Special Phones for the Hearing Impaired. What a Great Idea! |
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"Would you like to do a bit of shopping granny?" No response! As deaf as a post, or so she would have us believe, but if you were to whisper from behind, "Granny, would you like another Rum & Coke?" she could hear perfectly well. Selective hearing my mum always used to call it, but whether granny was laying it on or whether her hearing ability really was a bit hit and miss, she had no more excuses once we were introduced to phones for the hearing impaired.
In the past, despite the best efforts from the manufacturers, there weren't really any useful phones for the hearing impaired population. They had volume controls and the like, but the more you turned them up the more they interfered with hearing aids. Some home phones offered speaker phone functions, but once again, the poor quality of sound coming from the speakers often made it more difficult to hear because of the noise distortion that came with increased volume.
Nowadays most modern hearing aids are designed specifically to suppress outside interferences which often manifests as an audible and annoying hum or buzzing sound. However, despite this technology, it doesn't always offer a perfect solution when it comes to hearing on the phone.
This is why many of the new fangled phones for the hearing impaired include features such as a volume control and T-coil compatibility with hearing aids. Without getting into the technicalities of T-coil compatibility, it basically means those people who are hard of hearing should be able to talk on the phone with minimal noise interference.
At the time of writing this article, there is no cell phone manufactured specifically for the hearing impaired. However, there are certain headsets available such as the Nokia Loopset which addresses this need. Moreover, The FCC recently issued a ruling that requires carriers to ensure that at least one quarter of their mobiles are hearing-aid compatible within the next couple of years, so a cell phone for hearing impaired people is just around the corner.
Getting back to Granny, we've been trying to make her world more audible by getting her a few gadgets like a cordless phone for hearing impaired folks which allows her to potter in the garden and have a chat with the family at the same time. I also recently brought her a special alarm clock for the hearing impaired because she said the old one wasn't loud enough to wake her. We've also fitted her little flat with a smoke detector for the hearing impaired, and a door bell that chimes so loud it could wake the dead.
Now all she does is complain about the noise! There's just no pleasing some folks!
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