Hearing Aid Accessories
A telecoil is a common hearing aid accessory that picks
up the magnetic field generated by almost all phones and many other
devices and uses it as the input for the aid, instead of the microphone
– this allows the listener to bypass background noise and interference
and get a better quality sound when on the phone.
Many theaters and churches also have this technology in the form of
a headset or receiver the listener can wear that is enabled with telecoil
technology. These devices are usually marked as “hearing aid compatible”.
An additional hearing aid accessory found in some aids is direct audio
input – like a telecoil this also bypasses the inbuilt microphone
in favor of an external source, but instead of a telecoil it uses a
simple standard audio jack which any device with an audio out can be
plugged into. Usually this is only used in behind-the-ear style hearing
aids due to the bulk of the jack. Some smaller type of hearing aid feature
Bluetooth wireless technology however, meaning that your hearing aid
can wirelessly connect to a Bluetooth enabled phone or computer.