New devices that enable deaf people to have a greater level of participation in phone calls and meetings have been developed by UK organisations.

One of the organisations Teletec, a Bedfordshire-based company, will launch two services to help those who are hard of hearing to use their own voices, by incorporating Internet devices and voice recognition technology.

The Royal National Institute for Deaf people (RNID) is also launching the ScreenPhone that uses similar technologies.

Both of the organisations have developed products to allow voice calls or meetings to be transcribed into text. The ScreenPhone costs just over £200 and uses the RNID’s Typetalk service.

RNID estimates that the ScreenPhone could be of benefit to almost half a million people.

The Screenphone works by connecting the calls to a Typetalk operator so that the deaf person is able to use their own voice but the other person’s responses are typed and presented as text on the ScreenPhone’s display.

RNID stated that people who lose their hearing during adulthood often prefer to use their own voice for making phone calls. Until now, text phones have required the users to type what they want to say, something older people have found difficult.

Mark Downs, for RNID told the BBC: “This is a very exciting breakthrough for people who are losing their hearing and can no longer use the telephone.”

Teletec which also offers services for deaf people, are planning to use WebCapTel which connects two callers via an operator. The operator listens to the conversation and then repeats it into voice recognition software. The words are then transcribed and appear on the deaf person’s hardware.

The company also uses the same technology to offer a hearing-impaired person access to a face-to-face meeting.

The BBC reported that whilst both Teletec and RNID systems work on similar levels, one of the main differences is the long term costs to the user.

The ScreenPhone once purchased, will cost the same as ordinary phone calls whereas WebCapTel will cost £1 per minute.