Hearing Impaired Phones, Flashing Phones, TTY Phone, Phone Amplifier

What Type of Phone is Best for Your Level of Hearing Loss?

Due to the electronic changes made to a human voice during a phone conversation, or because the pitch range is slightly different on a telephone, some people find that their hearing loss is most noticeable when they are using a phone. When phone conversations are affected by hearing loss, finding the right assistive phone is important, and there are a number of factors that one should think about when determining what type of phone would work best.

A person’s hearing can be subjective and it is a good idea to ask some questions before purchasing a hearing impaired phone. For example, how often do you use the phone? Is privacy an issue for you? How much money are you willing to spend on a hearing impaired phone? Do you text message? If you are considering a TTY phone, are you a good or fast typist? If you want a VCO phone, do you have two phone lines?

What is the severity of your hearing loss? If you have low to moderate hearing loss, then an amplified phone may offer the best choice. The primary purpose of an amplified hearing impaired phone is to increase the sound capacity of the caller’s voice. These types of phones are easy to set up and use right away. Some amplified phones can increase the volume by as much as 30 to 50 decibels, allowing the user to hear the caller as clearly as possible.

If your loss of hearing is moderate to severe, an amplified phone might not be able to offer the needed amount of amplification to hear the caller. Therefore, a captioned phone, a TTY device, or a VCO device should be considered. This type of phone can help fill in the missing parts of a conversation, allowing the user to continue with the spoken conversation while providing a transcript of the call on a computer screen or a readout panel.

What is Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC)?

Augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) includes forms of communication used to express ideas and thoughts, and a hearing impaired phone is an ACC assistive device that helps a person with hearing loss or speech loss to communicate on the phone.

What Are Some Different ACC Assistive Devices for Telephones?

Telephone amplifier – For individuals who can hear voices on the phone but the voices are faint, a telephone amplifier might work well for them. There are several options of phone amplifiers; units attached to the phone, portable amplifier units, and dedicated amplifier telephones.

Phone line units – This amplifier is attached to the phone by connecting between a phone’s handset and the base. Besides increasing the caller’s voice, it can also block out background noise and feedback while amplifying specific frequencies to help make the caller’s speech more clear, and similar-sounding words easier to distinguish.

Portable amplifier units – This is a small device that can be taken anywhere to use on almost any landline telephone. Usually being able to increase the volume by 30 decibels, it is easy to attach to the headset without reconnecting and disconnecting any phone lines. Portable units can also help with blocking background noise and feedback.

Dedicated amplifier telephones – These telephones have the added features of amplification built into the phone. These phones can allow the user to increase the volume with an amplification dial or button on the phone.

TTY – A TTY is a typewriter keyboard device that lets people who are hearing impaired or speech impaired to communicate by typing the conversation and have it displayed either on a readout panel or a printed page. If both parties don’t have a TTY machine, one of them can use the national toll-free telecommunications relay service at 711 to communicate.

Internet protocol (IP) relay – This is a more modern version of communication by using a VoIP phone (Voice over Internet protocol) technology for placing and transmitting telephone calls over the Internet instead of the traditional public switched telephone network.

Other Telephone Features Designed For Hearing Impaired Individuals

Adjustable volume control – This allows a person with hearing loss who is living with others to use the same phone to better hear the caller by adjusting the volume on the phone.

Tone Equalizer – Many people with hearing loss have difficulty hearing different tones. A tone equalizer is a device that lets the user adjust the frequency and tone of the caller’s voice to better suit the user’s own hearing needs.

Ringers – Some hearing impaired phones allow users to turn up the volume of the ringer so they won’t miss an incoming call. Some ringers come with visual call indicators like a flashing light to get the attention of the user about an incoming call. Some models can also connect a lamp light to flash when the phone rings.

Headphone compatible – Some hearing impaired people may use headphones to help them hear more clearly. Many phones come with a connection port for headphone compatibility.

Hearing aid compatible – For people wearing hearing aids, the hearing aid may have a telecoil inside it. If this is the case, the user should only use a phone that is Hearing Aid Compatible (HAC). This will help eliminate the hearing aid feedback that is sometimes experienced with hearing aids and phones.

Keypad – Often, hearing impaired phones are specifically designed for senior citizens and others with low vision or sight impairments. Therefore, they may feature large numbered buttons, sometimes with a lighted keypad.

Rehabmart is proud to offer a wide array of innovative hearing impaired telephones from such esteemed vendors as Ablenet, MaxiAids, Harris Communications, LSS, and Patterson Medical.