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The majority of office phone systems are now running on digital technology. This is increasingly true of phones in hotels, hospitals, and assisted living facilities. On the other hand, all amplified phones are made for use on analog (home) telephone lines. Since digital phone lines tend to carry more electricity than analog lines, it is possible to damage the amplified phone and even the digital phone system itself in the event of a short circuit. If you are unsure whether you are working with an analog or digital phone system, there are a couple ways to make sure. A phone that has a label on the bottom reading "complies with part 68, FCC Rules" with a Ringer Equivalence Number (REN) listed on it will be an analog phone. It is possible to use any of the Amplified Phones from our catalog on an analog phone line. Multi-line phones with display screens and extra feature buttons are almost always digital. Digital phone systems are more of a challenge, but there are some options:
The telecoil is sensitive to the magnetic field coming from the earpiece speaker and allows the hearing aid to reproduce the incoming voice inside the hearing aid. The amplification and clarity are provided by the settings of the hearing aid or processor. In most cases, the telecoil will disable the environmental microphone of the hearing aid or CI processor in order to prevent room noise from interfering with the phone call. Sometimes a dual microphone/telecoil setting is possible. An audiologist may need to be consulted to optimize the telecoil for use with the "hearing aid compatible" phone equipment. Please note: The existing volume controls and any amplified digital handsets rarely provide more than 20 decibels of amplification. These are designed for use by people with standard hearing working in a noisy environment and are rarely sufficient for addressing hearing loss. (B) Hearing aids without telecoils cannot be counted on to perform well with amplified phones. The microphones of hearing aids and CI processors are designed to have sound approximately arms length away. Holding an amplified phone next to the microphone can cause both audio feedback (whistling) and distortion of the incoming voice. People with a Mild to early Moderate hearing loss may benefit from the use of Add-On Amplifiers that can amplify the incoming voice from 24 to 30 decibels above standard volume. However, there are no universal amplifiers, so a certain amount of experimentation may be needed to find a compatible model. (C) An analog phone line can be run through many existing digital phone systems. This would allow for the use of any Amplified Phone. However, this dedicated analog phone line would not participate in the features of the digital system such as voice mail, in-house transfer, etc. Switchboard operators would connect to the analog line as if they were transferring to an outside line. Digital voice mail can be used by dialing the outside access number from the analog phone. (D) Some digital phone manufacturers provide cordless versions of their phones. People with hearing aids or cochlear implant processors that have built-in telecoils may be able to use Hands-Free Headsets connected to the 2.5mm headset jack on the cordless phone. This would allow for participation in the features of the digital phone system such as voice mail, etc. Cell phones with 2.5mm headset jacks will also work with these telecoil-friendly headsets. The "silhouette" style of the Hands-Free Headsets in our catalog does provide a stronger magnetic signal than most "hearing aid compatible" headsets on the market. Again, an audiologist may need to be consulted to optimize the telecoil. FYI: There are no voice recognition programs currently capable of working with voices that have not be previously programmed into the software's memory. They are designed to replace the keyboard for one person using one computer. Some programs can hold multiple voice files, but these can only be used one at a time. It would be necessary to log in and out of each speaker's file during the course of the conversation. Conference calls and customer service calls cannot be accommodated with existing voice recognition software. TTY software compatible with networked computer systems is available from www.nxicom.com. The NexTalk software allows any computer to become a TTY/TDD. Incoming TTY/TDD calls can be routed from the switchboard to the appropriate location on the network. Contact NXi for more information. Let them know what platform your network runs on and how many computers would need to be connected to the software. NexTalk users can use the nation-wide TTY Relay Service to call people who do not have a TTY/TDD. The Communication Assistant at the Relay will type out everything that is said and read back all text messages. Sprint is offering a web-based text system called Web CapTel. This service uses the exisiting digital phone and an internet connection. Calls placed through the Web CapTel site (www.sprintcaptel.com) allow the user to read a real-time transcription of each call while listening to the existing phone for tone of voice and other cues that allow for a comforable pace of conversation. The user speaks directly to the other person through the existing phone. This Web CapTel service is currently not available for switchboard phone systems. Check the website (www.sprintcaptel.com) for updates and details of how the service works. No special equipment or software is required. Of course, every situation is unique. Please contact us (store (at) hsdc.org) with the specifics of the accommodation you are looking for. We often mix and match equipment for the best results in ways the manufacturers may not have advertized.
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