Telephone talk: effects of two access methods on phone call success

Abstract

The slower and unnatural timing of speech inherent to speech-generating devices (SGDs) can be a barrier to successful aided telephone calls. The timing of message delivery when using an SGD may vary depending on the type of access method used. We measured the difference in the success rate of telephone calls made with an SGD either using switch scanning or direct selection with eye gaze. The scripted calls, asking for directions, were placed to 100 randomly selected businesses. Analysis showed a statistically significant difference in the success rate between the two conditions, with eye gaze access resulting in more successful calls. Findings from this study suggest that people who use SGDs for phone calls may improve the timing of message delivery by using eye gaze access compared to switch scanning.

Keywords:

• Telephone communication
• speech-generating device
• direct selection
• eye gaze
• switch scanning
• synthesized speech

Acknowledgements

The authors wish to thank DynaVox Systems for the use of an Eyemax communication system for this research. Many thanks to the graduate students who assisted in the completion of this project: Holly Kelley, Beth Rathe, Roshan Bose, Sally Wilson, and Susan Peterson.

Disclosure statement

The authors report no conflict of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of the paper.

Notes

1 DynaVox EyeMax is a registered trademark of Tobii Dynavox Technologies, located in Pittsburgh, PA.

2 AbleNet is a registered trademark of AbleNet, Inc., located in Roseville, MN.

3 Ameriphone products are manufactured by Walker, a Division of Plantronics, Inc. ©2002 Plantronics, Inc. Ameriphone, Amplifying Your Life, and Walker are trademarks or registered trademarks of Plantronics, Inc., located in Santa Cruz, CA.

4 AT&T Natural Voices is a registered trademark of AT&T, located in Dallas, TX.