Success Stories – Jorg Striesow
Name: Jorg Striesow
Job: School Premises Officer
A deaf friend told me about SignVideo and I thought it was a great idea. When I was interviewed for my job, I was asked about communication problems I would have at work. I explained that SignVideo was the solution.
Because my job involves a lot of phone calls, such as organising maintenance and plumbing it is essential for me to communicate over the phone and in person. It is incredibly useful as otherwise I would be relying on written notes. The same goes when I’m involved in a meeting. Quite often video interpreting is the only option as it’s difficult to get interpreters at short notice.
Where I have known about meetings two or three weeks in advance, I have used face to face interpreters without problems. But it is in last minute meetings and conversations where SignVideo comes into its own.
Without SignVideo, I think I would feel stuck. I would have to find an alternative strategy to communicate with hearing people. Inevitably, it would involve using more expensive, face to face interpreting services. I think you need to be deaf to experience the frustration of not being able to communicate effectively. I think the government should help make SignVideo more widely available. It would be great to be able to use SignVideo at home, and not just at work.