Accessories: Enhancing the Hearing Aid Options

With today’s hearing aids, most manufacturers give their hearing aids the ability to connect to different devices, such as a cell phone (the most common), computer, iPad or other tablet devices, computers, as well as almost anything that has a Bluetooth transmitter in it. Bluetooth is a way for two different electronic devices to communicate with each other.

The main portal for all this (at least from Oticon) is the small and discreet Streamer Pro. The Streamer Pro has several buttons on it and a volume control and is worn around your neck. When there is an incoming call you will hear it ring in your hearing aids, similar to a phone. You would press a button on the Streamer Pro and you are then connected to the phone. When you are done, just press the button again and you will be disconnected so that you can use your aids for normal conversation. The Streamer Pro can be connected up to 8 devices that have Bluetooth capabilities.

A new option that you can use (if you have an iPhone) is an app that is available that will let you control the volume and program changes. It is called “made for iPhone” and is used along with the Streamer Pro. So, instead of taking out the Streamer Pro, you just use your iPhone to make adjustments on your hearing aids. Since most people take out their phones to make calls or send texts, taking out your phone to adjust your aids won’t be as obvious as using your Streamer Pro.

The Streamer Pro on the right is shown with Oticon hearing aids, a ConnectLine Microphone, TV and phone adapters.

Oticon ConnectLine Microphone

No matter how advanced the hearing aid is, it can’t do everything in every listening environment. One item that Oticon has that seems to have helped Dann Hearing clients who have used it is the ConnectLine remote microphone. The microphone can be clipped onto a shirt or lapel, or placed in the middle of a table in a noisy restaurant. The person wearing the new Oticon hearing aid would also use the Streamer Pro. The Streamer Pro is worn around the neck. There is a button on both the Streamer Pro and the ConnectLine microphone that you push to connect the two of them wirelessly.

The ConnectLine Mic is pictured on the right.

What is the benefit? Well, if the person wearing the hearing aids is trying to talk to someone across the table in a noisy restaurant it will be much easier to hear that person if they are wearing the ConnectLine microphone. The speech is picked up by the microphone and transmitted to the Streamer Pro, which then sends the signal to the aids. This way the speech of the person you are trying to hear goes directly to the aids, making it much easier to understand the conversation above the din.

Here is an illustration of how the ConnectLine Microphone works:

The ConnectLine microphone will work with most of the latest Oticon aids as long as you have a Streamer Pro.

Photos and illustrations courtesy of Oticon.

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