Sidekick with hearing aid

lisartist

lisartist

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Hello everyone,
I have been on a quest to make my new sidekick2 work with my hearing aid. I have found out some things (the hard way) and so I thought I would share. For those who can hear enough to use an aid with the phone and with a t-coil, this is for you.
I first called T-mobile (using my trusty VCO phone)asking about if there was a way to make the sidekick work with my t-coil switch. The fellow said that I should go to yourwirelesssource.com and look for the plantronics M135. I did and found about 3 different versions that were said to be compatable with t-coil hearing aids. I ordered the M135 and waited a week in anticipation. It arrived today and was worthless. It wouldn't even fit behind my BTE aid! The fm (t-coil)switch picked up nothing. I went on live chat with the plantronics website support and they told me NONE of thier products are hearing aid compatable with the sidekick. Therefore the wireless source website is wrong and giving out false information. They say sidekick is compatable on that site. I have to return the device AND pay for shipping. The one good thing that I found out through Plantronics is that there is a company called HATIS (www.hatis.com) and all they do is hearing aid compatable devices. Finally! Of course it's 5 times as expensive
but I am glad that something like that exists. Just thought I would pass that information on to hearing aid wearers. I do love my sidekick 2, but find it very hard to type on a mouse sized keyboard.
:giggle:

Lisa
 
is there anyone on this list that uses the t-coil hearing aid with phone? Has anyone tried the hatis device?

Lisa
 
I dun have sidekick.. actually sidekick is not out in canada yet.. i have blackberry instead.. and sometime i can hear on phone part of it if i talk to my dad then its ok.. but with other people i cant hear it, or if too much background noise i cant hear..
 
THe speaker phone feature on the Sidekick isn't clear enough or strong enough for me to understand. It is only when I get the sound fed through my aid (t-coil) can I hear enough to make heads or tails out of a conversation.

Lisa
 
lisartist said:
Hello everyone,
I have been on a quest to make my new sidekick2 work with my hearing aid. I have found out some things (the hard way) and so I thought I would share. For those who can hear enough to use an aid with the phone and with a t-coil, this is for you.
I first called T-mobile (using my trusty VCO phone)asking about if there was a way to make the sidekick work with my t-coil switch. The fellow said that I should go to yourwirelesssource.com and look for the plantronics M135. I did and found about 3 different versions that were said to be compatable with t-coil hearing aids. I ordered the M135 and waited a week in anticipation. It arrived today and was worthless. It wouldn't even fit behind my BTE aid! The fm (t-coil)switch picked up nothing. I went on live chat with the plantronics website support and they told me NONE of thier products are hearing aid compatable with the sidekick. Therefore the wireless source website is wrong and giving out false information. They say sidekick is compatable on that site. I have to return the device AND pay for shipping. The one good thing that I found out through Plantronics is that there is a company called HATIS (www.hatis.com) and all they do is hearing aid compatable devices. Finally! Of course it's 5 times as expensive
but I am glad that something like that exists. Just thought I would pass that information on to hearing aid wearers. I do love my sidekick 2, but find it very hard to type on a mouse sized keyboard.
:giggle:

Lisa
Click to expand...

I'm curious. Does Hatis tell you which t-coil is compatible with what kind of hearing aid you have? For example, if I have a digital Siemens hearing aid with an adaptor for t-coil, they will give me the right one for that particular hearing. On the other hand, I have the impression that not all t-coils work with all pagers/cell phones. Am I correct?
 
Hatis has told me they are most compatible with certain phone servers like Verizon, but I am sorry, I cannot remember which those are. As for your hearing aid, I would give this a try or ask your hearing aid rep (or the one you bought it from) to let you try a demo. They can get one from the Hatis folks. Mine works BEAUTIFULLY with my sidekick!!!! It costs 149. but it is SO worth it!!!!
I experimented with other cell phones, like a nokia and it seemed to work fine with that as well. I love my sidekick though for the text messages. I rarely use the oral, but it is so good to have in case my teens need to reach me or vice versa.
I highly recommend it. NOTHING else works with a t-coil, I've tried.
Take care,
Lisa
 
I've had several of my co-workers order HATIS earpieces for their hearing aids. They all use Sprint phones and it works beautifully.
 
Thanks for the information but but but I dont use T-coil when I talk on the phone. I take my hearing aid out and turn up the volume up and be able to hear the phone. But I heard that the SK dont have that good of volume as I wish for. I have a cellphone which works well for me. But would like to have SK for myself. Maybe someday it will be better for my case.
 
Speakphone isn't good enuff. My daughter who is hearing told me she hardly hear me! "Mom, I can't hear you. Speak loud!" She talked funny on the sidekick II pager so we have to find a way to speak to each other. Darn the payphone booth. Phhhft! :eek: :roll: So much for the cheap feature of the Sidekick II pager.
 
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