The Rant, I mean, Story...
I only recently got all-digital BTE hearings aids about 2 years ago, before that they were the plain old acoustic BTE ones, and I would sometimes only wear one. Needless to say my journey with phones have been hit-and-miss (mostly miss).
I've had about 5 cell phones since about 2002. My first was that famous Nokia brick phone (like the 5120). It was OK to listen on but too much interference with my hearing aid. Eventually I got an inductor loop that went around my neck but that didn't last too long, the battery died out quickly. I've had about 3 cell phones since that one, each one I purchased with the emphasis of texting on it with my wife and a few select friends (long story short: I used to live in the States and now I'm back up here in Ontario, and once again we got new phones again in 2006. Same problems for me).
The last unit I had was the Samsung Hype (USA: Magnet), a Blackberry wanna-be. Still very noisy with hearing aids, either in M or T setting. However it was loud enough that I could listen on it without the hearing aid (although this is when I had digital hearing aids).
I started looking around again, and the thing that bugs me is all the models in the stores are dummy models, I was not often able to test a live unit while wearing the hearing aid. Eventually I decided to try and research cell phones online, and find out if some info was available with compatibility ratings.
Well guess what I found out? Turns out all this time I've been buying and/or using mobile phones that use a SIM card. Those cards typically work on the GSM network. CDMA phones work without a SIM card, your ID is attached to the phone's ESM number, not a card. Anyway, the technology is different in regards to how the signal works in the phone. Also, in the USA, the FCC requires manufacturers to list the compatibility ratings for their mobile units now. M4 (microphone) and T4 (telecoil) being the best. I did not know about this at the time (but now I do).
In addition, avoiding "one-piece", "candy-bar" or "slider" phones, I'm supposed to be using a clamshell or "flip" phone. The idea being that the earpiece is further away from the antenna inside the body of the phone, thus cutting down on the RF interference that would be picked up by my hearing aid. Well, my wife had this type of phone just lying around (she went with a different phone/provider because she couldn't get a good signal where we were living at the time). It was a Nokia flip phone. I put the battery back into it and charged it overnight. I dialed info (611) on it held it up to my hearing aid on 'T’ and BINGO! Clear as a bell. I could hear the voice menu perfectly.
After all that, I eventually burned through the remaining balance on my Rogers' Samsung and handed that over to my wife, and I took her older Virgin Mobile phone. So the verdict is, after 8 years I finally have a cell phone that works.
Side note: Almost all of the sales people I've spoken to either don't know anything about M4/T4, or won't admit it. I spoke with one gentleman at a store that sells CDMA phones that they aren't allowed to say anything negative about a manufacturer over another, such as: "Oh, you're hearing impaired and have a BTE hearing aid? Well you need to use this flip phone from Nokia and not this candybar phone from Samsung".
If they get caught doing that, the manufacturer of the "not good enough phone" could pull all of their products out of the chain's sales pipeline, and that's not good for the company. I wish there was something up here in Canada like the ADA that could be used to enforce this as a requirement, instead of having to buy blindly and hoping something works.
I only recently got all-digital BTE hearings aids about 2 years ago, before that they were the plain old acoustic BTE ones, and I would sometimes only wear one. Needless to say my journey with phones have been hit-and-miss (mostly miss).
I've had about 5 cell phones since about 2002. My first was that famous Nokia brick phone (like the 5120). It was OK to listen on but too much interference with my hearing aid. Eventually I got an inductor loop that went around my neck but that didn't last too long, the battery died out quickly. I've had about 3 cell phones since that one, each one I purchased with the emphasis of texting on it with my wife and a few select friends (long story short: I used to live in the States and now I'm back up here in Ontario, and once again we got new phones again in 2006. Same problems for me).
The last unit I had was the Samsung Hype (USA: Magnet), a Blackberry wanna-be. Still very noisy with hearing aids, either in M or T setting. However it was loud enough that I could listen on it without the hearing aid (although this is when I had digital hearing aids).
I started looking around again, and the thing that bugs me is all the models in the stores are dummy models, I was not often able to test a live unit while wearing the hearing aid. Eventually I decided to try and research cell phones online, and find out if some info was available with compatibility ratings.
Well guess what I found out? Turns out all this time I've been buying and/or using mobile phones that use a SIM card. Those cards typically work on the GSM network. CDMA phones work without a SIM card, your ID is attached to the phone's ESM number, not a card. Anyway, the technology is different in regards to how the signal works in the phone. Also, in the USA, the FCC requires manufacturers to list the compatibility ratings for their mobile units now. M4 (microphone) and T4 (telecoil) being the best. I did not know about this at the time (but now I do).
In addition, avoiding "one-piece", "candy-bar" or "slider" phones, I'm supposed to be using a clamshell or "flip" phone. The idea being that the earpiece is further away from the antenna inside the body of the phone, thus cutting down on the RF interference that would be picked up by my hearing aid. Well, my wife had this type of phone just lying around (she went with a different phone/provider because she couldn't get a good signal where we were living at the time). It was a Nokia flip phone. I put the battery back into it and charged it overnight. I dialed info (611) on it held it up to my hearing aid on 'T’ and BINGO! Clear as a bell. I could hear the voice menu perfectly.
After all that, I eventually burned through the remaining balance on my Rogers' Samsung and handed that over to my wife, and I took her older Virgin Mobile phone. So the verdict is, after 8 years I finally have a cell phone that works.
Side note: Almost all of the sales people I've spoken to either don't know anything about M4/T4, or won't admit it. I spoke with one gentleman at a store that sells CDMA phones that they aren't allowed to say anything negative about a manufacturer over another, such as: "Oh, you're hearing impaired and have a BTE hearing aid? Well you need to use this flip phone from Nokia and not this candybar phone from Samsung".
If they get caught doing that, the manufacturer of the "not good enough phone" could pull all of their products out of the chain's sales pipeline, and that's not good for the company. I wish there was something up here in Canada like the ADA that could be used to enforce this as a requirement, instead of having to buy blindly and hoping something works.