Visitors’ Center headsets often broken

One in every four of the headsets tourists use on Capitol Hill doesn’t
work, even though those tourists, along with other taxpayers, spent
millions of dollars on them.

Out of the nearly 2,500 headsets used in the Capitol Visitor Center, 20 percent to 30 percent fail on a regular basis, according to sources who work in the CVC and oversee the devices.

{mosads}CVC spokesman Tom Fontana said periodic headset failure is “normal wear and tear” resulting from the fact that more than 3 million people have visited the center since it opened.

In addition to their frequent uselessness, CVC sources complain that the headphones are not cleaned, despite being used by as many as 12,000 people a day in total, and may pose a health risk.

Fontana rejected this suggestion, saying cleaning procedures are more than adequate. He did not explain what the cleaning procedures were.

“The CVC exceeds the industry standards for cleaning the ALDs [assisted listening devices] and the procedures followed have been observed and approved by the attending physician of the Capitol,” Fontana said in an e-mail.

“There has not been a single reported case of illness related to the use of the ALDs.”

As groups of visitors tour the Capitol, they don headphones and a receiver on a lanyard around their neck while listening to a tour guide, who wears a broadcasting device, speak about the various sights they’re seeing.

But the frequency channels used between the broadcasting device and the scores of receivers often fail, leaving tourists frustrated and angry that they can’t hear what their tour guide is saying.

Taxpayers doled out $1.4 million for the initial 2,000 headset units, the cost to set up the system used by the tour guides, as well as several other one-time costs.

The headsets, made by Acoustiguide Inc., used to fail as much as 70 percent of the time six months ago, said multiple CVC tour guides and visitor assistants, who spoke with The Hill on the condition of anonymity because they are not authorized to speak with the press. Calls requesting comment to Acoustiguide Inc. were not returned by press time.

But, sources said, the failure rate has gotten significantly better since the CVC, after more than a year of hearing reports about the units routinely failing, bought an additional 500 devices for $227,000 and put more emphasis on advising tourists on how to use the devices.

Some CVC employees say the headsets fail as little as 5 percent of the time now. But other employees say they fail 20 or even 30 percent of the time.

“It used to be a lot worse,” said a CVC tour guide. “It’s down to about 20 percent failing. They replaced a lot of the cheap headset units with better ones. But with the budget the way it is, we won’t be able to completely fix it until 2011. They know it’s an issue.”

Fontana said the CVC has stepped up efforts to try to prevent any glitch in the visitor’s experience.

“We have increased our efforts to ‘triage’ the ALDs prior to their distribution to visitors to ensure the ALDs are fully functional and that their batteries are adequately charged,” said Fontana. “We have also improved the brief training we provide to visitors on the correct handling of the ALDs.”

Lawmakers who oversee the CVC’s budget told The Hill that it was “unacceptable.”

Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.), the chairwoman of the Legislative Branch subcommittee on Appropriations, and Rep. Robert Aderholt (R-Ala.), the ranking member of the subcommittee, were not aware of the headset issue until informed by The Hill.

After confirming the failure problem with the CVC, the lawmakers said they are looking to include new language in the next appropriations bill that will allow the CVC to purchase the necessary equipment so that the failure rate is zero, or as close to that as possible.

“It’s just unacceptable,” said Wasserman Schultz in an interview. “We’re looking at ways to take care of it.”

{mosads}The subcommittee is expected to meet Thursday to mark up the legislative branch’s appropriations bill for fiscal 2011.

On a sheet of paper outside of the CVC’s south theater last month, clearly visible for all who passed by, staff had documented how often headsets had failed that week.

One guide said that all of the 55 headsets his group had used failed. Another had 12 out of the 51 ALDs fail. The next day, a guide listed that 18 had failed out of the 48 her group used. And a later group that day had all 60 headsets fail. The tour guide left a note on the piece of paper, “Transmitter failed, the group was mad!!!”

Fontana noted that even if the headsets fail during a tour, the “visitor guides are trained to ensure that all visitors have the opportunity to hear them during a Capitol tour despite any performance issues that may occur with the ALDs during a tour.”

The House Administration Committee’s majority office said officials with the CVC have briefed committee members and staff on the issue and directed CVC officials to remedy the problem.

“The ALDs are an important tool in the listener experience and we have directed the CVC to make every reasonable effort to ensure their consistent operation,” said committee spokesman Kyle Anderson in an e-mail.

None of the units has been retired or replaced yet, but some have been lost to theft, according to a congressional source familiar with the issue.