October 16, 2017
Do you have trouble hearing and understanding conversations over the phone? Many people suffering from hearing loss struggle with using the telephone even when they wear hearing aids. If you have difficulty talking on the telephone, or know someone who does, the following article may provide information that will help.
Today’s advanced hearing aid technology allows us to hear sounds and conversations that, not so many years ago, would have been impossible for those with moderate to severe hearing loss to hear or understand. It is very gratifying to see the reaction of many of my patients when they are fit with hearing instruments for the first time. Many people find that they are finally able to hear their grandchildren, talk with people at family gatherings, listen to the message at church, watch television at a normal volume, and so much more. They feel like the whole world has opened up to them again. But for some that means the whole world except the telephone.
Using the telephone can still be a problem for some people with hearing loss, even with the use of hearing aids. Finally, there is a solution! It’s called a caption phone which comes at no cost to the user through the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), a federal program which was created to pay for the telephone and captioning service. This innovative telephone allows a person to read the spoken word through voice recognition technology. It is able to transcribe spoken words almost instantaneously. The words appear in large print on the telephone much like closed captioning on the television. The phone has many easy to use features including caption voicemail, speaker phone, and a phone book where you can save names and phone numbers for quick and easy dialing. The phone also has the ability to save calls, allows the user to read missed calls, and much more.
If you are interested in obtaining one of these state-of-the-art caption telephones you can call or visit our office. We do have one on display in our office so you can see it in person.
