British Telecom to provide alternatives for the Failed Tyeptalk system ?

This may be of interest to deaf readers in the UK, who have long suffered the repeated failure of Tyeptalk to enable deaf people to use the telephone effectively. My recent blog, contained the damning facts and causes of this failure, a system failure the RNID has repeatdely claimed does not happen. Now their sponsors have agreed they are out of the loop.


Dear MM,

Thank you for your email dated 5th July concerning the Type talk service. I am sorry it has taken so long to reply to you. May I take this opportunity to say I am very sorry to see that you have concerns relating to the continuation of the Type Talk service.

I appreciate your concerns with the continuation of this service to Deaf customers. I can confirm that BT are looking to offer alternatives to the Type Talk service so that customers who are deaf can contact BT with any queries. There are many other ways of contacting BT one being the Text Direct service where a customer is using a Text phone. Another very common way of customers contacting BT is via email where they can raise any concerns in writing. A new way of contact to BT which has recently been introduced is Live Chat which I have provided information on below:

Live Chat, a new, instant-messenger style function, is now available on BT’s Inclusion website. The new feature offers customers another way to get information, resolve queries or make purchases and will be particularly beneficial to those who have difficulty communicating via the telephone.

Live Chat provides access to a BT customer service advisor without the need to speak over the phone. They simply type in their question and a dedicated advisor responds straight away. BT’s Live Chat support covers all aspects of customer service. A great feature for anyone, the service will particularly benefit people with disabilities, for example those who struggle with voice calls due to hearing and speech impairments.

Dr Lorraine Gailey, CEO, Hearing Concern LINK said, "Customer service departments often assume that a user is happy to deal with them on the telephone and alternative, text-based, options are either unavailable or difficult to track down. We support the concept of BT's 'Live Chat' real time text system and have asked Ofcom to encourage further usage of such communication amongst other service providers."

In this initial phase of its development, Live Chat support is available from 10am-5pm, Monday to Friday. To access Live Chat go to www.bt.com/inclusion and click on the ‘Chat to us Live’ banner to begin your conversation.

Once again I am sorry that you feel that Deaf customers are at a disadvantage when it comes to making contact with BT. I am pleased I had the opportunity to provide you with information on the new method of contacting BT which we have already had very positive feedback from current users who are deaf.

I would also like to thank you for your patience in this matter.

Thank you for contacting BT.

Yours sincerely

Joanne McCrory

But hang on, this only provides access to the PHONE company, we are still left with a failed typetalk text system...