Full Transcript
Speaker 2:
If you’re blind or have low vision,
Speaker 3:
Be My Eyes is a must have tool.
Speaker 2:
No matter where you are
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Or what language you speak
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You can call up on-demand visual support in seconds.
Speaker 3:
In seconds.
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From a pool of more than two million volunteers
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Two million volunteers
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And the best part is
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It’s completely free.
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It’s completely free.
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No matter how many times you use it
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No matter how much you use it
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Completely free.
Speaker 7:
Besides the option to call volunteers
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You can also use Be My Eyes’ new feature
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Specialized Help
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To get quick, high quality
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Video custom service
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Directly from companies like Microsoft
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And Google
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All within the Be My Eyes app
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On Android
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Or iOS.
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Join the community
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Join the community
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Today
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Today.
Speaker 5:
On the web at www.bemyeyes.com.
Speaker 9:
Enable the Blind Abilities skill on your Amazon device just by saying enable blind abilities.
Jeff Thompson:
Welcome to Blind Abilities. I’m Jeff Thompson and I’m at the National Council of State Agencies for the Blind Conference in Bethesda, Maryland, and I met up with the people from Sprint. They’re outreach specialists. I’ve got Diane and Rob here. How are you doing, Diane?
Diane:
Hi! I’m fine, thank you!
Rob:
Hey Jeff, I’m doing great.
Jeff Thompson:
Great. Why don’t you tell us a little about Sprint?
Diane:
The most important thing we would like your listeners to know is that Sprint’s objective is to promote independence using your cell phone. So, it’s important that people realize that they can use their phone and have a money reader on it. A color ID, they could have IRA, they could have Be My Eyes. And as outreach specialists, that’s part of our job to go out and educate the population on what apps are out there to increase their independence and their employment opportunities.
Jeff Thompson:
Great. Rob?
Rob:
Diane and I are part of Sprint accessibility organization with a network [inaudible] Sprint vision. So we’re a team of low vision and blind outreach specialists that go out to the community to talk about Sprint and what programs we have directed towards that community.
Jeff Thompson:
Well great. So what programs do you have for the blind? What’s going to interest the blind in Sprint?
Diane:
One thing that we do is we provide all our own materials in accessible formats. So, one side will be braille, one side will be large print. And an individual can also get their bill printed in braille or large print. We also have a United States based customer care team phone number that they can call with questions related to their billing, related to their phone, related to anything about the accessibility of their phone. We also have Rob and I and two other individuals who are blind or low vision who go out and meet with people so somebody is brand new to using a cell phone, an iphone or Android, we can help them with the accessibility. How to turn it on, what gestures to use and we also offer a discounted plan for people who are blind and low vision.
Jeff Thompson:
Really? So Rob, what kind of response do you get by attending the conferences where predominately blind and vision impaired people are at?
Rob:
Well, I think first of all, it’s nice ’cause most of the people that go to these events, they’ve come up to us and they appreciate that we’re at the store ’cause we’re a mainstream product service provider. And our products are specialized for the blind and low vision community. But obviously they have all the accessible features and apps that the blind and low vision really take advantage of.
Rob:
So everyone’s pretty positive that we’re there, and we bring the retail store to many of our events so people can review their current pricing with their current suppliers, or if they’re Sprint customers, they can see if they can upgrade and what’s the cost. It’s a very casual environment at these events so they don’t have to run to a retail store and wait. They can come up and just ask questions about Sprint’s plans or also the features of the products as well, and the devices.
Diane:
We also want to be known as a company that supports the blind and low vision community. We sponsor events, we sponsor ACB events, NFB events, AFB, FFB events, we like to get out there and actually support the people that will eventually become our customers or our current customers.
Jeff Thompson:
Oh, that’s really great. I was impressed. I saw you Orlando at the NFB convention. I saw you here too so I had to come over and if people can hear the music in the background, that’s probably coming from your booth.
Diane:
Yes. That’s what we do. We try to pick some music that will be acceptable to everybody attending the conference, just so they can find us easier.
Rob:
Just to go into a little more detail on the products we bring to the events, the retail store brings wireless speakers that can connect to Google Assist or Voice Activated or just Bluetooth speakers. We have headphones, and we got power chargers. A lot of accessories that people need for their devices. So we sell them at the events and we have good demand for it.
Jeff Thompson:
Yep, Diane? How about the app and the accessibility?
Diane:
The app is accessible, our website is accessible, in fact when they make changes, they have all of our outreach specialists test it out. Some use JAWS, some use Zoom Text, some just use a magnification on their computer. So, we make sure that it’s good to go before it’s released.
Jeff Thompson:
So someone that is a Sprint customer, they can be assured that they have access to all their information that they need.
Diane:
That is correct. And if they needed to, if they’re not text savvy, they can always call the care team number and they will read the bill to them.
Jeff Thompson:
Oh great. Do you have any of those numbers? Or how can they can ahold of Sprint?
Diane:
Yes. The care team number is 855-885-7568 or you can go to Sprint.com/Vision.
Jeff Thompson:
That’s easy enough.
Diane:
Yes.
Jeff Thompson:
Well Rob, Diane, I want to thank you very much. Is there anything else you want to say to the listeners?
Diane:
Do Jeff, I did also want to point out to your listeners that Sprint has two promotions running right now. If somebody is blind or low vision and becomes a Sprint customer, they can either choose the KNFB reader Enterprise version, which allows them to put it on two devices, they can choose that for free. Or they can choose a hundred dollars in Uber gift cards.
Jeff Thompson:
Oh! That’s transporting.
Diane:
Yeah! Very funny!
Jeff Thompson:
That’s a great deal. Uber. I used that to get here from the airport.
Diane:
If you’re at a convention, we will most likely be there. Stop by under the Sprint booth, pick up a Sprint bag, pick up a signature guide, we’d love to have a chance to chat.
Jeff Thompson:
Well thank you very much and you guys have a great convention.
Diane:
Thank you.
Rob:
Thank you.
[Music] [Transition noise] -When we share
-What we see
-Through each other’s eyes…
[Multiple voices overlapping, in unison, to form a single sentence]
…We can then begin to bridge the gap between the limited expectations, and the realities of Blind Abilities.
Jeff Thompson:
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