TRS ADVISORY COUNCIL PRESENTATION Karen Peltz Strauss Eliot Greenwald Consumer & Governmental Affairs Bureau TRS Advisory Council September 15, 2016 Annapolis, Maryland
Roundtable Communications needs for Deaf Persons with Mobility Disabilities – March 17, 2016 Panels included: Accessible Communications for Everyone (ACE) platform Ways to achieve functionally equivalent TRS for DPMD Developing recommendations to address the communications needs of DPMD TRS Advisory Council September 15, 2016 Annapolis, Maryland
Disability Advisory Committee N-1-1 Services Emergency Communications Subcommittee TRS Access to Non-Emergency N-1-1 Services On February 23, 2015, as proposed by the subcommittee, the DAC: “ Recommended , that the FCC provide clarification of current TRS rules and remind TRS providers of their obligation to handle N-1-1 calls and, if appropriate, institute an inquiry to find out the extent to which people who use [TRS] are able to contact their local or regional N-1- 1 services.” TRS Advisory Council September 15, 2016 Annapolis, Maryland
DAC - VRS Relay/Equipment Distribution Subcommittee – Proposed resolutions for the September 22, 2016 DAC meeting VRS 911 call handling recommendations: Disability Rights Office (DRO) and Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau (CGB) work with Association of Public Safety Communications (APCO) and National Emergency Number Association (NENA) to develop an Implementation Guide for Mandatory Minimum Training Standards for 911 call handling for all VRS CAs TRS Advisory Council September 15, 2016 Annapolis, Maryland
DAC – VRS (2) Relay/Equipment Distribution Subcommittee – Proposed resolutions for the September 22, 2016 DAC meeting VRS 911 call handling recommendations: DRO and CGB support development of Best Practices for 911 call handling and processing for VRS CAs FCC take steps to ensure that annual 911 training is required for all VRS CAs, including a refresher course for veteran CAs TRS Advisory Council September 15, 2016 Annapolis, Maryland
DAC – IP CTS Relay/Equipment Distribution Subcommittee – Proposed resolutions for the September 22, 2016 DAC meeting Recommendations for IP CTS quality metrics: Verbatim and accuracy standards Speed standards Delay standards Testing to determine compliance take place at least monthly TRS Advisory Council September 15, 2016 Annapolis, Maryland
DAC – IP CTS ( con’t ) Relay/Equipment Distribution Subcommittee – Proposed resolutions for the September 22, 2016 DAC meeting Recommendations for IP CTS quality metrics: Clarify that the 10 minute time period required for CAs to stay on a call does not begin until the CVA full understands the person they will be captioning FCC solicit information from consumers and providers regarding how IP CTS may benefit from the introduction of HD voice, RTT, and other technological improvements TRS Advisory Council September 15, 2016 Annapolis, Maryland
NDBEDP CVAA Authorized $10 million annually from the Interstate TRS Fund To support programs approved by the FCC For the distribution of specialized customer premises equipment Designed to make telecommunications services, advanced communications services, and access to the Internet accessible by individuals who are Deaf-blind, as defined in the Helen Keller National Center Act and Low-income, which is defined for this program as 400% of the Federal Poverty Guidelines TRS Advisory Council September 15, 2016 Annapolis, Maryland
NDBEDP (2) History In 2011, the FCC established the National Deaf-Blind Equipment Distribution Program as a pilot program, which has come to be known as iCanConnect The pilot program began on July 1, 2012 We are currently in Year 5 of the pilot program, which runs through June 2017 On August 4, 2016, the FCC adopted rules to convert the pilot program into a permanent program TRS Advisory Council September 15, 2016 Annapolis, Maryland
NDBEDP (3) How the Pilot Program operates The FCC selected and certified one entity in each of the 50 states, plus the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands, to receive funding to distribute equipment The FCC allocates $50,000 to each of the 53 certified programs, plus additional funding based on the size of each state or territory’s population States with larger populations are allocated larger amounts of funding than states with smaller populations TRS Advisory Council September 15, 2016 Annapolis, Maryland
NDBEDP (4) How the Pilot Program operates ( con’t ) The FCC also set aside $500,000 per year for the Perkins School for the Blind to coordinate nationwide outreach Certified programs distribute specialized and off-the-shelf equipment, separately or in combination, as long as it meets the needs of the deaf-blind individual, and makes communications services covered under the program accessible Types of equipment the program has distributed: Computers, laptops, tablets, deaf-blind communicators, braille devices, smartphones, amplified phones, alerting devices, and various software applications TRS Advisory Council September 15, 2016 Annapolis, Maryland
NDBEDP (5) How the Pilot Program operates ( con’t ) Funding covers the reasonable costs of: The equipment distributed, warranties, maintenance, repairs, inventory for temporary replacements, and refurbishing State and local outreach efforts, individual assessments of a deaf- blind person’s communications equipment needs, equipment installation, and individualized training of consumers on how to use the equipment TRS Advisory Council September 15, 2016 Annapolis, Maryland
NDBEDP (6) Highlights from the Permanent Program rules: what’s new: Extends the program to Guam, Northern Marianas, and American Samoa Adds administrative and financial management experience to program certification criteria Requires entities to disclose potential or actual conflicts of interest in the certification application process and after certification Will certify programs for periods of five years TRS Advisory Council September 15, 2016 Annapolis, Maryland
NDBEDP (7) Permanent Program rules: what’s new (con’t ) Requires an outgoing program to take certain steps to ensure a smooth transition to the newly-certified program Reduces funding for national outreach Allows certified programs to be reimbursed for pre-approved consumer travel costs for assessments and training conducted at a program center location Allows certified programs to use up to 2.5% of their annual allocations on train-the-trainer activities to address a persistent shortage of qualified trainers TRS Advisory Council September 15, 2016 Annapolis, Maryland
NDBEDP (8) Permanent Program rules: what’s new (con’t ) Allows certified programs to be reimbursed for administrative costs up to 15% of their annual allocations Establishes program performance goals and directs CGB to establish performance measures Authorizes the development of a centralized database that certified programs must use for reporting purposes and may use to generate reimbursement claims Requires submission of a copy of each certified program’s annual audit to the FCC TRS Advisory Council September 15, 2016 Annapolis, Maryland
NDBEDP (9) Permanent Program rules: what’s new (con’t ) Requires certified programs to retain records for five years Requires CGB to assess program performance during the fifth year of the permanent program, including the extent to which funding should be continued for outreach, travel, and train-the-trainer activities Adds new consumer attestations for compliance with Commission rules Establishes procedures for filing informal complaints with the FCC TRS Advisory Council September 15, 2016 Annapolis, Maryland
TRS Fund Contribution Base November 25, 2015 – IDT filed a petition for rulemaking requesting the FCC to review and revise its rules and policies on the contribution methodology for the Interstate TRS Fund Requests intrastate revenues to be included in the contribution base Requests elimination of rule requiring that VRS costs be recovered from only interstate and international revenue December 18, 2015 – Public Notice seeking comment TRS Advisory Council September 15, 2016 Annapolis, Maryland
Numbering Directory Waiver November 23, 2015 – Wireline Competition Bureau granted waiver to permit VTCSecure – contractor building VRS reference platform MITRE – contractor performing TRS research for FCC To access TRS Numbering Directory to extent necessary to carry out tasks related to contractual responsibilities Both operate under detailed contractual obligations to protect non-public information consistent with security and privacy concerns TRS Advisory Council September 15, 2016 Annapolis, Maryland
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