Hello,

I am in process of developing my VA business. It would be launched sometimes next week and I look forward to its adventure.

I am deaf and proud of it. I know I am capable of performing any VA duties except those that invovles telephone services.

I am just curious if there's any deaf VA out there?

I've read some VA do not answer any incoming calls, none whatsoever, and only communicate with their clients via internet. I am curious though if it makes it more difficult attracting clients?

I am a bit concerned about that. I would like to post a phone number on my website, business card, and forms. But how? They would call my place and I am not able to answer it and communicate with them unless they contact me via relay service or TTY.

My children could answer it but thats not professional and obviously should be avoided.

I am wondering if there's a service available where they would accept incoming phone calls and relay messages to me professionally?

Brenda

Brenda,

I admire your courage and determination to make your business work!! GOOD FOR YOU!!

I am not sure if you are from Canada, but I do know that Bell Canada offers a service for deaf customers where you can accept phone calls. I am not sure exactly how it works, but perhaps you could inquire with your local phone company?

Best of Luck,

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Ness, REPA
www.NessLindsay.com

Hi Brenda, not to worry - the phone doesn't have to be a hindrance in the development of your business in the least. I don't list or offer a business number, nor have I talked live to any of my clients more than a handful of times in the last almost-three years - and I didn't *ever* for the first two.

There is an online chat feature you can hook up to your website, called Meebo - there are actually quite a few VAs here who use it and I think it might be a really good option for you. When you're online the Meebo widget tells visitors to your site that you are online and they can type a message to you directly on your website, which you will then rec'v in real time on your end. You can have an entire conversation with someone right there on your site, like an instant messenger, but site based.

So - you could hook this up to your contact us page on your site along with the usual email contact option. You could also offer a Skype ID, or other IM option for people to contact you via chat.

I'm sure there are answering services that can take your calls for you - but they are likely not cheap and then you still have the issue of a potential client who is expecting your call back...not to mention the confusion they might have that you're not readily available when they call.

I don't think there is anything wrong with proceeding under the assumption that you simply won't offer a phone number to be contacted at (this isn't the norm, I know, but it hasn't hurt my own business at all....) and then provide as many other ways that make sense for clients and potential clients to get in touch.

One quick note about IM - we were having a conversation about this with another VA here who had made herself available to clients during work hours via instant messenger and really regretted it after a while b/c one client spent eight hours messaging with her and then balked at the invoice....so keep your office hours, and how truly immediately available you want to be, in mind.

I think Meebo might be a good solution!

__________________

Another option: I just did a very quick bit of research and came up with this:
SimulScribe

Sourced from the Stone Deaf Pilots blog (a deaf technology blog with lots of cool tools and resources):
SimulScribe is a voice mail transcribing service that is primarily aimed at hearing people who are too busy to listen to their voice mails. For a small fee, voice mails are transcribed into text and either emailed to the subscriber, or sent in text message format. These services are provided free already by IP-Relay and i711, so I am not convinced the deaf market would be interested in this service, but you never know.
EDIT 04/05/07: It occurred to me that this would be an useful service for deafies who have Skype.

I hope that helps!

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You just gave me all the answers and solutions that I needed - thank you so much for being a BIG help!

I have never heard of these things you suggested so I look forward to check them out.

Again, many thanks,
Brenda

You have been provided great resources! I love the idea of a chat feature! I have been seeing those more and more on web sites that I visit and I think it's a great idea! Let us know if any of these solutions work for you. They would definitely be an invaluable resource to other VAs who can not hear.

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Doreen R. Patrick, MVA, ACS, CIVA
www.virtualbusinesspartners.net

Oh wow! How exciting!! I'm gonna try this out in the next few weeks!

Thanks, Tess!!

Hi Brenda! I am deaf also and wondered what to do about the incoming calls. Perhaps we could help each other out regarding technology for the deaf and how to work it to our advantage!

Welcome to the board!

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Yvonne
Office Savvy Assistant

Wow!

Might need to come out of the woodwork to say that though I am not deaf, I am Hard of Hearing. I have used Sprint Relay in the past, but with the new technologies out there, I really need to sit down.

I just found out that there is a big sale of Sprint Relay compatible cell phones, plus the data package cannot be beat. Only catch is that if you want to make a real bonafide phone call that will cost big time, unless you specifically ask for a voice plan. My contract expired in July and I seriously need to talk to my husband about it. I hardly use the current phone because the sound quality is terrible.

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Lisa George
Remote Admin Services
Web:http://remoteadminservices.com
Blog:http://remoteadminservices.wordpress.com

Ha ha! Cool!

But this sucks - I cannot use Sprint cuz I'm in Canada. In fact - I can't use any IP since they are all for USA - WAAHH!!

Well - if I have clients in the states, I can use it to call them. But I cannot make any canadian calls.

But that is okay - I prefer to use solely internet such as email, fax, IM or whatnot.

But it'll be nice for personal use :0)

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Yvonne
Office Savvy Assistant

Hi there,
My name is Lisa and I'm not Deaf but my parents and husband are. I'm a native user of ASL. Just thought I'd introduce myself. I did network and meet another gal that is Deaf just starting her VA business, I don't think she is on this network.

You got some great answers on the phone solutions.Good Luck