Hearing Aid Compatible Telephones: History and Current Status

ABSTRACT

Voice communication over the telephone between hearing aid wearers and their calling partners can be problematic for a number of reasons. One of the problems is feedback, which can be created when a telephone and hearing aid couple together acoustically to transmit sound from one to the other. Hearing aid compatible telephones provide an effective alternative to acoustic coupling. They use an internal means of inductively coupling with a hearing aid's telecoil. Hearing aid compatibility is currently required by law for all corded and cordless phones in the United States; however, this was not always the case. This article traces the history of inductive coupling between telephones and hearing aids and discusses the Hearing Aid Compatibility Act of 1988. This law, among other things, requires the use of technical standards to ensure telephone compatibility with hearing aids. Details of the technical standard are provided along with information regarding the American National Standards Institute standard for measuring hearing aid telecoil sensitivity for telephone applications. Recent advances in cellular and telephone technology also are discussed with regard to hearing aid compatibility requirements and what the future may hold for meeting these requirements.

KEYWORDS

Hearing aid compatibility - inductive coupling - telephone communication

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