Do you avoid phones? Join the club. They can be a nightmare when you cannot work out what friends and family are talking about.
Now you can have a telephone specifically for hearing-assisted people to make your life easy. The chances of hearing impairment as an adult are 1 in 7 of the population so you are in good company.
Some great clarity heaing phones have big buttons. We have protested about it until blue in the face yet the manufacturers are covering both bases: hearing and sight. In our opinion the landline phones with the purest sound and best sound clarity are the Geemarc Amplipower 40 and 50. Both are big button phones. They are compatible with hearing-aids.
Volume
Usually they go up in four easy stages of volume that you can see on the screen (e.g., Geemarc Amplidect 250).. Beware having your phone on full volume as you'll damage your hearing! For clarity you need tone as well.
Tone
You can have an ordinary phone at its maximum volume and still be unable to hear. I used to find that on a cordless and realised I needed an amplified phone with tone control. Most of us are looking for clarity and tone control is a simplified way of isolating speech. Examples are the Amplidect 350 - cordless phone and Amplipower 40 landline, both from Geemarc.
Hearing-Aid Compatibility
On non-amplified phones you may hear a buzz or droning noise down your hearing-aid when you’re trying to understand what the other person is saying. It is not a fault on your hearing-aid.
What’s happening, is interference between the hearing aid and the phone. You want a phone fitted with a telecoil to harmonise with your hearing-aid. The new Amplidect 350 is hearing-aid compatible which means it cuts the background noise - like giving you a personal line. The Amplipower range of phones are also guaranteed hearing-aid compatible.
"The buzzing is not loud though is it?" said my husband.
That is the usual comment from an unaffected person - w should just be grateful that someone has invented an amplified phone. How dare we want perfection?! On all our phones we offer a 30-day try-out satisfaction period to guarantee your peace of mind.
Cordless
A recent introduction on the UK market, incredible as it may seem. Apparently it is difficult to fit of all the electronics and amplification into such a small space. Geemarc Amplidect 250 (volume up to 40 dB) was a European bestseller and has recently been superseded by the 350. Both have a very clear, pure sound and …
They look good
Anyone want to use a brick? No neither do we. Cordless phones with little buttons, a screen, a flashing light to alert to the ring as well as the loud ringer amplifier - I had to turn mine down ;) - it is blissful to have the choice That’s the Geemarc Amplidect 250 and 350.
At last the manufacturers have got the hint; we want products with great sound and look good in that order. They're listening.
Stress-relief
When you have an amplified phone your shoulders relax, tension goes out of your body and you can relax. If you've been hunched over a phone for years, you may find you can breathe more easily.
If it feels like there's an imprint of the phone on your head when you've finished a call, give yourself a break and have an amplified phone. Your body will thank you later and the headaches, jaw aches and even shoulder aches will be history.
And why not? It’s a new industry in the UK . Going like hotcakes as you realise you can hear conversation when on loop (hearing aid wearers only!). Background noise is cut. They work very well for people with mild to moderate hearing issues..
Amplification on mobiles is 20-30 dB, again in easy stages so that anyone with mild to moderate hearing issues can use them as well. Make your life easy today.
In the car, electronic devices such as mobiles will cause your hearing aids to buzz on ‘loop’ or ‘t-position’. It sounds a bit like paper fluttering loudly in a bicycle wheel. The manufacturers have been trying to sort it for at least three years. It is caused by the electronics in your car. A very well-known high-street-name suggested we go into our local garage and ask them to dampen the electronics to stop it happening. Righ, woman walks into garage, asks for impossible and expects to get away with it. Er, no thanks. We think an expert man should go in!
A Thought
How many times a day do you see people with a hand clamped to one ear and a mobile pressed to the other? It’s because they can’t hear the person on the other end.
Conversely how many people a day shout down their phones? On a Docklands train (think big windows Toytown train) a guy was yelling down his mobile so loudly that everyone was grinning. He turned round suddenly and that was when we noticed his head was shaved not bald and he wore the type of boots that very tough guys wear. You’ve never seen so many people look away so quickly!
We have tried out most of the amplified phones and mobiles that we offer. They will suit the hearing of most of the hard-of-hearing population. If you find one you adore, please let us know. We're listening.