Hearing loss can make conversations over the phone nearly impossible without a specialty phone. Home phones with enlarged buttons and special speakers that are louder than the average home phone are an invaluable tool to those with hearing loss. These specialty phones help keep users in touch with work, family and friends easily with features like TTY and Relay services.

Cell phones, on the other hand, can sometimes be an entirely different story. While cell phones designed for users with hearing impairment are available, they often lack the many advantages of other types of phones. Likewise, most cell phones are not designed with hearing impaired users in mind.

As technology advances, improvements to cell phone programming are being made.  Most cell phones allow users to zoom in and make text, keyboards and numbers larger and easier to see.  TTY services are an option that can be automated instead of requiring a lengthy set up.

Bluetooth hearing aids are also an option. Choosing a bluetooth hearing aid with a telecoil is advised as telecoils, or t-coils, do not pick up feed back or make any unwanted whistling sounds. Cell phones also come with an M-rating which measures a phone’s resistance to interference. Cell phones with M-ratings of at least 5 are resistant to most interference and are a good choice for hearing aid users who prefer a microphone setting.

Call us today to learn more about the advancements in modern hearing aids.