28th January 2015
The Telecoil Function, What Is It?
The Telecoil
A wonderful feature available on many hearing aids is called the telecoil. It's also referred to as a t-switch or t-coil.The telecoil has been ubiquitous in hearing aids for many years, but, what is a telecoil and what does it do? It's nothing more than a tiny coil of wire around a core that will induce an electric current in the coil when it's in the presence of a changing magnetic field. A telecoil can be an alternate or supplemental input device for a hearing aid. Normally, a hearing aid "listens" with its microphone, then amplifies what it hears. But with a telecoil used as the input source instead of (or in addition to) the microphone, the hearing aid can hear a magnetic signal which represents sound.
For The Phone
Telecoils inside hearing aids detect magnetism around them. Microphones in hearing aids deliver to the amplifier all the sounds that they encounter, but a telecoil only transfers the sounds that are magnetically generated. Initially, the focus for this technology was to ease listening during phone conversations. Older phones used magnets in their speaker systems, telecoil devices could pick up the magnetic emanations and provide a clear transmission directly to the aid of a telephone conversation. Most new phones don’t naturally create these signals, but most are equipped with extra electronics that when turned on, make them telecoil compatible.
For The Cinema
The usefulness of the telecoil feature goes far beyond telephones. They can be used as part of an assistive listening system for people with hearing aids in auditoriums, cinemas, churches and stadiums. Because these magnetic sounds are generally of higher quality than what you can hear acoustically, you may find that a telecoil can significantly enhance your enjoyment of an event. Although this does depend on how well the loop inductive device is fitted and if there is any competing electronic signals that may interfere with the sound transmission.
The First Wireless Platform For Hearing Aids
The telecoil function was more common in larger hearing aids than their smaller compatriots. However, that is changing, there has been a resurgence in the technology and more and more manufacturers are ensuring the devices are available in smaller and smaller hearing aids. Although wireless hearing aids are now common place, the telecoil was the first wireless communication platform for hearing aids. There are still a lot of devices available that can be used with telecoil to help you in different situations. There are phones, TV transmitters, bluetooth enabled mobile phone transmitters even personal telecoil devices that will generate a magnetic field.
Affordable Way To Increase The Ability Of Your Hearing Aids
As we have said, on some occasions you might encounter some interference when using the telecoil setting on your hearing aid. Interference is most commonly experienced as a buzzing sound and is generally associated with electronics such as CRT monitors and fluorescent lights. However the benefits of offered by telecoil equipped hearing aids far outweigh the problems. The technology is an affordable way to increase the abilities of your hearing aid.
