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Stay in touch - A guide to telephones and services for older and disabled people 2004 (view report contents)

Useful features if your hearing is poor

We have updated contact details in 2008 but not carried out comprehensive research on products. Please note, therefore, that phone products may have changed and there may be new ones available.

The following are features to make your phone easier to hear and points to watch if you use a hearing aid.

Key points

  • Is the phone’s ring loud enough and are speech/messages clear enough?

  • Can you adjust the phone’s volume easily?

  • Check for interference problems and get advice if you use a hearing aid when on the phone.

  • SMS texting can be especially useful for deaf people.

Click on the list below for more details:

Adjustable ringer
Loudness and clarity of speech
Use with a hearing aid
Conversation recording
Geemarc Direct Vibe
Call progress indicator
Visual ringing signal
Keys on base unit
SMS texting

Adjustable ringer

You may want your phone to ring louder, and many phones let you adjust ringer volume. Many – especially digital cordless and mobile phones – also let you
adjust the ringer melody, which may help if you find it hard to hear high tones. But you need to check whether it makes the phone easier to hear in practice.

Many mobiles can also vibrate instead of ring - you should be able to sense this if you’ve got the phone in your pocket or on a belt clip.

 

Samsung E700

The Samsung E700 mobile has convenient volume control on the side

loudness and clarity of speech

 

BT Converse 225

The BT Converse 225 corded phone amplifies your caller's voice

Many people with mild hearing loss find they can hear quite well on the phone, even if they need a hearing aid for ordinary conversation. But tests have shown quite big differences in loudness and clarity between different phones. As you can’t usually check this in the shop, make really sure that the phone you buy is loud and clear enough while you still have time to change it.

On a mobile, you’ll probably want to adjust the volume often, depending on your surroundings: ‘up’ and ‘down’ buttons on the side of the phone are much the easiest for this.

Some fixed-line phones, too, can be adjusted to make your caller’s voice louder or quieter. If regularly used by several people, check that the volume can be adjusted easily.

A few phones (such as the Geemarc CL100 fixed-line or Nokia 3300 mobile) have an equaliser or tone control which lets you boost certain frequencies to counteract your hearing loss.

Use with a hearing aid

Most hearing aids (whether the analogue or newer digital type) have an ‘M’ (microphone) setting for normal speech and a ‘T’ (telecoil) setting. You may find that using the M setting on the phone works for you, though you’ll need to experiment to find the best position for the earpiece.

The T setting picks up your caller’s voice magnetically from the phone, cutting out distracting sounds around you. For this to work, the phone must have an ‘inductive coupler’ built into it. It’s fairly easy to find a suitable corded or analogue cordless phone – look for the words ‘hearing aid compatible’ or an ear symbol.

Unfortunately, digital cordless and mobile phones tend to cause audible interference (buzzing) on an analogue aid (and even on a digital aid if it’s switched to T), though it depends on which aid you have, so you need to try before you buy. The problem should get less in the next few years as new requirements come into force.

Some more tips about reducing interference:

  • It’s worth trying different phones – a ‘clamshell’ or flip-open mobile may cause less buzzing on your aid than the standard style.

  • Keeping a digital phone away from your aid will help. With a mobile, you can connect a neckloop or ‘hands-free’ accessory (see section on Accessories and adaptors ) and use the T setting on your hearing aid.

  • If your cordless or mobile has a speaker phone feature (see section on useful features if you have limited mobility) you may find that in quiet surroundings you can put down the handset and use your aid on the M setting.

Conversation recording

A few phones (like the BT Paragon 400) can record both sides of a conversation if required. This could be useful if afterwards you want to check what was said to you.

Geemarc Direct vibe

This is a special handset for some Geemarc phones which can transmit sound through the bone behind the ear. It may help someone who has conductive deafness. Available from the RNID.

Call progress indicator

A visual indicator showing that your phone is dialling, and whether you’re getting a ringing or busy tone, may be useful. Textphones have this feature, though few speech phones do.

Visual ringing signal

Many phones have a small light which flashes when a call is received. But this is unlikely to attract your attention unless you’re right next to the phone. You can, however, buy equipment which will flash a bright light when the phone rings – see section on Accessories.

Keys on base unit

Some corded phones (and all cordless and mobile phones) have the dialling keys on the handset. This can be awkward if you have to press number keys during a call. If your hearing is poor, dialling keys on the base unit means that you can keep the handset close to your ear. The keys may also be larger and better spaced.

SMS texting

Motorola V300

The clamshell Motorola V300 mobile

The Short Message Service - usually called texting - lets you send short messages from one mobile phone to another using the keypad and display. There are now also fixed-line phones which let you send text messages and receive texts too, provided you subscribe to BT Caller Display and register (free) with BT Text, otherwise you get them as voice messages.

Texting is fairly slow as with most phones you type using the (very small) number keys, though most recent models have ‘predictive texting’ which guesses and completes the word you’re after. Because you send and receive messages in turn, text messages may not feel like a real conversation. Don’t rely on texting for emergencies, as messages may be delayed or deleted. SMS texting is not the same thing as using a textphone – see Other telephone equipment section.

Panasonic KXTCD545EM

The Panasonic KXTCD545EM, a digital cordless phone with texting and extra corded handset

 

Report Contents

Introduction

Telephones

Other equipment

Buying a phone & phone services

Useful contacts

 

Fixed line Operators

Mobile Operators

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