VRS Reform Workshop

Federal Communications Commission
December 17, 2009
2:00 - 5:00 pm
http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DOC-294966A1.doc

As part of a comprehensive review of the Video Relay Service (VRS) program, this workshop is open to the public and is intended to gather data and information on these key areas:

1) The most efficient way to deliver VRS, particularly whether the service should remain a competitive service or be provided via competitive bidding;
2) A fair, efficient, and transparent compensation methodology; and,
3) Mechanisms for combating waste, fraud and abuse, addressing service rules, and addressing technical matters such as interoperability, ten-digit numbering, and emergency call handling.

Panelists:

• Jim Tobias, Inclusive Technologies
• Krishna Jayakar, Ph.D., Penn State University
• Gregory R. Rosston, Ph.D., Stanford University
• Karen Peltz Strauss, Coalition of Organizations for Accessible Technology (COAT)
• Claude Stout, Telecommunications for the Deaf, Inc. (TDI)
• Sharon Hayes, Video Relay Services Consumer Association (VRSCA)
• Rosaline Crawford, National Association of the Deaf (NAD)
• Sheri Farinha, California Coalition of Agencies Serving the Deaf and Hard of Hearing (CCASDHH)

FCC Participants:

• Mark Stone, Consumer & Governmental Affairs Bureau
• Michael Jacobs, Consumer & Governmental Affairs Bureau
• Gregory Hlibok, Disability Rights Office

Agenda and Topics for Discussion:

2:00-2:30 FCC Welcome and Introductory Remarks

2:30-3:00 Panelists' Introductory Statements

3:00-4:00 Fraud and Abuse

4:00-4:30 The Most Efficient Way to Deliver VRS While Maintaining Functional Equivalency

4:30-5:00 A Fair and Transparent Compensation Methodology

The workshop will be held in the Commission Meeting Room at the FCC's Washington, DC, headquarters, 445 12th St., SW,
The event will be open to the general public.

In order to ensure that everyone has access to the content, a live webcast of the workshop will be available at the FCC's website at http://www.fcc.gov/realaudio/, and archived for viewing at a later time (at http://www.fcc.gov/cgb/dro/trs.html), or people may listen in to the workshop by dialing 1-866-566-7390 and entering Code: 4732812. An agenda and list of participants will be released prior to the workshop.