VIDEO PHONE: BELL TESTS MARKET TO EVALUATE INTEREST

Deidre Wiseman gets to come home to Cape Girardeau to see her mother, Velma, once a month during the school year.

Deidre, 9, is hearing and speech impaired. She attends the Missouri School for the Deaf at Fulton.

Talking on the phone isn't much of a treat for either Deidre or her mother because they must talk through a relay person -- Deidre by signs and her mother by normal speech -- and not directly to each other.

But on Friday Deidre talked directly to her mother, even though she was still in school at Fulton and her mother was in Cape Girardeau.

"Hi," signed Deidre, elated to see her mother. "Happy Mother's Day! I love you."

The two sat at computer terminals and saw each other on screen. They signed directly to each other through an Integrated Services Digital Network video conferencing linkup.

ISDN is digital technology being brought to the public by Southwestern Bell Telephone. Bell is conducting a yearlong experiment to see if there is significant public interest in using the technology.

George Dennis, area manager of external affairs for Southwestern Bell in St. Louis, said Bell wants to see what uses people can find for video conferencing. "Parents getting in touch with children in distant locations like Fulton is a great use," he said.

Dennis said Southwestern Bell is conducting a four-pronged trial of video conferencing in Missouri. The tryout will focus on uses for disabled persons such as Deidre, medical purposes, law enforcement and economic development.

"Our hope for the trial," said Dennis, "is that people will find this is a worthwhile product that meets their needs."

Allison Service, a teacher at the Missouri School for the Deaf who assisted Deidre in talking to her mother, said the technology is great. "Oh, yes, I think it's wonderful," she said. "I have a whole class full of kids who could benefit."

Deidre's mother sat at a terminal in the office of Semo-Tech, the Center for Assistive Technology, at 121 S. Broadview Plaza. Semo-Tech is funded by a grant through the Department of Vocational Rehabilitation.

Scarlett Seabaugh, technology coordinator for Semo-Tech, said Southwestern Bell is allowing her office use of the video-conferencing equipment for a year.

"We're trying to develop a program with the Missouri School for the Deaf so that when the fall semester begins we can make this technology available to other parents in the area," Seabaugh said. "I need to see how much interest there is out there so I'll know how many parents would use it if it's available."

Interested persons can reach Seabaugh at (573) 651-6464.

A second area of the Southwestern Bell ISDN video-conferencing trial lies in finding uses for economic development.

Mitch Robinson, executive director of the Cape Girardeau Area Industrial Recruitment Association, said that his organization is experimenting with ISDN video conferencing. Robinson said his office has used the technology so far mainly to communicate with the Department of Economic Development in Jefferson City.

"You can actually see the people you're talking to," said Robinson. "If someone is saying no, for example, but body language is saying yes, that's a read you can't get over the phone."

Robinson said the ability to talk face-to-face helps to establish good working relationships. "Recently we had a 45-minute video conference with a finance adviser at the Department of Economic Development in Jeff City. Such a talk just helps bring us a little closer. In any business, personal relationships are so important, and this technology will improve that."

The video and audio quality of the transmissions is very good. Robinson said, however, that because the experiment is still in its early stages, bugs aren't completely worked out. "We are trying to get hooked up with people across the country who are using ISDN technology," he said, "to see what others are doing with it."