[blindlaw] Question on Office Tools

[Susan Kelly]

Our office (and most of the county government) recently converted to VOiP.  I can't stand it - JAWS only partially reads the virtual voicemail, and is triggered to read whatever happens to be on the screen every time the phone rings - unfortunately, it does not read caller ID, which is what one would logically assume it would be doing.  It does not read the commands on-screen for putting the phone on "do not disturb" and call "call forwarding", either, so I have to ask a co-worker to do that for me - something that was very easy to accomplish by myself with our prior, analog phone system.  The VOiP also does not read any of the instant messages that can be sent using the service.  That last problem is relatively easy to avoid in our immediate office, as I have asked my co-workers to simply e-mail me or get up and walk the couple of offices down to my office if I am needed.  But, at least in our set-up, VOiP has been awful.  And, since it is a county-wide service, completely unavoidable.

-----Original Message-----
From: blindlaw [mailto:blindlaw-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Norman, Gary C. (CMS/OSORA)
Sent: Friday, November 22, 2013 10:40 AM
To: Blind Law Mailing List (blindlaw at nfbnet.org); Theresa Stern (tstern at guidedogs.com); Melissa Hudson (melissa.v.hudson at gmail.com); Robert Dinerstein (rdiners at wcl.american.edu); speilaw at inebraska.com
Cc: E. Anne Benaroya (eabenaroya at gmail.com); srstarburst at aol.com; Rogers, Gene (FDA/OC); Alexis Mitchell (alexisrizz at gmail.com); 'chucknorman at live.com'; Joshua Friedman (jterpslaw at gmail.com)
Subject: [blindlaw] Question on Office Tools

Greetings:

This is to inquire, for purposes of my firm, the accessibility of the tools indicated below, and if they are "accessible" how much of a pain I will find JAWS to be with the same. With JAWS, it is fair to presume it will take large amounts of time to learn them, if not have to script them. Thanks.


Sincerely,
Gary C. Norman, Esq.


Addendum
General Ideas
There are a number of tools I use in my contract and at my work place that might align with your needs. (Again, a consultant with holistic look at your needs could better access if these options would be a good fit.)

list of 5 items
* Internal Collaboration: Businesses need a way of connecting and communicating internally. My department and contracts use Google Tools to manage projects, communicate, and store information. We currently use the free versions, which meet our needs.
* Calling: I use google voice to manage my incoming calls through the internet. It sounds like what you are looking for requires more than one phone line for one person. I would recommend looking into Voice Over IP (VoIP) services which allow you to route calls to different phones, use virtual voice mail, and manage lines through physical phones or over the internet. PC Magazine has a good guide for small businesses  on VoIP.
* Calendar: Google Calendar is wonderful for my business needs. It works with so many other tools and can be connected. It can also be shared with multiple people to plan times (e.g. setting up meetings with team members or keeping a common calendar). Google has a nice overview of the calendar tools and feature.
If you are looking for something like a scheduling or event management tool for clients, you may need to look into a separate paid service with more features (such as Eventbrite, Schedule Once, and a host of other tools).
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