New SMS service to provide deaf with roadside assistance

A new service launched this week by Nati Roadway Services aims to allow hard of hearing people the possibility of calling for help via SMS.

By LIDAR GRAVÉ-LAZI
Smartphones [illustrative] (photo credit: REUTERS)
Smartphones [illustrative]
(photo credit: REUTERS)
A new service launched this week by Nati Roadway Services aims to allow hard of hearing people the possibility of calling for help via SMS.
“There are many deaf people who cannot speak or that are hard to understand them. We communicate via SMS or email. So we have to receive help from a third party to call the service center for us. Beyond the difficulty, there is often a reluctance to help at the call centers, sometimes they even hang up on us, and this is very frustrating,” said Ben Zion Hen, chairman of the Association of the Deaf in Israel.
To date, a deaf person would be unable to telephone for help should they require roadside assistance.  The idea for the service came following a request from a hard of hearing client who explained the urgent need of such a service and the difficulties and miscommunications experienced when he requested roadside assistance.
The service, entitled SOS by SMS will allow the deaf and hard of hearing population in Israel roadside and towing assistance by allowing them to send an SMS from their cell phones to call for help.  The service is available to the hard of hearing 24 hours a day and seven days a week at a cost of NIS 300 per year.