I am a legally blind man who has both a business and a family and I require the use of my cell phone extensively. I am having the same issues with the Kyocera DuraXV Extreme, as others have mentioned in this string. I started contacting Verizon months ago when I heard my 3G flip phone would become obsolete on 12/31/2020. After multiple attempts working through my account rep, calling Verizon customer service and sending a special form to Verizon, as instructed, and received absolutely no help or response from Verizon. I simply wanted some advice from my cell phone carrier on which phones may be an option for me. Each time I spoke to someone they passed me off to another dead-end. My family did extensive research online and came up with the Kyocera DuraXV Extreme as a possible option. I ordered the Kyocera DuraXV Extreme and upon arrival my family set up the minimal read-out options, as best as possible. This phone does not help me communicate, at all. Instead, it is confusing and it gets in the way since it is talking over the people I am trying to answer the call from. It also repeats itself and is constantly in read-out mode. Even pushing the end button does not shut the phone up. The caller ID does not even tell me who is calling until AFTER I answer the phone. There is no way this phone will work for me, I can only imagine if I was in a business meeting, what would happen.
For those of you who are sighted, you should understand there are some people with enough functional vision that they are able to see a smartphone screen and push the correct area of the screen to get the function they want. For those of us with more diminished sight or who are totally blind, we are unable to use a smartphone because we cannot see the screen, at all, and unlocking a smartphone or pushing the correct area on the screen is impossible. Having a smartphone that you can talk to, to perform all functions may work but what if I need privacy or I am in a very loud area?
I realize Verizon and Kyocera are not in the business of making equipment or provide services for the blind, however, both companies are members of the community and please understand that providing assistance to an individual like me allows me to function by completing my daily tasks. You will find that most individuals with a physical challenge of one kind or another, will find workarounds and ways of getting things done regardless. However, your goodwill will make a big difference to a select few in the community and that should be rewarding for you to know.
I am hopeful that both Verizon and Kyocera understand the important role they play in the community and resources can be allocated to those of us who depend on their products and services.
Fares Rached - CEO Mobility Express
FJR1, we're here to help in the best way we can. We appreciate the opportunity. I am sending you a Private Note.
This issue was first brought to our attention a few weeks ago by a customer who contacted us through kyoceramobile.com. More recently we found this topic being discussed within the Verizon Community.
First, there is a way to temporarily halt the readout on DuraXV Extreme (E4810), for instance, after a voice call is connected. To do this, a user can long press the external speaker key. This key is on the very top left corner of the phone and has a speaker icon embossed into it.
Second, as noted by several others, the DuraXV+ (E4520), which launched in 2015, had a menu for customizing the readout feature. This allowed readout to be enabled for some functions and not for others. The DuraXV LTE (E4610) was developed on a new operating system, so the user interface could not be ported from the previous model and had to be entirely re-written. The readout feature was included in the new user interface, but not the option to customize it. The same feature was carried forward into the DuraXV Extreme (E4810). Until recently, we were not aware that our customers had such a strong desire for the customization option. We are now in the process of determining how to bring this option back into the DuraXV Extreme (E4810).
I am fully sighted and I have the same problem. I need a phone that verbally announces who is calling without me having to pull it out of my pocket to look. This is a very basic feature which I have on all my other cell phones. It was an option on the 4520 but is not present on the 4810. In November 2020 on a locked thread a Verizon rep promised to find a fix. Well? Is there a fix?
I am contemplating returning the 4810 I received today if there is not a fix or a workaround so I can get verbal announcements of callers without all the other useless chatter.
Same here, I had asked a rep about this before I bought 2 of the 4810 extremes and was told the caller ID name narrator was on this phone. He lied. So much for a trusting verizon.
That's very strange and surprising; I'm basically totally blind and I bought a Kyocera DuraXV E4810 in July 2019, and it has always announced who is calling. Caller ID has never been a problem.
In fact, the only trouble I've ever had with this phone came about just recently. Readout used to speak even while I'm on a phone call, but it has stopped doing that. I don't know if it's the result of a recent software update or what, but it's very disappointing. I only just discovered the change today because I was on the phone with my aunt and wanted to send her some pics. I was going to take and send them while I was talking to her, but when I hit the options button to minimize the call window and head for the camera, I noticed readout wasn't talking. If it is something that was taken away in the last software update, they really need to bring it back. I loved that I could be on the phone and still do certain things thanks to readout, and I also loved knowing who was beeping in with an incoming call so I could decide whether to answer it or not. I'm very displeased with this change and I hope it gets fixed VERY soon.
Hello, JacquelynA. We are very sorry to hear about the sudden change that has come up with the readout feature on your device. We certainly want to help with this in every way that we can. So that we are updated, when did this change with the readout feature first occur? -Brett
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