choose from three sizes – small, medium or large.

- There are choices for color of both background and text, with the ability to preview what the choices will look like before you select them.

- Call History allows you to see a Caller ID for missed calls.

- You can save over 95 phone numbers and you can edit them whenever you want.

- You can choose to save a conversation, review it or delete it.

- There is an answering machine and voice mail capability.

- Ringer volume and pitch can be adjusted.

- You can select either tone or pulse dialing.

- When software upgrades are available, you can push a button to download them.

- A distinctive blue button can be pushed to connect with customer service at any time.

- You can mount the phone on the wall if you desire.

- There are speed dial keys for one-touch dialing of frequently called numbers

- Captions can be turned on or off at any time during a call.

- Volume can be adjusted up to 40 dB

And the best news: Hamilton Relay has a special offer right now. For $99 you can pre-order a CapTel 800i. Shipping is free and they even throw in a Starbucks gift certificate. To sign up: http://www.hamiltoncaptel.com/800i/index.html

See more of Cheryl Heppner reports of the 2009 Hearing Loss Association of America Convention at NVRC.