Whether you have hearing loss or not, talking on the phone and being able to follow along with your conversation partner can be challenging. This is because, not only is sound distorted, but visual cues are missing. If you have hearing loss and wear hearing aids, we provide tips to help you make the most of phone calls below.
Pair Your Phone to Your Hearing Aids
Many modern hearing aids have Bluetooth capabilities. This means, as long as your phone is also Bluetooth-enabled, you can pair your hearing aids to it. Essentially, your hearing aids will act as a wireless headset, and you may even be able to answer hands-free.
Place Your Phone Speaker Near the Hearing Aid Mic
If your hearing aids or phone don’t have Bluetooth capabilities or you prefer not to use this feature, you can instead place your phone speaker right next to the hearing aid microphone. If you’re not sure where it’s located, run your finger along the shell of your device until you hear it rubbing.
Turn on Speaker Phone
Some people report that turning on speaker phone further distorts sound; however, others claim it is advantageous. Specifically, it allows you to hear with both ears and it reduces the possibility of feedback between the two devices.
Try a Video Call
If you rely on visual cues to communicate, you can try making a video call instead of just an audio call. Fortunately, there are many smartphone apps that allow you to do this, including FaceTime, Facebook Messenger, Whatsapp and Skype.
Get an Amplified Telephone
If none of these strategies is effective for you, you can invest in an amplified telephone, which you can purchase at any local electronics store. These phones provide amplified audio without sacrificing sound quality, and they’re designed specifically for people with hearing loss in mind.
Get a Captioned Telephone
In a similar vein, you can also get a captioned telephone, which provides live text of what your conversation partner is saying on a large display. You can talk to your audiologist at San Francisco Audiology or a representative at CapTel, CaptionCall or other vendor to learn more.
For more information or to schedule an appointment with a hearing expert, call San Francisco Audiology today.