Date Posted:
05/14/2010
Title:
Statement from the Z™ in Regards to NECA's Proposed Rates
Summary:
The Z™ Responds to NECA's Proposed Rates
Body:
As many of you are aware, Sorenson VRS has been sending the message through the community that the new VRS rates proposed by NECA will mean the end of VRS. Specifically,
Ron Burdett’s video on the Sorenson website states that VRS will “go away.” Here is the truth: VRS won’t come to an end. Even if Sorenson DOES shut down, there are other VRS providers who will continue to offer VRS, including CSDVRS, also known as The Z™. Having said that, it IS true that all VRS providers will be impacted by the proposed rates. We wanted to create this message to provide you with the truth about what is happening.
First and foremost, the Federal Communication Commission (FCC) is committed to continuing VRS access for deaf and hard of hearing customers. Recent VRS fraud has forced the FCC to look closely at the issue and they are trying to gather information that will allow them to make fair decisions. NECA’s proposed rates are based on their analysis of what they consider fair rates. The FCC suspected providers were profiting approximately between 20–40% on each billable minute.
We can assure you this is absolutely not true for us. The Z™ has shown the FCC our audited 2009 profit and loss report, which shows approximately 2% profit. Normally, businesses have a profit of between 10% to 25%. The FCC was not made aware of this until May 13, 2010. Now that they have this information, we are confident the FCC will impose different and better rates that are reasonable and fair.
It is the responsibility of all VRS providers to educate the FCC and show exactly what their operational costs and profits are. The only way to do this is to partner with the FCC and work with our customers, not deploy scare tactics like Sorenson. The Z™ is recommending all providers submit audited profit and loss reports so that the FCC may make educated decisions.
In summary, we want to once again assure you that VRS is NOT at risk. The Z™ is working with the FCC, and we are very confident a resolution will be made that is in the best interest of our VRS customers.
If you would like to view the comments we filed with the FCC in response to the proposed rates, please go to www.zvrs.com/news.