Viable Unveils New VPAD+ Videophone for Deaf and Hard of Hearing Customers

Viable, a provider of next-generation video relay services for deaf and hard of hearing persons, has released the full-feature version of its VPAD+ videophone.

 

Viable is a private company owned and mostly run by deaf and hard of hearing persons. Employees are personally vested in the innovation and development of the company's products and services.

 

The videophone developed by Viable offers hardware enhancements and a redesigned customer experience that are the direct result of customer feedback. The VPAD+ is a lightweight, standalone videophone that features a 10.2" touch screen monitor and has enhancements like Bluetooth technology, Built-in WiFi (News - Alert) capability, dual USB ports, improved touch screen functions, browser support for WiFi logins, a redesigned user interface, and acoustic echo cancellation for improved voice quality.

 

“The VPAD+ takes our videophone product line to the next level and offers our deaf and hard of hearing customers scalable benefits that extend beyond video relay services,” said  Jason Yeh, vice president of technology at Viable, in a statement. “The VPAD+ truly represents the next generation of telecommunications possibilities.”

 

“We improved the camera function and integrated the WiFi capability, which means you don't need a separate adapter anymore,” said  Claudio Villalobos, an engineer on the VPAD development team, explaining upgrades to the new product. “We added a browser that allows you to log onto any hotspot and enable your connection to make calls and modified the screen resolution to produce a sharper image. All of the enhancements to the VPAD+ are a step towards optimizing the user's experience.”

 

“The VPAD+ is truly a crowd sourced product, with hundreds of deaf and hard of hearing individuals in more than 40 states and 10 countries contributing input on the early release VPAD,” said Anthony Mowl, assistant vice president of business development at Viable, in a statement. “In what has been one of the largest testing initiatives in the history of the deaf and hard of hearing community, we received abundant input on the hardware, user interface, and distribution methods and took them into consideration as we designed a superior communications platform. We credit the deaf and hard of hearing community with much of the with progress we have made with the VPAD+.”

 

“The firmware upgrades will allow us to actively seek community input while rewarding our customers for their feedback with new downloadable features,” Mowl added.

 

The VPAD+ is on track to roll out this fall, and will be available only through Viable customer support. To purchase a unit at the introductory price of $99, deaf and hard of hearing persons will need to register for a Viable Number, which is a ten-digit telephone number that will enable people to receive calls at their VPAD+ devices, and schedule home installation.