360-direct-access

Promoting Accessibility: Turning Influence into Inclusive Impact

Thu, 30 Apr 2026 20:36:52 GMT

Shantel Love’s philosophy centers on "unapologetically owning your space." For a Deaf customer or employee, owning that space is impossible if the environment isn't accessible. This episode bridges Shantel’s expertise in leadership and customer success with the critical need for B2B accessibility, transforming "honest ignorance" into actionable inclusive leadership.

“Thank You for Calling” is a powerful storytelling podcast that shines a light on the Deaf experience while challenging businesses to rethink accessibility. Each episode features candid conversations with Deaf community members sharing their most jarring experiences navigating a hearing-first world, alongside hearing leaders from Fortune 500 companies who are reimagining customer service for inclusivity. Together, these voices reveal both the barriers and the breakthroughs, highlighting why direct sign language access isn’t just the right thing to do, it’s the future of customer experience. Short, powerful, and thought-provoking, this is the call every leader needs to answer.

THANK YOU FOR CALLING PODCAST: EPISODE 2

Transcript:

Michelle: Hello, welcome to Thank You for Calling . We are joined today by Shantel Love, a powerhouse executive at Pearson, whose work sits at the vital intersection of leadership, customer success, and personal branding, which are used to drive and impact change. Today we will tackle the double barriers faced by under represented professionals and the reality that a brand built on exclusion is no legacy at all. Today's conversation is a candid conversation about shattering the B2B status quo and ensuring that every customer has the tools they need to unapologetically own their space. Shantel, welcome to the show.

Shantel: Thank you so much. It's a great great honor to be here. The work that Craig and Vanessa are doing is just amazing. So, I'm really really honored to be in this space with you all.

Michelle: Really 360, as I'm sure you've already heard from Craig, is all about improving accessibility to consumer services for many deaf folks everywhere. I myself in the past couple of weeks have been struggling with health insurance going back and forth and the fact that we have services like this provided where I don't have to wait on the phone for 2 hours anymore and I can just instantly connect with the deaf person to resolve an issue. We need that. And I think that type of service, that kind of approach will help not only my community, but everyone in general, especially now with our artificial intelligence collaborations. There are just a lot of exciting things happening with 360. One of the things that's most exciting is how this parallels what people who come from marginalized communities and what they experience in customer service, whether it could be biases, it could be lack of accessibility, or lack of understanding of what the community needs. I'm excited to talk with you because you're someone who has built your way up the ladder and have built a personal brand and I think your story will really resonate with our community.

Shantel: You know, I really appreciate the perspective that you bring as well because we think about communities and we typically think about them as a group of people that we come in proximity with and those communities look different from person to person. And when you speak specifically about marginalized communities, that's one of those communities that I can stand up and raise my hand of being a member in because being a woman, a Black woman, especially in corporate America and just a Black woman from very humble beginnings. I know what it feels like to have someone write out your destiny before you even take your first breath. And I really believe that not just conversations like this, but organizations like 360 Direct Access are very very important and critical to not just showcase that someone created the margin. We've never really been intended to be marginalized. Someone created that margin and is in so many ways reclaiming that power and showcasing the ability and willingness to be a voice to be an advocate to be that one. And sometimes it only takes one who's willing to take that step forward to say I am not going to let someone define the way that life should be. I'm going to take advantage and use my power and my authority to make life better, not just for myself, but for others. With that being said, I have found myself doing that in so many areas of life. Not just in the corporate space, but growing up on the east side of Detroit, um, and not knowing anything other than what poverty was. Sometimes you can get stuck in that mindset because everything around you looks like that. That's my first experience with the community until I stepped outside of that community and realized that there was so much more than what I believed in that small city of Detroit. So, um, yeah, definitely as an executive, as a leader, as a professional, and as an advocate, if you will, of the work that Craig and Vanessa are doing at 360 Direct Access. I think that this is a great space to be in, and there's a lot of work left to do.

Michelle: Yes, absolutely. I identify with a lot of what you recently mentioned. There's one thing I do want to focus on. You talk about being a voice for your community. How do you become a voice when the world assumes you don't have one to begin with? For example, when you can't speak or you don't speak, but sign. One of the funniest things that our community likes to talk about is that people say, "Oh, the deaf community is a silent community." But no, this is one of the loudest communities. We are a loud community. We don't hear the noise. So, we can be loud. So, that's a common misconception that I want to try to push back on. How do we define voice?

Shantel: I love this question so much and I am going to share a story. So, outside of my work at Pearson, I'm also a keynote speaker and an author of the book Promote Your Damn Self. A lot of people love hearing that title because they're like, "That's so catchy. It's amazing." Um, but it's more of a lifestyle. It's owning your brand, owning your voice, owning your purpose. And when you speak about the deaf community and it being the loudest community and people misunderstanding and not having enough education about it, it reminds me of a conversation that I had recently with my 8-year-old son, Isaiah. Now Isaiah is an eight-year-old and he's really tall and he looks like an 11-year-old and he's commonly misunderstood. He is one of those kids that absolutely loves science, everything about science, everything about space and outer space. And recently he came home and he was telling me about Artemis 2 and how it was just an amazing feat and how it was monumental and um returning humans to the moon. Yes, it's a historic achievement, but I wanted to share some insights with him as his brain is evolving. I wanted to push back a little bit and let him know about the contributions that the deaf community had on space before we even got to Artemis 2. And what I shared with him is that in the late 1950s and early 1960s, NASA needed to understand how the human body would respond to weightlessness and disorientation in space. They specifically recruited deaf men who had lost their hearing due to meningitis at the time which also affected their uh vestibular system because they weren't completely immune to motion sickness and what I told him is that these men, part of what became known as the Gallaudet 11, right? They went through some grueling training as astronauts. They rode uh these big rocket ships. They went on these zero gravity flights. They were pivotal, right, in helping NASA understand how to keep astronauts alive in space. They were never sent to space, but they were used for science. They got the sideline glory. And that is a story that I wanted my son to know, because we can celebrate Artemis 2, but we failed to celebrate the individuals who actually made it happen. And that is the story of inclusion that we don't always talk about enough. So when I hear things like Artemis 2, I think yes, celebrate it. And I also hold space for the people who built the foundation decades ago and never got their moment. And I bring that up at this moment because the deaf community never lost their voice, representation has always been there. And I think when people actually slow down and understand versus assuming and empathizing when it's not necessary, they create a space of true understanding, true advocate, true advocation, I should say, and a space where all voices, even if you can't hear audibly, are represented. And that's why I believe representation isn't just optics. It's about making sure the people who do the work are also the ones who are taking flight. Not just a flight to outer space, but if we're talking about customer service, if we're talking about well-being, if we're talking about inclusion, that's where representation of all kinds and all parties should definitely be taken into consideration because that's how we ensure that all voices are truly heard.

Michelle: Yes. Yes. For sure. You know, it's funny because Gallaudet is based in DC, which is where I am, and I've seen, they do have a museum exhibit that talks about the Gallaudet 11. Yes. And also maybe you've heard of Nyle DiMarco. Yes. So recently there was a post on his Instagram too just to help share that story as well and to put it out there. So I'm just happy to see that you spoke on that. So that's really something that's touching and it makes me think that it's just not about promoting your own damn self but also bringing people to help promote your story as well.

Shantel: I fully agree that and I think that it starts with the self like me pouring that into my son. He has the information and now it's his responsibility to choose what to do with that information. So, me, I can sit here in all of the glory that I've created for myself. But what's the good of having something that's good for the world if I'm holding it for myself? And I think if more people thought in impact versus in selfishness, we wouldn't be having conversations like this.

Michelle: Going back to your story - you’ve often been the youngest or the first, the only, in the room. When you’re in a space like that where it’s not inclusive, what does that make you feel about the company and their legacy?

Shantel: Yeah, I appreciate that. Uh, honestly, as a woman who watched my teenage mom go back to school to get a degree, to work four minimum wage jobs, to do everything right, um, only to make $20 an hour for 35 years of her life. I realized that I was becoming her story. Um, I was consumed with what I saw around me. And that story of watching my mom go through all of that was the motivation for me to catapult my career, to do the things that felt uncomfortable, do the things that looked very, very different to anyone that I grew up with or went to school with. And when you say things like labels, being the first and the youngest, it really doesn't impact or affect me because someone has to be the first, someone has to be the youngest. And I just look at it from that perspective. But when I look at it from that perspective as well, my goal is not to be the first and the only, right? And I don't want to be the last. I'm always aiming to identify where those opportunities are where someone can be the next or younger than me. Why not be younger than me or you know have the blueprint to get there faster than I got there. And as a part of that and doing that that becomes my legacy. My legacy doesn't anchor on being the first and the youngest. There will come a point in my life where I'll go on to a heavenly place and you know my family may remember me for a period of time, but what will be most remembered is what legacy I left and that's most important the legacy that I leave in corporate America uh leading teams very diverse teams that um are representatives of the types of customers that we serve not just a checkbox or a job description. Um, I see skills, I see talent, I see people before I see anything else. And, uh, when I think about legacy and when I think about what I want to leave, it's not just, uh, the good things that I did or the happy days. I think it's also important to be vulnerable to share the humble beginnings, the challenges, the things that I endured um that may not have been pleasant but sharing them from the perspective of how I was a victorious and not the victim of those circumstances. So when I think about that from that perspective, my goal is often to empower. My goal is often to think of how can I impact the next or the future generations now in a positive way. How can I set them up for success? How can I look at things longer term versus a shorter term perspective? So labels are labels. People will give you a label from a space of what they've been taught, what they know, or it could be a projection. It's the responsibility of that person to interpret that label, to receive it or to dismiss it. And we have the power to do both of those things.

Michelle: Yes. Exactly. And on that note, this relates to any company that creates an environment with labels where there are those labels that pop up continuously. That causes people to feel disconnected sometimes because representation isn't there, because we're feeling like we have to do more work just to get ahead to the next level. So when we see a company that has that kind of system or viewpoint, when they see a company with a system that isn't inclusive, what do you suggest we say to them regarding their customers feelings of disconnection, feelings of frustration, and not being represented, seen, or heard?

Shantel: I um really appreciate this and it honestly makes me think of this book that I'm reading. It's called the Four Agreements and uh the four agreements are: be immaculate with your word, don't take anything personally. Don't make assumptions, and do your best. And I'll be honest, number two is the one that I struggle with when it comes to customer service, because I take every piece of it personally. Um and you see I work at Pearson which is the world's largest learning company and the division that I work in is clinical assessments. So, we support our clients with psychological assessments and those can be anything on the spectrum from how you think. We study the mind. Uh, we support cognitive functions and I have a sister who has special needs. So, we've been utilizing these types of assessments since 1987. And I take the work that I do personally. And when I hear a customer um that's representative of a community and specifically the deaf community, if they're coming in and they're saying that they're not getting the service or they're not being heard, I'll first and foremost say that customer service often starts with the employee experience and how the employees are represented and how their voice or their recommendations are um brought to the forefront. And I remember honestly when I met Craig, I had no idea that this type of world existed. And I've worked in customer service and contact centers for over a decade. And surprisingly at the time, I had brought one of my employees with me. She was the manager of our team and she's fully deaf in her left ear and hard of hearing in her right ear and has visibility challenges in her right eye. And uh between she and I, I've understood her and made accommodations with HR, have made accommodations for her as well, as well as other members of my team, but never took the step to understand what that looks like outside of the organization that I was responsible for. And it wasn't until that interaction with Craig when I heard his story and she was there present and I can see her response without her saying a word. You can tell that she was seen and felt heard and felt represented in a way that she hadn't felt before. And she's at, you know, a point in her life where she's like 10 years from full retirement. Um, and it led me to a point where I'm like, "Hold on, wait a minute. Why haven't I heard this before?" And I started looking into our organization of 40,000 employees and asking if anyone else had these practices or anyone else heard of companies that were um leaning into the deaf and hard of hearing community and it was mute. So I immediately started taking actions to identify do my research and then to identify how we can make it better because when you mirror that situation, Michelle, it likely has happened and we were just completely unaware, oblivious to the fact that a customer could call using our relay line and we not hear anything and we're thinking, okay, no one's on the other end of the the line, but not holding long enough for an interpreter to come on the line or even a worse situation, we disconnect a call because we just don't know anyone's there. Not to excuse anything, I think that I started in a space of just lack of awareness and I know that many other I won't say that there may be other leaders other organizations that are just not aware so to go back to that the feelings would be valid and I think honestly um having dialogues like this, having spaces like this, and really uh putting a mirror uh out to the blind spots that organizations are missing is a a really good start. I don't think that it'll solve the world's problems there, but I do think that there needs to be a bigger spotlight on this space.

Michelle: Definitely. I really love what you said about having a personal experience with your employee. So you have an understanding by being in contact with deaf people from those communities. Those experiences will broaden your mind and open your eyes to new perspectives. Not everybody has that opportunity to have those aha moments. So, how can we encourage and support companies in being able to anticipate the needs of the communities they are not aware of? Because the biggest part of customer attention and loyalty is that experience. And as you mentioned, understanding that would be a challenge, including the struggles of trying to find the right partners for the right kind of support. But again, if you don't know what you don't know, how can you be able to anticipate those needs to provide a better experience for your customers?

Shantel: This is the hard one. I think if I knew the exact and precise answer, um, I would probably be the world's richest woman. But if I were to take a stab at it, um, one of the things that I will say that's helped a great deal with perception inside of company, so I'm going to do an inside out approach, um, is um, really leaning into the areas where a company has either affinity groups or employee resource groups. And what I've appreciated about the employee resource groups that uh I've been a part of, I've been an executive sponsor of several employee resource groups, specifically uh African-American and Black employee resource groups, women employee resource groups, and our able resource groups. Um I think that that's a really good area to take an inside out approach to listening, having listening sessions, understanding what's important and what's of value across the organization where employees wish that an organization would spend more time on and even their experiences. I love when I get connected to those affinity groups that support uh customers directly because you get a great deal of feedback there. Um and then I think the other side of it is just sheer intentionality. The best companies that I've worked for don't always have the answers and they find themselves hiring consultancies and consultants to make them better. And I remember experiencing consultants that would come in and share with us that we should stop, you know, more or less drinking our own juice and and really lean into the perspectives of our customers and the way that we ask questions, the types of forms that we have that really fosters that true and authentic dialogue and us doing more listening than talking. And I think just that simple part of doing more listening than talking actually supports the direction of really uncovering some of the things that we don't know about. I know as a leader of customer service, I do a lot of listening to calls and listening to customers and a lot of the decisions that I make are not necessarily my own. They're feedback that I've gotten from customers. There are these going back to the aha moments that I've gotten from customers and being open to not being the person who has to know everything and being the creator of the idea. Um, so I would say, you know, listening to customers and honestly, I know that we're, I'm picking my words carefully, but we're at a space where our nation has made some shifts with how we look at diversity, equity, and inclusion. And I think that it's not necessarily about the words diversity, equity, and inclusion, but I do believe that inclusion, equity, and diversity should be in every piece of work that you do across. You can create a synonym. So it doesn't fall into the DEI, but you can't have an organization that's representative. You cannot have an organization that's not homogeneous, right? That um doesn't focus on inclusion, equity, or diversity. And sometimes that does not sit within your organization and you may need to look outside to see what the best practices are and where are the opportunities for your organization. That's what I would recommend.

Michelle: So for those companies who are watching this, please keep this important feedback in mind. So I'm going to make this my last question for today. Part of what you mentioned was collecting customer feedback or engaging with employees internally, having a space for conversations to happen. This is still a kind of wait and see or a wait until I hear about it approach, right? Which isn't necessarily all that bad. These efforts are better than nothing being done. And I want to add leaning on your experiences in your role as a leader in customer service. We know the cost of access, they can be high. So if there was a one stop shop option available that might be used frequently or used seldomly but it's there and that shows representation like we discussed earlier. Do you feel that's something that a company should invest in?

Shantel: I know you said the cost of inclusion, but I think the cost of exclusion is even higher when you really lean into it. And one of the things that I do know for a fact is I'm not a fan of the hurry up and wait model where if something goes wrong then you're trying to retrofit it or you've received feedback from your customers and now you want to take action on it. I prefer of course the proactive approach of thinking uh two or three steps ahead or reverse engineering or decision treeing and I know my teams, we do a lot of decision trees. If this customer comes in and this doesn't work what do we do and if this does work what do we do, but I do feel that the cost of exclusion is a very high cost. The other point that I want to bring up as I recall what you were mentioning is that um what I've noticed is that sometimes people who are professionals, leaders, organizations and companies don't understand what they need until they realize the pain. And what I mean by the pain is the impact that it has on the customers, the impact that it has on the bottom line, the scope of the community that we're talking about. And fortunately and unfortunately, sometimes those situations have to be simulated. And I know for me, I would call my initial conversation that I spoke about earlier as a simulation. That was an opportunity for me to put myself in someone else's shoes. That was me taking the opportunity to say this is one person that I've met but there are 41 million other people who have been identified in the US of deaf and hard of hearing. So I do believe that a product like this is a service, a solution like this, I should say is definitely worth investing in. It's getting it to the market so that they can understand the pain and putting themselves in the shoes to understand the cost of exclusion because while I can talk about it as a heart-centered leader, it's also important to talk about it from the impact, the opportunity cost, the customer segmentation concerns, benefits or pluses and look at it holistically as an ecosystem because ignoring a certain segmentation that is growing. Um that is oftentimes a part of your current customer segmentation and it just hasn't been segmented, defined or nurtured, if you will, um can be a greater cost than um excluding it can be a greater cost than ignoring it.

Michelle: Absolutely. Absolutely. So Shantel, I want to ask if you have any last words for our viewers. Your insights today have been remarkable. Honestly, I really could watch you talk all day. So if there's anything you would like to add to the people out there watching, our viewers, we'd love to hear your final thoughts.

Shantel: Yeah, I think the thing that's settling in me right now is that we are in what we refer to as the AI era. And we find ourselves so consumed with technology and what AI can do for us. And I think that that's great. And while we're looking at investing in AI, improving our AI tools, and growing our AI acumen, I want to encourage and remind leaders that human intelligence is still number one. And when you're thinking of AI and when you're thinking of human intelligence, where is that intersection where there's a possible opportunity where there's exclusion, exclusion of human thoughts, exclusion of human emotions, exclusion of human intervention. And I really encourage you to look at it from that perspective because as we're moving so fast in this AI era, we'll get there. We'll improve more. But there's a definite opportunity to make sure that we're leaning back and slowing down before we speed up to really take a gander and look holistically at the human experience that we're still supportive of.

Michelle: 100%. Everyone, I want to thank you so much for watching today. Thank you, Shantel Love, for joining us today. And I want you to think deeply on this. Whether you're a deaf consumer, use what Shantel said about using your power to find your voice and advocate for yourselves regardless of the room you're in, even if you're the first or the last. Being there to create representation, that is key. For these companies out there, you don't know what you don't know. Lean on internal and external information to really help you connect with your customers. Avoid the wait and see mindset and that technology will solve everything. We'll always need humans in the process. Customer service is all about human centered solutions. So that's something to keep in mind. And with that I say, Thank You for Calling.

“Are You Deaf?” When a Question Becomes a Connection

Wed, 15 Apr 2026 13:12:04 GMT

In recognition of National ASL Day (April 15)

It’s a question we have all heard or seen before, usually in movies or TV shows. Someone is not listening, misses something obvious, and the other person throws it out there. Sometimes it is meant as a joke, sometimes it lands a little harsher than intended.

But there is another version of this question. One that feels completely different.
I see it in real life.

When a customer first connects with a Deaf representative, there is often a moment of quiet curiosity. They might naturally assume they are speaking with an interpreter who will relay the conversation to someone else; the model they have been used to for so long. But as soon as they realize they are communicating directly with the person handling their request, that curiosity quickly shifts into a sense of genuine excitement.

They ask, “Are you deaf?”

And the response comes back with a smile:

“Yes, I am! How can I help you?”

That moment matters more than people realize.

Because for many years, accessing customer service as a deaf person hasn’t just been inconvenient, it’s been frustrating, exhausting, and at times, discouraging.

I think back to my early experiences using a TTY, navigating relay calls, and later using Video Relay Services (VRS). While I have always been grateful those services exist, they added layers, extra steps, extra time, and often uncertainty about how the interaction would go.

There were times I didn’t even want to deal with it. I’d ask someone else to make a call for me because I just didn’t have confidence the experience would be smooth.

One experience has always stayed with me. My wife and I bought a dining room set, and one of the chair legs broke while it was still under warranty. It should have been an easy fix.

But it wasn’t.

I tried reaching out multiple times, through VRS and email, and kept hitting dead ends. What should have been a basic customer service interaction turned into a frustrating cycle of effort with no resolution.

And that is where it compounds.

You are already dealing with poor service, and on top of that, you have to go through additional steps just to communicate. You are hoping for a good interpreter, hoping the message comes across clearly, hoping the person on the other end gets it.

Eventually, we replaced the entire dining set. But I kept the broken leg, not because I needed it, but because it reminded me of the experience.

Technology has come a long way, and it is evolving fast. The customer experience industry talks a lot about innovation, efficiency, and even the elusive “wow” factor.

But too often, accessibility is still an afterthought.

Yes, we have more tools than ever before. But when products and services aren’t designed with accessibility in mind from the beginning, it shows, and it directly impacts the experience.

And for deaf customers, that difference is felt immediately.

That is why moments like “Are you deaf?”, when asked with genuine curiosity, feel different. Because for the first time, the answer is not followed by friction. It is followed by connection.

This is exactly what we set out to change at 360 Direct Access, a company I am very proud to be part of since the beginning.

Instead of forcing deaf customers to adapt to systems that weren’t designed with them in mind, we asked a simple question:

What if customer service met them where they are? What if there were no extra steps?

No relay calls.

No waiting.

No wondering if the experience would go smoothly.

Just a direct connection.

Today, when a deaf customer sees our widget on a company’s website, they can click to view a video message in their native sign language. From there, they can choose to start a live video call, chat, leave a video message, or even schedule an appointment.

When they start a live call, they are instantly connected to a deaf representative through video.

And when that happens, something shifts. The conversation starts naturally. There’s no middle person. No delay in expression. No loss in translation.

It’s just communication: clear, direct, and human .

And for many deaf customers, it’s the first time they’ve ever experienced customer service this way. And that’s the part that stays with them. Not just that their issue was resolved, but how it felt to get there. To not have to adjust. To not have to wait. To not have to wonder if they would be understood.

I’ve spent years adapting, finding ways to communicate, finding ways to be understood, finding ways to make things work.

So when that “Are you deaf?” question comes now, it doesn’t feel like a challenge. It feels like recognition. Like I don’t have to adjust anymore.

Like I can just be myself.

"Are you deaf?"

Yes, I am deaf!

ASL translation of this article, signed by the author and Senior VP of Customer Success of 360 Direct Access, Brandon Dopf.

A video clip from The Other Guys (2010, with Mark Wahlberg and Will Ferrell) where a character says "are you stupid or are you deaf?"

Disruptive Inclusion: Scaling Operational Excellence Through Access

Mon, 30 Mar 2026 12:30:47 GMT

In the world of B2B operations, "efficiency" is king—yet millions of Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing consumers are currently locked out of the standard customer service loop. In this episode, Vannessa LeBoss, COO of 360 Direct Access, breaks down how 360 is disrupting the status quo. We explore the transition from fragmented "check-the-box" tools to a wrap-around technological solution that integrates seamlessly into the contact center. This isn’t just about being "nice"; it’s about operational excellence, revolutionary tech, and capturing a market the rest of the world has ignored.

THANK YOU FOR CALLING PODCAST: EPISODE 1

Transcript:

Michelle: Hello, hello, hello, and welcome to Thank You for Calling, the podcast that is challenging businesses to rethink accessibility through candid stories from the Deaf community and the Fortune 500 leaders who are reimagining the future of customer experience. We're kicking off Episode 1 entitled Disruptive Inclusion, exploring how scaling operational excellence through direct sign language access is the breakthrough that every leader needs to answer.

What does it actually take to bridge the accessibility gap on a global scale? Our guest today, Vannessa LeBoss, has the answer. She is the co-founder of 360 Direct Access and a powerhouse in the direct video calling technology. Whether she is presenting at the FCC's spotlight forum on DVC or direct video calling or applying her CPACC certified expertise and accessibility core principles, Vannessa is on a mission to prove that inclusive design is just good business. With two decades of executive experience, she's here to show us how to engineer impact. Vannessa, welcome to the show.

Vannessa: Hey, thank you for having me. I appreciate it. I feel very honored that I get to be the first guest on this podcast. We are so happy to have you here. This leads us to our kickoff discussion about disruptive inclusion. So, I'd like to start off by talking to you about your experience and your journey. Learn a little bit more about who you are before we dive into this discussion. So the first question I have for you is you spent years as a COO of one of the largest sign language agencies in the country. What was the breaking point or a specific gap that you saw in that traditional model that led you to co-found 360 Direct Access? So essentially, um my background as you said, is I have been in and around the Deaf community and interpreters for the majority of my life. My mom was a certified in sign language interpreter, my sister, but I actually never learned sign language myself. I was one of the youngest kids in my family and when an interpreting agency got founded, I started working for it on the business side. And so my 18 years there from high school, college, all the way through, growing this company from two people to 12, to I think when I resigned, we had 258 employees and over 800 contractors across the country. And everything I lived and breathed was interpretation for the Deaf community. And therefore I thought this is, I'm doing the best thing. I'm so inclusive and I'm making such an impact by sending interpreters out. And yes, they do make an impact, but it wasn't until we had in-house deaf employees that joined our company. And I realized I was scheduling an interpreter for myself for every meeting just to communicate with some Deaf employees. And then also the gap that I had never realized was occurring in their everyday lives.

Michelle: Wow. To over 250 employees and 800 contractors, that is a large staff to manage. So you had a big company to manage with a large staff, a lot of moving parts. That experience up until now with sales, finance, HR, and all these different things, how do you make sure that each part of those processes are accessible? That accessibility is really woven into the fabric of the DNA of the company because that's not easy to do. So, how did you use your experience or what you knew and what you didn't know to ensure that accessibility is part of all these processes in the company?

Vannessa: I think that my role with accessibility in organizations leading up until now has been hit and miss. I think that in my heart I was always like, "Yes, we're accessible. Yes, accessibility is important." And of course, when we hired Deaf employees, we scheduled interpreters. And we always made sure to get feedback from our Deaf employees about new things we were going to offer and um new launches we were going to make. And we would pull and kind of find out. But I also realized there were things that we were doing that weren't accessible. Sometimes we were like, "Oh, the Deaf team." And it was like, "There's our Deaf team." And I'm like, "Well, we don't call it the hearing team. Why are we in corporate meetings or executive meetings like our Deaf team?" And also thinking that the interpreters were for the Deaf people in the room. But essentially, I didn't know sign language. So, the interpreters were just as much for me as they were for them. And so, I think over the years, probably the last 10 years has really been the most eye-opening. That's when I got my CPACC certification. That's when I really feel like inclusion and accessibility were touching every aspect of what I did, instead of parts of what I did thinking I was doing a great job. I didn't really know what I didn't know over those years. And if I hadn't had those 20 years of experience, I wouldn't be where I am today.

Michelle: So this leads to today at Frost and Sullivan's The Fix. You highlighted massive gaps in the Deaf community's customer experience. In your view, why has the B2B world been slow to realize that traditional telephony is an operational failure for millions of customers?

Vannessa: I can, I know why the business world isn't succeeding in communicating with Deaf customers and it's because one there's a gap in knowledge of how many customers there really are and so when you have a really really really small space you kind of think well, we're doing good enough. And good enough to many people is a TTY, and I still I cannot believe how many businesses I see as their accessible service, a TTY. And it's funny cuz I typed on a TTY with Deaf clients um in 1994 and I also used a pager in 1994, neither of which are used now. And we haven't kept up with it. If you go back and look at the ADA, a lot of people aren't, or if you look at advancements from the FCC, um it's just not a focus. And now I saw I see companies still with TTYs and then I see call 711. Everyone's like just call 711. It's a relay service. They'll take care of you. And then the video relay service came out in 2001. You know I wouldn't want to use my phone from 2001. There is good services within it. But we are in 2026, and technology has brought about innovation. Businesses don't know. And it's fine. I'm happy now that I know what I know to do education as much as I can. I'm asked to present at least five, six times a year. But essentially the gap is there are over 2 million Deaf people who utilize sign language as their primary language in North America, US, Canada, and that's just American Sign Language. There's 70 million Deaf that rely on sign language as their communication globally. And there are different foreign sign languages and that's a separate podcast probably, but essentially businesses don't know that to reach them is a struggle for every Deaf person I know and when I've been in meetings and I've seen the struggle and I you know I've seen that I've called my insurance company for a claim and I've been able to file a claim, make an appointment about 20-25 minutes. I've also seen my colleague who's Deaf, our CEO, you know, or co-founder, and he was on with his insurance company for six hours, lost almost an entire workday struggling between VRS interpreters, who unfortunately they're amazing. You know, my family, they all do VRS interpreting, but they don't know the business they're calling. They don't know anything about that insurance company. They may not even know insurance terms. An insurance company would never hire someone that doesn't that they don't train. What's our culture? What's our, what are our terminology? How do I answer these questions? But unfortunately, they're relying on interpreters that don't know them to facilitate this communication. And it results in a lot of errors and a lot of mistakes, a lot of unnecessary escalations that cost these companies money, but it's not being tracked. Same thing. So, even if they call through the relay service, a Deaf person may have to call five, six, seven times before they get a resolution. And when they're on a call, like Craig was on a call for 6 hours, he must have gone through over 20 interpreters during that time. So each time he switched, they were starting from scratch and they had to kind of start all over again because that interpreter had no idea what they were walking into. Then you flip and go, well, I have companies that say we have online chat and this is so accessible. Look, we're putting it in English. Not realizing sign language and English are two completely separate languages. In England, they speak English, but they do not use American Sign Language. Sign language is not a visual part of a spoken language. It is a completely separate language. So now, when you're doing online chat, you're expecting that your deaf customers speak English as fluently as they speak their primary language. And that just isn't the case for the majority of the Deaf community. it's a second, sometimes even third language. So, they might be able to start an English chat, but it's going to hit a ceiling and not be successful. So, I really think that's the answer is businesses just don't know how much it's costing them to do these calls and how ineffective they are. They're just technology from 20, 30 years ago.

Michelle: I'm so glad that you mentioned about switching of relay interpreters, because that's something I've experienced myself as well. Often times I think my message has gotten across, but the interpreter didn't have the institutional knowledge to accurately convey the information. So, that causes confusion, delays, escalation, even with the 20 minute interpreter limit causing conversations to start all over again with new interpreters. I've been there. Operational failures are often because businesses don't know what they don't know. And that has a bigger impact on the Deaf consumer than they think.

Vannessa: It's funny. I'll actually add one more thing. In addition to the customers having a difficult time and the business is not realizing how much it's costing them, the agents know. I've been to contact center conferences and someone will say, you know, now they're an executive and they're way high up, but they'll say, I started as an agent. Oh my gosh, I remember getting those calls. Oh my goodness, they were horrible. They were so hard. They were ineffective. And they know the struggle and how difficult it was. But how often are companies speaking to the reps and saying, "Hey, how are how are you handling video relay service interpreted calls?" Or they'll say, "Oh, that TTY line never rings." And I'm like, "Well, yeah, neither does your pager. That doesn't exist." So, sometimes it's at the grassroots level that it's known, but the leadership level of a company doesn't know. Doesn't know how difficult these calls are, doesn't know how often they're failing, doesn't know what escalations are costing them. So, the agents often do know and they admit that they're uncomfortable with these calls. I think it's a statistic like 76% of agents do not like handling these sign language interpreted calls because they feel uncomfortable and their goal is just get off them as quickly as possible because they don't feel comfortable handling them. Just wanted to add that.

Michelle: Absolutely right. This leads me to my next question. So for those that don't know, why is DVC a revolutionary jump over the relay systems and TTY services we've seen for decades?

Vannessa: Direct video calling is a relatively new term. I would say it definitely has come out just in the last maybe eight years or so. And essentially it's finally an equivalent to the conversations I have every day. So, every single day I can call an airline, I can call a credit card company, and I'm going to hear press one for English, press two for Spanish. I now hear sometimes, press three for Portuguese or four for French. You know, we're starting to get into some other spoken languages, but that's more because it's it's vocal and people understand it. Um, but there is no press here for sign language support. And what direct video calling does is it actually does a point-to-point call, a direct native language call between a deaf person and a trained deaf agent within the company. So if you think about it, Spanish language options didn't really come in until the late 80s, early 90s. It used to be, you just called and got an English representative to any company you called. And then of course the Spanish population grew, the need was there and they realized trying to do an interpreter wasn't successful. So now, when you press two for a Spanish representative in the US, you don't connect to an interpreter, you connect to a Spanish-speaking representative. And that's very commonplace to us. No one questions it. Why, when American Sign Language is the third most popular foreign language in the United States, why are we still relying on third-party interpreters? We don't have to. Direct video calling allows a video platform in any company to be used and a deaf customer service rep, a sign language, native sign language user to connect with that deaf customer and therefore give a one call resolution, handle their call. They're trained exactly the same training as any other uh contact center agent would go through. And now they're on video. They're doing sign language. And you know, if I didn't know sign language or someone who's hearing didn't know it, they would never hear that call because it's done entirely in sign language. And it's a point to-point native language call. And direct video calling replaces everything because TTY were English-based and you had to type. You know, that 6-hour call that Craig was on probably would have been 10 hours back in the day on TTY days. Relay service interpreters, I have literally had come up to me after presentations saying, I fully support this. Interpreters are so stressed out and the VRS calls with businesses are very hard now. When they're doing relay calls with a family member or they're just having conversations, that's exactly a great use for the relay service. It'll never go away. We'll always need interpreters to connect people who sign and don't sign. But when it comes to the contact center world, when you have native language users and deaf customers that you know, millions that are trying to connect with you, there's a simple solution and that's that direct native language connection. You don't have to rely on the outdated tools that aren't really successful anymore.

Michelle: And before I get to the next question that I have for you quickly, you mentioned about how some leaders have themselves worked as agents interacting with Deaf callers and having that direct Deaf to Deaf support provides unmatched access and clear communication. So what about AI? We're not going to go too deep into this topic, but could you touch on how DVC is still relevant with chat bots and sign bots, especially for those who may think that chatbots and signbots might be simpler?

Vannessa: Absolutely. So, AI is playing a big role, at least within the company I work for, in the aspect of equivalency. So, right now if I call an airline, I kind of have a few options. I mean, I can keep pressing buttons or keep saying representative until I'm forced to get to a live person. Um, but I could start with their bot, right? Their chat bot or their audio bot that says, "Why are you calling?" And I'm like, "Oh, I need to change my flight." Um, sometimes it works, right? Sometimes I can go right through the chat bot. I can give my verbal responses. They give their responses and sometimes it's successful. Sometimes it still results in like, "No, you didn't get to what I needed." And I need to connect to a live representative. We are accomplishing the equivalent with direct video calling. And so we've been doing sign language avatars. Um we've been doing sign language recognition to the point now that we have a really awesome demo where essentially someone could call in and the first person they see isn't a live person. Um, but the first quote person that they see is actually like a signing avatar and it might say, "Hi, thank you for contacting XYZ Acme Company and why are you calling today?" And if they're calling with a question about their bill or a simple repair question or kind of the frequently asked questions of why a lot of people call in, the signing avatar will output the information in sign language. The sign language recognition tool we're embedding into our video platform will read the person's response and if it's understood they can do that troubleshooting right there based on their reply. The signing avatar would go, oh this is what you answered, this is the solution and they can do troubleshooting back and forth, though there is always a button on that video platform that says I need to speak to a live representative. So companies can utilize AI technology and maybe if they're and they don't know how many calls they're getting. Separate question, but let's say they're getting 5,000 calls a month. Um maybe 1,500 of those can be filtered out by a troubleshooting um AI signing bot and signing avatar. And then now you're using less seats, less Deaf representatives that are live because those simple questions were answered. Um so we're still combining. You're never going to get rid of the human altogether, at least not in my lifetime, but you are able to filter out and not necessarily be utilizing live representatives for things that could be handled by a signing avatar and sign language recognition. And we won a grant for that and we've been working on it tremendously. So, it's been awesome.

Michelle: That's amazing, to have sign language avatars and bots. That seems unheard of. To combine that with DVC and sign language recognition technology, it's truly remarkable. So you describe 360 Direct Access as a wraparound solution. Operationally, what does that look like for a massive corporation? Is it a plug-and-play disruption or a total overhaul of their contact center?

Vannessa: I really hope we have people from other countries listening to this, because there's benefits in each country and in different ways. But the benefits to businesses, there's no, there's no downside. So, when businesses are implementing direct video calling, these are the benefits they're getting. Like 50% reduced average handle times, who doesn't want lower AHT? These calls can be cut in half when a native language communication and not a relay interpreter are interpreting these calls. We also find a tremendous amount of loyalty when the Deaf community and not just the two million in North America or the 70 million globally, but also their sphere of influence, which is me, right? If I know there's a product out there for for Deaf people, I'm going to start using it. So, the Deaf community, the heart of hearing community, the sphere of influence, it just gets bigger and bigger. Builds a lot of brand equity. And on the flip side, when they're not accessible and they're not easy to reach, you just don't want to keep working with them and you're going to leave and go somewhere else. So, you know, reduced average handle time. A lot of companies in the US will say, "Well, relay's free. Um, at least the relay interpreters, they don't cost me any money, but they they are costing you money. I promise you that. Those seven calls and those six-hour call times are costing you money because even if the relay interpreter is covered by the FCC, you're still paying that English-speaking uncomfortable rep to sit and answer that call. So, you are still paying a representative. You're just paying a hearing representative that's having a big challenge with that call, instead of paying a Deaf representative to have a really easy time with that call and do a one call resolution. So, that's another benefit. One call resolutions. We see 93 to 96% customer satisfaction ratings. We've had people cry on calls when they've connected to a direct video calling rep. They're like, "You're not an interpreter." And they'll literally grab family and friends that are in the house and show them, because it's like finally finally an equitable experience. And in other countries that don't even have a video relay service, businesses are paying for both. They're paying for the interpreter, the relay interpreter, and they're paying their rep. They're experiencing two times the cost for every call, plus all the things I just listed. So, in those countries, we're like, man, you're you're really going to be saving a lot of money. So, cost savings shouldn't be the focus. Accessibility, equitable experiences should be the focus, but man, what company doesn't want cost savings on top of that? And so, direct video calling really is a win-win. It's creating jobs for the Deaf community. It's reducing the stress on interpreters, on the agents. You're getting a native language call. You're getting all these reduced average handle times and one call resolutions and loyal customers and brand equity. There is absolutely no downside to it which is why I left a corporate job doing very well there to found 360 Direct Access because I actually see now after seeing through my hearing lens and then seeing through my Deaf colleagues lenses how impactful it is and how big that gap really is that I didn't really know about before as a customer. I can definitely see this being revolutionary for so many of us in the community.

Michelle: So, you spent 20 years in the space and if we look 5 years into the future, what is the one legacy technology or standard you hope every major contact center in the world has adopted?

Vannessa: I just hope every contact center realizes how simple it is to connect. You know, when you can have a web RTC video platform with features connecting these callers. My goal is that in five years we see that sign language support button and it's not connecting to an interpreter. It's not connecting to an English-based chat. It is connecting to a trained Deaf representative to answer that call. I, it's not even a dream. I truly believe it's the future. I think we're going to look back and see things like this exactly the same way probably Spanish customer service was in the late 80s and early 90s. But in this case, it's an equitable experience. It's an accessible experience. It's a job creation. So, five years from now, I want to see that sign language support button on every major company's website. I want to see it on small company's website. Sometimes small companies get such a small volume of deaf callers. They want to be accessible, but they can't do the price tag of a dedicated representative. And actually, we thought of that because my entire team is deaf and they're solving their own problem. And we have shared representatives. So we implemented where you know we can have answering services or shared reps that might support a dozen different companies and everyone's little volume adds up to a lot and therefore they still get services. So it doesn't matter what size business you are in 5 years. I would love to see that sign language support button on every website um every connected phone call that a deaf person makes. They're able to have that option.

Michelle: Me too. As a deaf person, I can see the impact that this will have on job creation for the community as well. For those watching this, I hope you keep in mind everything Vannessa has explained on how DVC and revolutionary inclusion can have a big impact on many communities. This isn't just about companies and their ROI or statistics of reduced call times along with other benefits, but also the impact it'll have on real people and their lives in a world of surrounding AI and job loss. This is a huge standard of where we're going in the future. Bridging technology and human-centered design. Thank you, Vannessa, for bringing your perspectives and sharing your stories. I enjoyed talking with you today. Thank you. For everyone watching, please make sure to tune in next time. Until then, thank you for calling.

Operational Excellence is a Feminine Strength: Rethinking Leadership Models in CX

Wed, 25 Mar 2026 14:46:18 GMT

Operational excellence in CX is often framed as a technology problem. I think we’re missing something important.

I recently attended a conference session titled “Achieving Operational Excellence in the Contact Center.” It’s a topic I care about, so I was eager to attend.

Unfortunately, the session turned into more of a sales pitch for a new AI solution focused on efficiency and performance metrics. While those things matter, it reinforced something I’ve been thinking about for a while: operational excellence is focusing almost entirely on technology solutions.

While those things are important and deserve some attention, they only contribute to a certain extent, and I was hoping for more substance on how leaders drive this. Thus, my decision to write this article based on the experiences I’ve had and those of respected colleagues in the field.

Truly effective organizations today are redefining what operational excellence really looks like. It’s not just about optimizing internal processes, it’s about understanding people, the ones involved both internally and externally. It’s about anticipating people’s needs before they’re voiced, designing experiences that feel intuitive, and creating systems that work for the people actually using them .

Many of these strengths required to achieve operational excellence include proactive thinking, empathy, and active listening. Not coincidentally, we are in March, which is Women’s History Month, and these strengths are qualities often associated with women in leadership.

While gender doesn’t define a successful leader, it is important to note that the traditional definition of leadership in tech has often leaned heavily on execution and scale, while undervaluing the human side of the equation. As technology, and AI, continues to become more embedded in everyday life, that balance is shifting.

In customer experience, accessibility and service design combined with a proactive approach to human needs is becoming a significant competitive advantage.

Proactive service is a great example of this shift. Instead of reacting to problems after they occur, proactive leaders ask different questions: What might our customers struggle with? Where are the friction points? How can we remove barriers before they become issues?

These questions require more than technical expertise, they require perspective, curiosity, and a willingness to listen.

For example, when organizations design support systems that anticipate accessibility needs, they remove friction before a customer ever has to ask for help. That kind of proactive thinking doesn’t just improve efficiency. It builds trust and makes customers feel understood.

Across the tech industry, many women are leading these efforts, quietly transforming how organizations think about service and experience. Whether it’s building more inclusive platforms, improving accessibility, or designing customer journeys that feel seamless and supportive, their impact is tangible.

You can see this influence in action. Women are not only driving results, but also reshaping how those results are achieved by bringing a more human-centered approach into environments that have historically prioritized speed over understanding.

Leaders like:

Dr. Hui Wu-Curtis takes CX to a global level, creating strategic value for the companies she supports, above and beyond bottom line cost-saving solutions.
Stacy Sherman , an Advisor on CX experiences is doing this by creating customized course content for organizations, leading a top-rated podcast on “Doing CX Right”.
Sandy Ko , who founded CCWomen, bringing women and allies together to accomplish so much more than we could apart.
Vicki Brackett , author and transformative leader who focuses on adjusting the status quo of what makes a successful knowledge base that effectively eliminates both agent and customer frustrations.

Each of these women in leadership are great examples of how this approach shows up in real-world innovation.

This matters because as technology continues to evolve, the companies that stand out won’t just be the fastest or the most automated. They’ll be the ones that customers trust. The ones that feel intuitive and make people feel understood.

That kind of experience doesn’t happen by accident, it’s designed.

Operational excellence, in its next phase, is less about control and more about connection. In order for organizations to differentiate themselves and be leaders within their market, they will have to begin aligning new technology systems and AI solutions with real human behavior and expectations. Organizations would be wise to focus on building solutions that are not only efficient, but also thoughtful and inclusive.

Recognizing the contributions of women in this space isn’t about creating a divide, it’s about broadening the definition of leadership to include the full range of strengths that drive success.

As we celebrate Women’s History Month, it’s worth acknowledging that some of the most impactful innovation happening in tech today isn’t just technical.

It’s human.

And that human-centered thinking may be the real driver of operational excellence in CX in the years ahead.

ASL translation of this article, signed by the author and COO of 360 Direct Access, Vannessa LeBoss.