Is your loss of hearing causing you to chat less frequently on the phone? As time passes, you may feel isolated as a result of your hearing loss. Don’t break up with your phone. There are ways to deal with it so you can keep in touch with the ones you love.
It’s All About Communication
They say communication is the crucial thing in any relationship, and that is indeed true when it comes to your phone. Can anything be done to enhance the situation?
- A hearing exam is a good idea. Not all loss of hearing is permanent, so get a proper diagnosis. Temporary hearing loss is often caused by something as simple as an ear infection or to much ear wax.
- Are the voices too quiet? Check to make sure the volume is all the way up on the phone.
- You can try accessories like Bluetooth or headphones if the volume is already turned up. It will make your phone sound better and it may be an inexpensive way to get what you need.
After you eliminate some of the more obvious problems, you can have a look at other possibilities that will get you back on the phone.
You Can Get an App For That
There are actually several potential apps. There are many apps you can download that work to get you, and your phone back on the same page, some of which are pretty cool.
What the other person says can be turned to text with some of these apps. These apps are far from perfect, but you should be able to work with them. Brands to look up include:
- Note, Listen for Deaf
- Hamilton Mobile Cap Tel
- Live Caption
You can’t get all voice to text apps for free but most won’t cost very much.
You Can Get a Phone For That
You can also get a landline phone that does the same thing as an app. By amplifying the sound an the other end, they make it much easier to hear. They also work to equalize the tone, so high pitched sounds that tend to drop off become clearer.
A captioning phone is yet another solution. To take advantage of the captioning service, you have to have a special phone that has a screen. With this service, the words are repeated or typed into software by a third party operator and are then shown on the screen of the phone. You will need the internet to use a captioning service.
a traditional phone system that you can still find which works in a similar way to a captioning service is Text-to-Voice Teletype (TTY). A separate device to show the text is needed, however.
Hearing Aids Are The Best Alternative
The times when you would hear ear piercing feedback when your hearing aids came near a phone are over. The newer technology can work with a hearing aid compatible phone to enhance the sound quality and eliminate interference such as background noise. Even when you are not on the phone these wireless hearing aids still work.
A sophisticated program which enables it to be compatible with both smart-phones and landlines is a stand out feature of current hearing aid technology. You just hold the phone up to the hearing aid and allow the technology to work its magic by streaming the sound from one device to the other.
Bluetooth compatibility is also a standard feature of today’s hearing aid tech. You simply pair the phone up with the hearing aids exactly the same as you would with wireless headphones or earbuds. When the phone rings, the sound goes directly to your hearing aids.
There’s no reason to allow hearing loss wreck a perfectly good relationship. Do what you must to make up with your phone, and start talking again. It’s time to schedule an appointment with a hearing specialist to look at the newest hearing aid technology.