PEDIUS 2020: TRAVELING REMOTELY
2020 will certainly be remembered as the year of a forced stop, of distances too difficult to cover, of the return to a more local and less cosmopolitan lifestyle, marking an important change on the path set by almost all companies, in Italy and throughout the world. Smart working, in particular, has given companies a new way to work, to reintroduce themselves on the market and to interact with customers and their employees.
Pedius, the app the enables the Deaf to make independent phone calls, has luckily been able to adapt to these changes, managing to integrate them into their way of working and lifestyle of the company for users and employees. There was certainly no lack of difficulties, especially regarding the newest relations with China and Peru, where the forced distance caused numerous slowdowns in communications and the launch of services.
Yet, despite the various complications that arose during 2020, the activities nevertheless continued, and Pedius managed to strongly appear and establish itself in two new markets, as well as, to activate new accessible and inclusive services in the countries where it is already available.
Let’s go in order.
Pedius, the app the enables the Deaf to make independent phone calls, has luckily been able to adapt to these changes, managing to integrate them into their way of working and lifestyle of the company for users and employees. There was certainly no lack of difficulties, especially regarding the newest relations with China and Peru, where the forced distance caused numerous slowdowns in communications and the launch of services.
Yet, despite the various complications that arose during 2020, the activities nevertheless continued, and Pedius managed to strongly appear and establish itself in two new markets, as well as, to activate new accessible and inclusive services in the countries where it is already available.
Let’s go in order.
China and Peru – on the other side of the world via video-call
The two countries that required the most commitment in 2020, from the point of view of distance which was impossible to physically cover during the past year due to the ongoing state of emergency, were Hong Kong and Peru.
Yet, technology has managed to help us overcome this problem. Thanks to frequent video calls and, in the case of Hong Kong, the introduction of local figures, Pedius has managed, despite the various difficulties and evident slowdowns, to achieve remarkable results.
In Hong Kong, which currently has more than 740 users, the leading telecommunications company CSL has made its call center accessible to the Deaf and, in the meantime, an experimentation of a subtitling system for university lectures with the Chinese University of Hong Kong.
In Peru, however, following the collaboration with ENEL Peru, the app was publicly launched and has more than 335 active users.
Yet, technology has managed to help us overcome this problem. Thanks to frequent video calls and, in the case of Hong Kong, the introduction of local figures, Pedius has managed, despite the various difficulties and evident slowdowns, to achieve remarkable results.
In Hong Kong, which currently has more than 740 users, the leading telecommunications company CSL has made its call center accessible to the Deaf and, in the meantime, an experimentation of a subtitling system for university lectures with the Chinese University of Hong Kong.
In Peru, however, following the collaboration with ENEL Peru, the app was publicly launched and has more than 335 active users.
Smart working in Italy for Deaf employees
Returning to Italy, Pedius has been able to adapt its services to new solutions capable of providing support both to the community, throughout the COVID emergency period, and to companies that have adopted smart working solutions for their employees.
With regards to the COVID emergency, Pedius has activated, for free, among its listed accessible services, Regional Toll-Free numbers set up of the Ministry of Health and has installed the application on the thousand (and more) tablets distributed by the TIM Foundation and donated to the 75 hospitals in Italy that hospitalized deaf patients.
From a smart working perspective, on the other hand, thanks to the collaboration between Pedius and VEASYT the first “hybrid” service was born which allows deaf employees of TIM to be able to use two tools for corporate communication with bosses, colleagues, and suppliers: one, the one offered by VEASYT, which puts the deaf employee in direct communication the with a remote interpreter, and the other, the one offered by Pedius, who enables independent telephone calls and transcribes conference calls in real time.
Overcoming a year like 2020 was not easy, yet the Pedius team, even if remotely and decentralized, continues to grow and work at its best to finally be able to break down the communication barriers that every day, pandemic or not, afflict the deaf population. Socialization, essential activities, reservations, training courses, continuous learning, and inclusive solutions for the workforce are just some of the services that Pedius has continued and will continue to offer the deaf community.
With regards to the COVID emergency, Pedius has activated, for free, among its listed accessible services, Regional Toll-Free numbers set up of the Ministry of Health and has installed the application on the thousand (and more) tablets distributed by the TIM Foundation and donated to the 75 hospitals in Italy that hospitalized deaf patients.
From a smart working perspective, on the other hand, thanks to the collaboration between Pedius and VEASYT the first “hybrid” service was born which allows deaf employees of TIM to be able to use two tools for corporate communication with bosses, colleagues, and suppliers: one, the one offered by VEASYT, which puts the deaf employee in direct communication the with a remote interpreter, and the other, the one offered by Pedius, who enables independent telephone calls and transcribes conference calls in real time.
Overcoming a year like 2020 was not easy, yet the Pedius team, even if remotely and decentralized, continues to grow and work at its best to finally be able to break down the communication barriers that every day, pandemic or not, afflict the deaf population. Socialization, essential activities, reservations, training courses, continuous learning, and inclusive solutions for the workforce are just some of the services that Pedius has continued and will continue to offer the deaf community.
Samantha Leone
Linguist and LIS interpreter - Italian Sign Language - loves writing and Star Wars. Since 2015 she has been working at Pedius where she deals with communication