It used to be that using the telephone was quite an obstacle for persons who only had limited use of their hands, but today that is no longer the case. Using the phone can be the key to employment opportunities, socializing with others, getting help in an emergency or just talking to grandma!

When shopping for a voice activated phone beware of confusing "Voice Activated" with "Hands-Free" operation. Some advertisements are blurring the two features and they are not the same. Voice Activation refers to making a complete call sequence by voice alone. "Handsfree" refers to communicating without having to hold the phone receiver. Dialing, picking up and hanging up the line must be done manually with these phones.

The Voice Activated telephones in this fact sheet are more traditional, stand-alone type phones. We have not included the computer based solutions which are included in some new computers. We also exclude complete voice-control systems for computers such as Dragon Dictate and Power Secretary which could also be used with additional software to enable your computer to function as a voice activated telephone. These are described in the document on computer based solutions.

These devices do not necessarily provide a complete solution to your voice telephone access needs. For example, they do not include voice-controlled answering devices for storing and retrieving messages on voice commands. They also do not let you generate tone signals from voice commands. This would be useful if you want to access electronic voice-mail systems or navigate through automated telephone response systems (say, to check your bank balance).

Information on voice & single switch operated telephones can be found by following these 8 links.

1. The Able-Phone 6000SX
2. Independence Voicephone
3. Temasek 2000 SP
4. NEMO with IR or X-10 Phone
5. Voice Dialing service from the phone company.
6. Additional information about voice operated telephones
7. Ameriphone Dialog RC-200 - switch phone.

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Some of the information contained herein was obtained from:

CO-NET Spring 1995 Hyper-Abledata CD-ROM ¥ Trace R, Center ¥ Madison, WI The AbleData resource is available via the Internet, Dial-in bbs and voice/TDD. Use these for the latest up-to-the-minute information.

Macro International
1-301-588-9284 - TDD/Voice
1-800-227-0216 - TDD/Voice

Trace R Center 1-608-262-6966 - Voice
1-608-263-5408 - TDD
1-608-262-8848 - FAX
Internet: http://www.fedworld.gov

Author: Mike Birkmire
Copyright © 1995 Learning Independence Through Computers. AbleComm Project, All rights reserved.