Cordless phones with telecoil

@user26 said:

T-coil works for other processes. Any ideas?

If your T Coil works for other things then it’s obviously the phone might not have the option for T Coil.

Thanks, Zebras. Where are you located? I googled the same question and got the same response that you posted. Looking closer, however, I see it was posted from the UK.

Here in the US the Federal Communications Commission requires all landline phones to be be hearing aid compatible which, among other things, means it should work with a telecoil. My phone says it is HAC.

@user26 said:

My phone says it is HAC.

I’ve just googled what HAC means.

HAC doesn’t mean it has telecoil, it means there won’t be any interference with the hearing aid when using it.

Sometimes tho, it means there is also telecoil as well but not always.

Thank you prior contributors! All helpful info!

I am seeking additional help from people who have successfully used telecoils before. One of my big current obstacles is the landline phone at work. They use a complicated extension/switchboard system that is reportedly partly VOIP and partly traditional phone line. If it matters, the phones are NEC-400 models like in the attached photo, and I am using Naida L-90-SP Behind-the-ear (BTE) hearing aids.

My audiologist gave me two programs from Phonak to try: One is “Phone via T-coil + mic” and the other is “Public T-coil + mic". I have had limited success using the “Public T-coil + mic” program with borrowed little individual receivers broadcasting through personal neck loops at two different public venues. I had to hold the “neck” loops directly touching my hearing aids for sound to be received. The sound was clear (and the songs had understandable lyrics!!!) when I held things just right but it was difficult to keep things held perfectly.

I asked my audiologist to adjust to make more T-coil and less microphone, but she was skeptical that was a good idea and she adjusted it only a little. In one auditorium that had a public loop, the “Phone via T-coil + mic” program seemed to work a bit better than the “Public T-coil + mic” option, much to my surprise, but neither worked well.

Can anyone tell me the supposed difference in function between the “Phone via T-coil + mic” and the “Public T-coil + mic" programs?

If I manually activate the “Phone via T-coil +mic” program, then no magnet should be needed, right? The magnet is just for activating the program? Would a magnet be needed in addition to the program?

Are there “old fashioned” landline phone replacement hand sets that work better as T-coil broadcasters than the one that came with my desk phone, which seems to have zero ability to send info to my telecoil enabled hearing aids–not even static.

Are there corded headphones or ear clips that broadcast better to tele-coil enabled hearing aids than the personal neck loops at some public venues?

My mobile phone has a good “t-rating” but there does not seem to be any benefit while using it from the hearing aid t-coil programs in comparison to the default program. My mobile phone bluetooth to hearing aid bluetooth connection works fabulously, however! I wish bluetooth were an option for my work phone but it does not seem to be. Does anyone know how to retrofit an old phone with modern bluetooth in a way that does not prevent phone users other than me from still being able to use the phone normally?

Can anyone suggest a reliable way for me to test if it is my hearing aid t-coil hardware that is faulty, versus if my programs are not yet up-to-snuff, versus if all of the phone/neckloop/auditorium technology has coincidentally all been faulty?

Thank you!

I think I would focus on using the headset jack out to a bluetooth transmitter that can send audio to the aids and receive mic input from the aids back to the caller if the aids can do full handsfree.

As much as I think a telecoil is a nice discrete method, I think this application could be better with bluetooth.