Apparently, NO ONE can hear on a cell phone

My landline from Bell has a free TTY service that I had to apply for, but it is very easy to use.

• I log into the TTY service to chat on the computer with the TTY operator
• The TTY operator talks to the doctor’s office, pharmacist, etc
• That’s it! Bye!

I too use a cell phone that streams to my hearing aids, although I use the TTY service more often.

If your hearing aids are “Telecoil” capable, I’ve been told that might help you hear a landline call. My 3 year old Rextons don’t have that option so I can’t be certain. Is there anyone here who can share the correct info?

My aids don’t don’t have tcoils. And many modern landline phones don’t support them either.

What hearing aids are you using? My hearing loss is similar to yours & I have good results with Jabra Pro 30 from Costco & now Phonak I70 aids.
Have you asked your audiologist to adjust your aids closer to your prescription using Real Ear Measurement?
NOTE if your aids are older than 2024 then you need to look at upgrading them as they are not suitable for that level of loss.

I just the cell phone for my few calls always streamed to my aids. I have my phone set to only ring through to me contacts that are in my contacts list. Everything else goes to voice mail. I also have a smart watch that all notifications go to. So I don’t have to be distracted by notification sounds streamed to my aids. I maybe 78 but have been geeky person my whole life.

@Alan_C_J said:

Yes, far too much reliance on phones in many spheres. I begin to wonder who is in control of who.

I used to agree, but I really like streaming phone calls. Without that, I had a terrible time on the phone, and phone calls are really useful. And if I want to use a phone for phone calls, I have to accept them for streaming and controlling my HAs.

It’s easy not to use the phone for email, social media, etc. because it’s much easier to read a 16” screen than a 6” screen.

Model of phone & hearing aid is important for the success of phonecalls streamed to hearing aids.
I have had great success with Samsung Galaxy S21 & S25 hearing aids connected to my aids. Jabra Pro 30 (Costco), Resound Vivia 7 to S21 & now Phonak I70 Ultra Sphere to my S25. The App for Resound/Jabra did not connect on my S25 which handles Auracast natively. I could use phone to aids but no access to fine adjustments in the App.
In all cases above I could answer calls by double tapping my right aid & use the hearing aids to hear and speak on the call. I did not need to be close to the phone!
Anyone with a recent model cellphone (say 2024 & later) should be able to setup their phone to communicate this way with their hearing aids!

By way of Bluetooth our hearing aids become an extension of our smartphones by becoming the speakers and microphones.

I go back and forth between using the phone’s mic and the HAs’ mics. I do not listen to the phone’s speakers, although I am offered a choice between the phone’s speakers and the HA’s speakers and the phone’s mics or the HAs’. In some settings, the HAs are stated to be headphones.

IMO, it’s OK to call it ‘streaming’.

I will concede one thing in favour of cell phones over (our) landline handsets. The clarity difference is tremendous. Our landline handsets (we have multiple around the house connected to a single line) are at least 20 years old and, I guess, are analogue technology. Even though I still have difficulty, the cell phone is much clearer which makes sense to me.

Ironically, in the UK, BT are doing away with all analogue phone lines and encouraging people to do without a landline. If you still need a landline, it will be converted to digital via the fibre lines. Not all of the phone operators can offer this so you would have to change to one that does, no doubt at a higher cost.

I have custom ear molds with very small vents. Honestly I believe that individuals with domes are losing the benefits of their hearing aids.

I hear you loud and clear! I’m currently cruising, we will be in French Polynesia tomorrow. When I boarded the ship I went to general service desk.

I told them I was deaf and wear a CI. Also told them not to ring the cabin phone as I can’t hear on that type of phone. And to please ring my mobile phone.

The WIFI signal out in the middle of the Pacific Ocean is very scratchy. I went to the desk to see if I had my settings correct and to ask if it could be improved. 10 minutes later a gentleman arrived to check the signal in my cabin. He had a very strong accent, consequently I couldn’t understand what he said. He fiddled with my phone saying he hoped this helped.

5 minutes later the cabin phone starts ringing. I left the cabin and went up to the buffet to get a coffee. I was gone an hour. When I got back the phone was still ringing. My simple solution was to disconnect it wretched phone. Unless my cabin steward connected it again it’s still disconnected! Idiots that don’t read what happened before. Bah Humbug!!!

I own a Phonak audeo i90 which streams directly into my phone and vice versa. Do you struggle with word recognition? I’m in the same spot and cannot hear people clearly even with hearing aids.

Hello Freedom,

Your recent example did make me smile talking back in gibberish to the caller. It gave me a good idea of your needs. Although i don’t know what hearing aid you have to be specific I only know you have internet access and likely a computer and I clearly read you report as not technical for a Smartphone. So, to be as helpful I can confirm easy adaptors are available to allow the landline/office type phone to connect various methods to your hearing aids to try without spending money on a specific amplified phone. Next you should know that even if you don’t want a Smartphone or VOIP (internet phone basically) you can quite easily connect a computer/tablet to your phone line and use if for Live Capture Captioning to help you make sense of the callers.

I don’t know if you knew this and ive briefly scanned over other comments to see if anyone mentioned it. There are options to help you have opened the door first asking and hopefully we can all come together and suggest positive options for your case and not point solely to a Smartphone as the ONLY option. Best regards x