Bluetooth adapter for office phones

I got hold of a second hand Jabra A7010 and it works great - only thing is that the sound is kindoff loud in my hearing aids. The phone is on the lowest volume and the Jabra cant be set for the earpiece volume. So currently I have to change the volume in my iPilot (remote) every time.

Plantronics do have a bluetooth one - Voyager 500A - I saw some of them on ebay the other day I think. Second hand without a headset. Was very tempted to buy it but will see how the Jabra goes.
I wonder if plantronics realise that we can use those adapters with our hearing aids, and iCom/Streamers. When I were looking I just asked for an adapter, because if you say its for a hearing aid the guy normally looks “blankly” at you. if you just ask for a normal bluetooth adapter, then they suddenly knows…

Thanks for that information I was looking at the Voyager 500a on amazon.com56 and was thinking about ordering it. I believe that I will order it and give it a try.
thanks again

@Gaba-gal said:

I saw some of those on Trademe (nz site) the other day, but they dont include handset lifters as far as I can see. If your phone cant be set to work without the handset you will want a handset lifter, most of the more advance office phones can so hopefully you wont need it. I got a handset lifter, because sometimes I dont have the icom on, so want to use the phone in “normal mode” too. Now I just hit my icom and the headset lifter lift the handset off the hook and I get connected. Pretty cool!!

Yes I saw those on Trademe too, they’re a lot more expensive than from Chinavasion.
Your reference to “handset lifter” has me a bit puzzled as haven’t come across that term before - do you mean the ability to answer the normal phone without lifting it off the cradle? If so, I can do that. However the Siemens Tek Connect comes with a bluetooth remote which picks up the phone call simply by pressing the on button. I’m hoping to use it with my Vtech office phone.
dougy

@dougy said:

Has anyone tried one of these?
http://www.chinavasion.com/product_info.php/pName/bluetooth-landline-phone-adapter/

I’ve just ordered one in blind hope that it’ll work, will post my impressions once it arrives and I’ve tried it out. My HA’s are Siemens Pure 700 with Tek Connect.

Another option is the Oticon Connectline, but another thread reported that once their streamer had been paired with the Oticon, subsequent pairing with their cellphone was disrupted.
dougy

Chinavasion cancelled my order with no explanation, presumably no stock and a refund should come, here’s hoping…

Meantime, my audiologist loaned me an Oticon ConnectLine to try with my Siemens Tek Connect. It works fine, but no effective volume control. My phone is a Vtech mi6877. When the phone rings, I wait until I hear the ringing in my HA’s, then press once the green button on the Tek Connect Remote, and start yakking. Visitors are mighty impressed.
dougy

@dougy said:

Chinavasion cancelled my order with no explanation, presumably no stock and a refund should come, here’s hoping…

Meantime, my audiologist loaned me an Oticon ConnectLine to try with my Siemens Tek Connect. It works fine, but no effective volume control. My phone is a Vtech mi6877. When the phone rings, I wait until I hear the ringing in my HA’s, then press once the green button on the Tek Connect Remote, and start yakking. Visitors are mighty impressed.
dougy

It turned out that Chinavasion cancelled my order because I had asked for the item to be sent to my PO Box. However they refunded my money so that was something. I bought one from TradeMe (New Zealand) eventually, $NZ135. It works fine, but I do get a lot of feedback of my own voice into my hearing aids if I have the Tek Remote too close. Does anyone know how to fix that?

The Oticon Connectline I’ve had on demo works better, but is 3 times the price. Also, the functions on the Tek Remote are different to Oticon’s own streamer, so not all the controls work.
dougy

I heard back from Plantronics this week from a contact I made last week and they are saying the 510S is discontinued. I think this was the latest model that had bluetooth. The base connects to the landline phone and transmits via bluetooth to your hearing aid bluetooth device. Their advice, and I’m not joking, is to find a dealer that still has inventory. They have no similar replacement device coming out.

The problem is that they are using DECT now instead of bluetooth. The new bases connect to the landline phone and transmit to their proprietary headset using DECT which gives them a much greater range.

Maybe the Jabra device will be the answer.

Hi Don, we are a Plantronics dealer in Austin, TX and I just came upon this forum because I was doing a google search for one of my customers who has the Oticon Streamer. We still have a handful of the discontinued Voyager 500A on the shelf as well as a few of the complete set Voyager 510S (which includes the base and the headset which you probably won’t need) as of this moment (6/13/12). If you are still looking for one of these, please feel free to give us a call at (800)333-0020. Thanks!
Denise
Founders Telecom

@founderstelecom said:

Hi Don, we are a Plantronics dealer in Austin, TX and I just came upon this forum because I was doing a google search for one of my customers who has the Oticon Streamer. We still have a handful of the discontinued Voyager 500A on the shelf as well as a few of the complete set Voyager 510S (which includes the base and the headset which you probably won’t need) as of this moment (6/13/12). If you are still looking for one of these, please feel free to give us a call at (800)333-0020. Thanks!
Denise
Founders Telecom

Thanks, Denise. They did order one for me at work and it is working fine. I highly recommend the Plantronics 500A base for use with a bluetooth hearing aid device.

We just changed to new phones, the Cisco 7942G and it has a headset port. There is a cable, an electronic switchhook cable, called the APC-4 that connects to the headset port and the Aux port of the phone and then to the 500A. It makes the lifter unnecessary. I should get that in about a week.

@RegularGuy said:

I began to pursue this strategy for my Bernafon Acriva hearing aids…communicating internally with my telecom people at the office, but they were not helpful, and I just dropped it. Do you know if my aids will likely pair with the wireless plantronic gear I have at my office…using these strategies?

Ira Zukerman

You will need the Bernafon Soundgate bluetooth device. That’s what actually connects to the bluetooth phone. I use the Plantronics MDA200 device. It has a port where you connect a “headset” and they also make a Plantronics BT300 dongle (Bluetooth) to fit that port on the MDA200 to connect to a wireless Bluetooth headset. To the MDA200 and BT300 your Bernafon Soundgate looks like a wireless Bluetooth headset.

The MDA200 connects to either your phone or your computer, depending on how your company handles office calls. If you use an actual phone and not your computer you will also need the Plantronics EHS cable for your specific phone model. The phone needs to be a model that has a headset jack but there is a way to do it if you don’t have that type of phone, but headset jack is better.

So you would insert the BT300 into the MDA200. Then you would connect the MDA200 to the phone using the EHS cable for that specific phone model (different cable for different phones). Then you would pair your Soundgate bluetooth device to the BT300, or for people with other brands of hearing aids, pair your hearing aid bluetooth phone device to the BT300. Your bluetooth phone device will look like a bluetooth headset to the MDA200. Mine works great. There are two wheels for adjustments on the bottom of the MDA200 and I did have to fiddle with those to get a good connection with no static.

I have found this thread as I’m about to get a pair of Bluetooth enabled hearing aids for the first time. At work, we have a Fonality HUD system and I’ve been using a Plantronics wireless over the ear headset (not always the best for use with an ITE hearing aid but not awful) and researching what I will need to use with the new aids. I’ve found the Plantronics PL-MDABDL here :https://www.btpi.com/index.cfm?page=_n_pd5&model=PL-MDABDL12 What I am looking for information on here or online and am unable to determine is the microphone aspect. When I receive a call, how are you able to accept the call and what does this device use as a microphone if I am away from my desk. We keep pretty mobile here at my workplace and all of our headsets are wireless. Is there a microphone you have to wear with this? Sorry for all the questions - just surprised there is not better info on the product description and I’m unable to call for assistance as I’m working without the hearing aids at this time due to an accidental loss.

Hi Don
My voyager as seen it’s days. I’m looking t the mda 200
I have the cisco 7961 office phone
What exactly do I need to order to make this work
I just got the naida 90 and the compilot

Also I have my voyager going into the head set port. I forgot which setting 3 or 4. And do I need to press the head set button

Regards scott

@rxscott63 said:

Hi Don
My voyager as seen it’s days. I’m looking t the mda 200
I have the cisco 7961 office phone
What exactly do I need to order to make this work
I just got the naida 90 and the compilot

Also I have my voyager going into the head set port. I forgot which setting 3 or 4. And do I need to press the head set button

Regards scott

Hello Scott,

If you have the Voyager 500 base you may be able to use the same EHS cable from it, otherwise you will need:

1. Plantronics MDA200 (the main device that connects to your office phone and PC)
2. Plantronics SSP2714-01 (this is the dongle that is like the BT300 dongle but is somehow optimized for hearing aid bluetooth devices)
3. Plantronics EHS cable for your specific office phone. Plantronics makes cables for all brands of phones.
4. Bluetooth hearing aid device for your brand of hearing aid. For example, I have Resound hearing aids so I have the Resound Phone Clip+ bluetooth device. You will use your Compilot.

I had to play with the numbered wheel settings on the bottom of the MDA200 to get it just right. I was getting my own voice feeding back through. I thought I would have to send everything back and then found a setting that completely fixed that for my setup (slider on A and both wheels on 2).

Once you are connected you can either use the headset button to start a call or the button on your hearing aid device. I have the MDA200 connected to both my deskphone and my desktop computer so I can hear training videos on the computer through the device and since I have a microphone device (bluetooth hearing aid device) I can participate in online meetings without separately dialing a phone number.

Please let me know how it goes and if there is anything I can do to help.