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A Hearing Aid Wearer’s Guide to Shopping for Cellular

Phones

Hearing aids and cellular phones have not

always gotten along as well as they do

now. The sophisticated electronics in both

devices often triggered static, dropped

words or squealing interference noises.

Technology improvements along with new

government regulations have mostly

eliminated this problem. Today cell phone –

hearing aid compatibility is not the huge problem it used to be. The

regulations mandated new labeling requirements and ratings that help you

to find a cell phone that works well with your hearing aid.

To understand how this rating system works, you should first understand the

two modes that hearing aids work in – M mode (for microphone) and T mode

(for telecoil). When your hearing aid is in M mode, it uses the built-in

microphone to pick up audible sounds from around you and amplify them to

make them easier for you to hear. When the hearing aid is in T mode,

instead of the microphone it uses its built-in telecoil to directly pick up

conversations from inside the phone, in the form of electromagnetic signals.

The T mode is important when shopping for a phone, because at least 60%

of hearing aids sold in the United States have one.

The two modes – M and T – are each rated on a scale of 1 to 4 where 1 is

the lowest sensitivity and 4 is the highest. To be labeled as hearing aid

compatible (HAC) a mobile phone must carry a minimum rating of M3 or T3.

Hearing aids themselves also carry M and T ratings to indicate their

sensitivity and ability to block interference in each mode. If you know the M

and T ratings for your hearing aid, to determine its compatibility with any

mobile phone, just add the two sets of ratings together. If you get a

combined total of 6 or more, that is thought of as excellent, a combination of

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hearing aid and phone that will be highly usable. If the combined rating is 5,

this combination is considered normal and suitable for most regular phone

use. If the combined rating is 4, this is thought of as acceptable but not very

usable if you make a lot of extended phone calls.

Since being introduced, the new rating system has made it much easier to

shop for a mobile phone online and determine its compatibility with your

hearing aid in advance. If you are able to shop in a store that allows you to

“try before you buy” and actually use the phone you want while wearing

your hearing aid, that is of course a better idea.