IP relay

Explain more? Are you talking about Internet Relay Calling which is a method used by the deaf and Nigerian scammers? Or are you talking about normal web telephony? Was an operator involved?

I got a message on my phone saying, "this is ip relay. you have a message that says the following: hello this is ______ athletics department calling to talk about your scholarship situation. " or something to that effect. When they called me back, the school would type something, the operator would read it to me, and I would tell the operator what to type back. I think they have a website: http://www.ip-relay.com/. that is what i think the service was that the school used to contact me. I am really curious if anybody else has dealt with this.

Wow, I'm still confused, but very creative if it is done during a no-contact time, which is the part I'm not sure of. It doesn't sound very professional way of communicating, but if it is way to cut a corner I only smile. The "Blue Hairs" at the NCAA are not the sharpest knife in the drawer when rules are written.

That sounds like the Internet Relay used by handicapped to communicate. The calls were subsidized by U.S. taxpayers.

Deaf person types message to an operator who communicates by voice with hearing enabled person. Takes forever and costs a fortune in operator time.
At best the program was highly questionable. Then things got much worse.

Scammers started using it a few years ago. They'd sit in a internet cafe in Nigeria and have operators phone U.S. businesses one after another trying to get them to send Ipods and Nikes to Lagos. The calls were utterly free to the Nigerians and the caller didn't even have to know much English. Furthermore the operators are sworn to secrecy.

If the recipient asks whether the call is a scam, the operator isn't allowed to comment in any way! Some relay operators spend their days relaying one scam attempt after another.

Here, try it yourself! You don't have to be deaf. Use it to make prank calls. Order a pizza. Heck, call Rome and order a pizza. No extra charge for international calls. Sure it costs SOMEONE a fortune. But not you (at least directly)

https://www.sprintip.com/index.jsp


ps: don't threaten to kill someone. That is about the ONLY limit to this ridiculous government program.

One of many articles on Internet Relay scams.

"Con artists target phone system for deaf
Internet relay services being abused, operators say"


http://www.msnbc.msn.com/ID/4781806/


BTW, I believe the program no longer allows unlimited international calls. Bad news for the Nigerians.

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Don'cha just love technology!

...And those silly college coaches! What Next!

The good news of course is that a coach who goes to these lengths must really want your son...

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quote:

That is about the ONLY limit to this ridiculous government program.

I wouldn't call it a ridiculous program, not if you're deaf and actually NEED it. The only ridiculous part is that they allow it to be abused by scammers (and I include unethical coaches in that category).

Would you want to play for a coach (or want your son to play for a coach) who stoops to such low levels to get around the rules?

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With all due respects...and correct me if I am wrong...

But the coach is well within all legal boundaries...just happens to be more creative...and more hungry.

It is becoming more and more common for "Blue Chip" players to comit long before July on the back of electronic means.

Is one more illegal than another?

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I work at a bank. One of my mortgage customers is deaf and uses this system. It is a lifesaver for him. Is the coach you were communicating with deaf?

Yes, the NCAA rules haven't caught up to the modern ways of communicating like those pony express riders.

quote:

One of my mortgage customers is deaf and uses this system. It is a lifesaver for him. Is the coach you were communicating with deaf?

Aren't they all??


seriously tho, it sounds more like a scam ...
soo, did they make an offer or ask for your bank acct #??

I wish people woudln't use IP Relay for those kinda things. My parents actaully ARE deaf and actually DO use it. It's kinda disprespectful in my opinion and it's a waste of the operators time.

ummm so im still not even sure if were talking about the same thing...I dont think i deaf person could actually use this system. the operator would tell me the message out loud, and i would reply to it out loud and the operator would type what i said back to the coach. the coach would then type something back, and the operator would read it out loud.

s2fmf-
Same thing. Not too hard to imagine a deaf person at the other end of the line typing on a computer. As micdsguy describes so well in his post, the system is in place for a reason and it's paid for with millions of taxpayer dollars. The IP Relay story was recently featured on "The Fleecing of America" on NBC Nightly News. Obviously it's being abused by unscrupulous people, including now apparently coaches, to avoid detection since the operators are sworn to confidentiality.
Nothing illegal about using it, it's just unethical. Kind of like parking in a handicapped space to get groceries on a rainy day, you know you won't get caught. OK that's illegal, but just the same, I think we'd all like to hear who's doing it. Then maybe they'd stop.

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the coach would then type something back, and the operator would read it out loud.

so, what was the offer the operator made to you ??