This research paper is focusing on Video Relay Interpreting (V.R.

I) and Video Relay

Services (V.R.S). The primary purpose of this paper is to gather information on this newly

developing form of communication. Due to the fairly recent development in interpreting

professionally, these types of telecommunications do not have a lot of documentation or studies

related to this topic. As a result, that is why this paper will try to pinpoint the development of this

type of communication and follow it to modern day techniques to see how its developed looking

at current interpreter demographics in the United States. As well as doing an analysis of a

demonstrated V.R.I interaction to determine whether or not it is an effective piece of

interpretation. Moving on, looking at the pros and cons that are arising as V.R.I is developing.

Lastly, trying to identify any problems arising thus far from the field work as well as a personal

reflection of what I learned from this research paper. At the end of the day language is constantly

changing and evolving; we must evolve with it or get left behind.

Keywords: Video Relay Interpreting (V.R.I), Video Relay Services (V.R.S), Deaf

Community, Telecommunication Services

Looking at the early 2000’s is really when we see Video Relay Interpreting (V.R.I) and

Video Relay Services (V.R.S) start to emerge with the steady development of technology and the

internet. Jeremy L. Burton in his very insightful book, titled Video Relay Service Interpreters when

he’s talking about the evolution of telephone services for deaf people it is evident “Not for profit

organizations establish for, and by deaf people had been experimenting with ways to make the

telephone accessible for deaf and hard of hearing people prior to the passage of the ADA.” (pg.19)

This was a huge advancement for the deaf community. Furthermore, with the establishment of the

American Disability Act (A.D.A) of 1990 other organizations, such as the California Association

of the Deaf (C.A.D) as well as the Greater Los Angeles Association of the Deaf, (G.L.A.D) made
it possible that deaf and hard of hearing individuals were able to place a call through a typist to

another person who is not deaf for hard of hearing. After the A.D.A mandate, various phone

companies around the United States instituted this type of accommodation known as

telecommunication relay services. More so telecommunication relay services means telephone

transmission services that provide the ability to an individual who has a hearing impairment or

speech impairment to engage in communication by wire, or radio, with a hearing individual in a

manner that is functionally equivalent to the ability of an individual who does not have a hearing

impairment or speech impairment to communicate, using voice communication services by wire or

radio. This started off with the use of T.D.D’s, and T.T.L.Ys, which are other forms of

telecommunication services which got updated with V.R.S around the early 2000’s. This brings us

to the development of V.R.I as well as V.R.S. In the early 2000’s the F.C.C Federal Commerce

Commission expanded the definition of telecommunication relay service to include V.R.S and

V.R.I and that's why it falls under the umbrella of telecommunication services. Going back to Mr.

Burnston's book titled V.R.S Interpreting he gives a description of “both V.R.S and video remote

interpreting, (V.R.I) use technologies, sign language interpreters, and video equipment to provide

communication access to people who are deaf or hard of hearing.” (pg.22) In 2000 the F.C.C

Federal Commerce Commission expanded the definition of telecommunication relay service to

include V.R.S and V.R.I, even though these two types of communication are similar they do have

their differences as well as different requirements to obtain these positions. V.R.S allows you to

text and they will interpret for you, they also provide captioned telephone services whereas V.R.I is

a video chat with a real time interpreter. This particular specialized interpreting profession usually

takes place in a call center. An office environment is set up as well as any office supplies needed

for the job. The centers can vary in structure but the essentials are cubicles set up to be secluded
from one another with tall walls to limit eavesdropping and protect consumer confidentiality.

Going back to Brurnsons book there are two different tiers of these centers called two and three

tier centers. He states, “whether a center is considered a two tier compared to three tier center has

little impact on the daily work of interpreters, but there is a certain level of prestige, at least for

management, associated with the three tier structure.” (pg.34) This is a standard floor plan of what

a call-center would look like as well as the two different call centers structures they have

established so far. Moving on to specialized training, certification or license required to be

employed as a Video Interpreter (V.I). For V.R.S interpreters you can have a certification from an

interpreting program such as an Interpreting Preparation Program (I.P.P) or an Interpreter

Education Program (I.E.P) which usually are two to four year programs with a certificate upon

graduating. However, to be an official V.R.I you have to obtain The Registry Of Interpreters For

The Deaf (R.I.D), and National Interpreter Certification (N.I.C). According to the official R.I.D

website RID.org there are five steps, “1. Register for the C.A.S.L.I Generalist Knowledge Exam

(This includes both portions: Fundamental of Interpreting and Case Studies: Ethical

Decision-Making Process & Cultural Responsiveness), 2. Pass the C.A.S.L.I Generalist

Knowledge Exam (Candidate must successfully pass the Fundamental of Interpreting portion

before they are eligible to take the performance exam, if candidate does not pass the Case Studies

portion, they can take it with the performance exam) 3. Submit proof of meeting R.I.D’s

educational requirement of bachelor’s degree or an approved Alternative Pathway plan. 4. Register

for the C.A.S.L.I Generalist Performance Exam: N.I.C (with or without the Case Studies portion)

5. Successfully passes all C.A.S.L.I’s required examinations for the N.I.C Certification. All R.I.D

certifications are administered through C.A.S.L.I or the Center for the Assessment of Sign

Language Interpretation.” Other than formal certification, there are online workshops to take for
video relay interpreting specifically that will be more of a training and go more in-depth relating to

video relay interpretation. As far as job employment opportunities there are three main competitors

Sorenson, Purple Communications Company, and 121 Captions. If you are employed with

purplecommunicationscompany.com they proclaim, “Purple Communications is dedicated to

delivering the highest-quality and most innovative communication services to meet the unique

needs of each Deaf and hard-of-hearing individual.” According to Purple Company official profile

they state “The company's on-site interpreters provide services for any in-person interpretation

needs, including job interviews; special events such as concerts, parties, and plays; business

meetings, conferences, employee training, and other interpreting needs. Purple's on-site

interpreters operate through its branch offices which are located in Corona, Oakland, San Diego,

Denver, Tampa, Atlanta, Chicago, Richmond, Vancouver, and Madison. Purple's VRI is a sign

language interpreting service that is delivered with a webcam and internet connection or a tablet

using a cellular connection. The company offers VRI for schools, business meetings, medical

appointments, and hospitals, among others.” If you work for sorenson.com they represent

“Sorenson is one of the world’s leading language services providers and the world’s leading

provider of communication tools for deaf and hard-of-hearing people. We combine patented

technology with human-centric services to connect signed and spoken languages: captioning and

video relay services, over-video and in-person sign language and spoken language interpreting,

real-time event captioning services, and post-production language services. Our company impact

extends beyond the connections we support. Under Sorenson’s Impact and E.S.G (environmental,

social and governance) criteria, Vision and Action Plan. We’re reviewing our carbon footprint,

addressing accessibility and advancement barriers for deaf employees, and implementing a

supplier diversity program. Sorenson is a minority-owned company committed to expanding

opportunities for underserved communities and championing a culture of belonging.” If you are

employed by 12captions.com they support “ We also work with a hand-picked, international

network of over 300 professionally-qualified captioners, all of whom are registered and accredited

by internationally-recognised professional associations to provide on-site and remote captioning

services. Our focus on quality and professionalism has led to 121 Captions becoming approved

suppliers to blue-chip companies, top universities, government departments and not-for-profit

organizations; including Google, Microsoft, Apple, Facebook, Twitter, NHS England, BT,

PricewaterhouseCoopers, Barclays Bank, Ernst & Young, British Council Qatar, National Crime

Agency.'' Furthermore, it is evident that there are many different opportunities with different

companies depending on if you are interested in V.R.I or V.R.S. However, the common goal is

creating quality accessible to the deaf community considering the wide range of accommodation

required for this spectrum that makes up this community. According to an article entitled A

Comparative Study of Text Telephone and Videophone Relay Services by Ulla-Christel Go ̈therstro

̈m , Jan Persson and Dick Jonsson it states “The telephone is an essential technology for

communication in society. You can reach people and people can reach you. To be deaf means that

you have to rely on people to make phone calls for you if you do not have access to a relay service.

Services aimed at the deaf and hearing- impaired increase independence to the user.” This just

demonstrates how important these companies are for the deaf community so they can experience

everyday things such as making a regular phone call. This is something hearing people take for

granted however, as supported by an article titled A Comparative Study of Text Telephone and

Videophone Relay Services by Ulla-Christel Go ̈therstro ̈m ET-AL they state “The use of text

telephone relay service and video-phone relay service is supposed to lead to disabled people

having greater independent contacts, both at work and in their private life.“ (pg.102) Trivial things
to hearing people such as making phone calls has greatly improved the daily lives and function of

the deaf community allowing them to take control of their life and take things into their own

hands.

Now we know the qualification to obtain this job, let's look into practitioners'

demographics. According to Zippia.com the career expert website, they provided some

demographics and statistics on sign language interpreters in the United States. Regarding sign

language interpreter gender ratios in the United States females hold 75.9% whereas, males make

up 24.1%. Despite being predominantly females who tend to be interpreters, there is masculine and

feminine signs each gender tends to use, but is not required as a signing style preference.

Regarding sign language interpreters gender pay gap, women earn $.92 for every dollar earned by

men amounting to $45,673 for male income annually compared to female income which results in

$42,130 dollars annually. Moving onto sign language interpreter demographics by race, the

majority ethnicity among sign language interpreters is white which makes up 53.4% of all sign

language interpreters. Furthermore 22.9% of sign language interpreters are Hispanic or Latino and

11.8% of sign language and interpreters are Asian. That leaves 7.0% black or African-American,

4.5% unknown ethnicity and finally 0.4% American Indian and Alaskan native. Ideally I hope to

see rises in all ethnicities as it lends to an interpretation to be able to use your schema to culturally

mediate an interpretation effectively. Regarding sign language interpreter age breakdown it is

evident that the majority of interpreters are 40+ years old, which makes up 52% then goes to

people in their thirties to 40s making up 28% then 20 year olds to 30-year-olds resulting in 20%. It

should be noted that the majority of interpreters being 40 years or older also reveals that a lot of

these older interpreters are not certified due to no certifications being available until the late 1900’s

early 2000s. Moving onto statistics relating to sign language interpreters by degree level. At the
very top, we have interpreters holding bachelor's degrees which make up 48% then associates

which hold 33% then going to master that makes up 9% followed by high school diplomas which

makes up 6% and finally 4% interpreters holding any other degree. This statistic is not surprising

seeing as to get R.I.D certified you are required to obtain a bachelor's degree. Looking at sign

language, interpreter industry, statistics we see education holds the largest with 58% followed by

government with 10%, professional with 9% healthcare with 5% nonprofits with 4% retail with 3%

telecommunications holding 2% technology also holding 2% on transportation, media,

manufacturing, utilities, fortune, 500, hospitality, and finance all hold one percent each. V.R.I and

V.R.S falls under telecommunication services which holds a very small percentage only being 2%

however, this is probably due to V.R.I and V.R.S being developed recently with the advancement

of readily accessible technology.

Evidently by historical norms, American sign interpreting started as a friends and family

non-paid occupation things have drastically changed regarding payment and salary of ASL

interpreters. Going back to Jeremy L. Bernson‘s book V.R.I he accurately depicts interpreting

standards when he says, “Although there are occasions when interpreters provide services and in

kind or pro bono, often, interpreters are paid for their services.”(pg.12) This is specified because as

interpreters there is a minimum requirement of pro bono work embedded in the R.I.D Code of

professional conduct in section 6.7 regarding business ethics. However, typically as supported by

Mr.Bernson as well, interpreters are either staff interpreters or independent contractors. For

agencies that have a high demand for interpreting, they usually have staff interpreters readily

available for any task they might need. If you are a full-time employed staff interpreter, it does

include benefits from your agency. However, if you're an independent contractor, you are

responsible for providing any staff with their own benefits, and are not obligated to perform any
other duties other than interpreting. The national standard maintains the independent contractors

charge a two hour minimum for all interpreting assignments prior to, an interpreter who held a

certification from our R.I.D could earn between $30 and $35 per hour. Regarding interpreting in

any legal assignment, they usually charge at a rate between $35-$50 per hour evidently after relay

service centers were established in multiple cities, the rate of those areas began to increase to

compete. In 2007, one video relay service provider paid interpreters between $34 and $38 per hour.

Another service provider recently began paying interpreters $46 plus the bonus of up to five

dollars per hour for achieving the recommended call processing time. As of 2004 the average

annual pay for an American Sign Language V.R.I interpreter in California is $58,813 a year; this is

equivalent to $1,131 a week or $4,901 a month. Interpreting professionally has only recently

developed into a career due to this reason it is important to finalize and create these standards early

on so that interpreters are fairly compensated for their services. R.I.D has many tenants throughout

their code of professional conduct that refers to ethical decision-making when it comes to getting

paid or offering pro bono services.

Looking at the YouTube.com video titled Sorensen video relay service this is a short four

minute video that takes you through how video relay services work and how it analyzes the

interpretation. It will be determining if the piece is effective or ineffective as well as identifying

any tools the interpreter used that would be beneficial to have available when interpreting. Overall,

the interpretation was very effective because it had an appropriate register for a child which the

interpreter was interpreting for. When interpreting for a child , it can be challenging meeting the

register, however in this interpretation, it was very evident that a child was speaking. The

interpretation was also effective in its purpose. It was a demonstration video on how to use V.R.I.

and the tone and register of the interpretation matched that accurately. As far as tools go, they
employ clause flipping where you flip a clause, but it still means the same so it’s still an equivalent

interpretation. It is always good to know what you can switch and change up without changing the

meaning to give yourself some transfer restructuring, leeway. In this instance, she had interpreted

the last clause 1st which helped alleviate memory retention, and was still all accurate information,

just the clauses being said in a different order. Overall, this interpretation was effective because it

took into consideration the four P’s which are purpose, place, point and participants. The

interpreter was effective in understanding that the purpose was to give information and

demonstrate how V.R.I worked. The “place” or setting was demonstrated effectively knowing that

even though it’s a child, their interpretation for the place setting is still informative and

professional. The “point” of the interpretation was accurately depicted when the interpreter

understood that the consumers point was to educate hearing people of deaf culture who are

unaware. The interpreter did an effective job at considering participants, which would be hearing

people unfamiliar with V.R.I or anyone using V.R.I for the first time. These are all important

aspects to consider when doing an interpretation; however, the interpreter did a very good job at

recognizing all of these demands and accommodating them throughout this demonstration video. It

is very challenging to interpret for a child because their language is very nuanced and hard for

hearing people to interpret. However, the interpreter handled the signing very well almost like she

had experience working with children’s signing. The only thing that was evident was it didn’t

really seem natural however, the purpose was to be a demonstration. Therefore the interpretation

was effective because it didn’t sound like a casual natural conversation, because it was more

structured and set up like on how to which was very effective for what this interpretation was for.

Overall, the interpreter didn’t derailed or have any meaning equivalency errors throughout the

interpretation as well as any omissions or errors that impacted the interpretation.

 To determine if this form of telecommunication is effective will have to look at both the

benefits and the cons that we see arising from this new profession. According to FCC.gov “V.R.S

offers several features not available with the text-based forms of T.R.S: V.R.S allows persons

whose primary language is ASL to communicate in ASL, instead of having to type what they want

to say. Because consumers use V.R.S to communicate in sign language, they are able to more fully

express themselves through facial expressions and body language, which cannot be expressed in

text. A V.R.S call flows back and forth just like a telephone conversation between two hearing

persons. For example, the parties can interrupt each other, which they cannot do with a T.R.S call

using a T.T.Y (where the parties have to take turns communicating with the CA). Because the

conversation flows more naturally back and forth between the parties, the conversation can take

place much more quickly than with a T.R.S call using a T.T.Y. As a result, the same conversation is

much shorter through V.R.S than it would be through a T.R.S call using a T.T.Y. V.R.S users may

call hearing persons speaking either English or Spanish.” These are a few benefits that come with

V.R.S services that have drastically changed billions of deaf lifes for the better. On the contrary,

let's explore some of the cons arising such as effectiveness to all deaf people. As evidenced by an

article titled Video Remote Interpreting For Home Based Cognitive Assessments they state “...the

limitations of V.R.I, including technical challenges, sound and video quality, and difficulties with

positioning equipment optimally during interviews. The assessors and interpreters agreed that VRI

was inappropriate when clients are known to be cognitively impaired, and that face- to-face

interpreting is necessary to support these clients and ensure assessment accuracy. We suggest that

plans by health or social care services to replace face-to-face interpreting with VRI should be

balanced against the needs of clients and any impacts on professional practice.” (pg. 84) This

proves that V.R.I is effective; it is not effective for every interpreting setting and every consumer's
needs. Another problem arising is if people don't understand how to work with an interpreter.

According to the book, Professional Autonomy in Video Relay Service Interpreting by Ericka Alley

she supports this by explaining ”Educating customers is the third customer orientation behavior

observed in Rafaeli et al.’s study. Similarly, a CA may use professional autonomy by offering

explanations of a particular procedure (i.e., the second customer orientation behavior). An example

of this may occur when the deaf person shares a phone number with a hearing caller who audibly

seems confused as to how he could possibly call the deaf per- son using the phone. In this instance,

the CA may use their professional autonomy to mediate the interaction by explaining to the

hearing caller that calling the deaf person would result in connecting the hearing caller to a CA and

the call would proceed as in the present call, although with a different CA.” (pg.19) As interpreters

they face this issue when hearing people are not familiar with working with an interpreter, however

with V.R.I it’s especially prevalent because the hearing person cannot fathom how the deaf person

is making a phone call. Other problems such as technical difficulties are usually alleviated by

having a technology team at the call center to help out. However, the biggest concern that arises is

regarding the interpreters themselves because this profession is so new there are not a lot of

guidelines and laws protecting the autonomy of interpreters. Supported by Ericka in her book she

goes on to state” Kasher (2005) and Sandstrom (2007) describe autonomy as the ability of a person

to use reason and ethics to guide one’s own actions. Historically, in the absence of supervision,

formal education, or a professional organization, interpreters made decisions in regard to their

work guided by personal ethics and community standards.” (pg. 21) It is evident that the V.R.I

profession is struggling to determine how much autonomy interpreters have in any given

interpreting situation. These are not currently any laws and protocols created. We need to establish
these early on while the field is still developing so that we have a firm basis and interpreters are

protected.

That brings me to my personal closing reflection on my research process and what I have

gained from this experience. Throughout my research journey, I have learned that even though the

profession has only been recently developed in the last decade, there are standards starting to be

put in place however, that is why it is so important to come to a consensus and agreement and

establish these standards early on in this profession to, ensure effective interpretation as well as

effective projection of interpreters. I have realized that although there are many benefits to V.R.S

and V.R.I services it is certainly not appropriate to use in every interpreting situation and depends

on the consumer's needs. After gathering all the information and current statistics and

demographics I am still very much interested in pursuing a career in V.R.S or V.R.I. I know that’s

gonna require more schooling as well as a bachelor's degree which I am on track for. This specific

field really draws me in because I get to work with a wide range of people and a wide range of

topics discussed. It is a goal of mine to receive the qualifications as well as experience to qualify to

get to experience this type of interpreting. On the contrary, I am now aware of the fact that there

are arising issues in the profession and have to look out for being compensated and completing

duties only in my job description.

To sum everything up although this profession has only been recently developed. That is

the perfect time to start recognizing issues arising and putting in policies and regulations to fix any

issues as well as ensure interpreters are protected and fairly treated as this profession develops. In

this research paper, we went through the recent and brief history of V.R.I and V.R.S developing as

a profession as well as looking at certifications and training required as well as current

demographics of interpreters in the United States, as well as salary breakdown. As well as an

analysis of an interpreted piece, exploring benefits and cons, we are seeing arise from the

profession thus far and finally ending with a personal reflection. I encourage anyone interested in

this field of profession to go ahead and pursue it despite any reluctance because this profession is

so new that we can still make changes and be the change we want to see in this developing

profession.
 References

Erica Alley. (2019). Professional Autonomy in Video Relay Service Interpreting. Gallaudet

University Press.

FCC. (n.d.). Video Relay Service (VRS). Federal Communications Commission.

https://www.fcc.gov/vrs

Garyireland. (2021, February 1). Everything you need to know about video relay service. 121

Captions. https://www.121captions.com/everything-video-relay-service/bsl-interpreting/

Get the job you really want. Zippia The Career Expert. (2024, April 5).

https://www.zippia.com/sign-language-interpreter-jobs/demographics/

Global Communications Solutions for people, businesses, and enterprises. Sorenson. (n.d.).

https://sorenson.com/

Götherström, U.-C., Persson, J., & Jonsson, D. (2004). A comparative study of text telephone

and videophone relay services. Technology & Disability, 16(2), 101–109

Jeremy L. Brunson. (2011). Video Relay Service Interpreters : Intricacies of Sign Language

Access. Gallaudet University Press.

Library, C. P. (2013, August 5). Sorenson Video Relay Service. YouTube.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WCtWFmkRFvc
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Interpreters for the Deaf, Inc. - Education. Standards. Excellence. https://rid.org/

Video remote interpreting for home-based cognitive assessments Stakeholders’

perspectives-Lack of interpreters vri better Gilbert, A. S., Croy, S., Hwang, K., LoGiudice, D., &

Haralambous, B. (2022). Video Remote Interpreting for Home-Based Cognitive Assessments:

Stakeholders’ Perspectives. Interpreting: International Journal of Research and Practice in

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Purple Co. (n.d.). Need an interpreter?. VRS. https://www.purplevrs.com/