There’s no better time to help yourself hear better than now. Hearing aids can improve your personal and professional life through better communication and the advances in Bluetooth hearing aids can keep you connected to your audio devices. We are well-versed in technological advances in hearing aids at Neighborhood Hearing Aid Centers and we offer free hearing tests. Call today because there is so much you miss when your hearing loss is not addressed. Sounds contribute to the overall satisfaction we get from everyday living and we’re here to make sure you don’t miss anything.
Bluetooth Advancements
In the past, hearing aids limited access to certain mobile audio devices like mobile phones and personal music players. So, if you wanted music while you were jogging or working out, you would have to take out your hearing aids so you could use earbuds.
Today’s wireless hearing aids give wearers the ability to connect with most personal devices and stream directly to hearing aids. Bluetooth is actually a wireless communication platform that facilitates the movement of data between one electronic device and another. Radio waves at a very high frequency transmit the data in a secure manner. Bluetooth has been incorporated into a wide range of products.Apple has patented specific Bluetooth connectivity with hearing aids so a number of hearing aids can communicate with the platform that runs the “i” products – iPhone, iPad and iPod. This technology lets devices communicate directly with each other without taking a bunch of battery load. Most hearing aid manufacturers have hearing aids that pair with Bluetooth and, Google is working on hearing aids that are compatible with Android devices.
What If Your Hearing Aids Aren’t Bluetooth Compatible?
If you don’t have the capacity to direct stream with the hearing aids you have, professionals at the Neighborhood Hearing Aid Centers can talk to you about new models. If you like what you have now, but want to stream, there are some options.
Wireless hearing aids can use compatible assistive listening devices which are sometimes called streamers. A streamer can provide a communication link from the wireless capacity you have in your hearing aids to any Bluetooth enabled device. The streamer is an external device that looks like a light-weight remote control. You usually wear it around your neck and it’s not much larger than an ID on a lanyard. Or, you can keep it in a pocket. When you set it up, it can pick up the Bluetooth signal from your phone or other Bluetooth device and send it back to your hearing aids via an FM signal.
Benefits of Streaming
Streaming gives you a personalized listening experience. The sound experience using streaming is far superior than using your hearing aids with other electronic devices.
You can adjust the volume of a streamed signal. Depending on what model of hearing aid you have, the volume is either adjusted on the hearing aid or on the streamer. If you are listening to music, you don’t need earbuds, the sound comes directly into your hearing aids. So, they become, wireless earbuds. You can stream from your phone into one hearing aid and use the other to listen to sounds in your environment. No more moving the phone around trying to get the sound to interact with the microphone in your hearing aid! If your hearing aids are calibrated differently for each year, the streaming volume can be adjusted accordingly.
You can multi-task! More than one device can be paired with a streamer at one time and you can switch back and forth from devices. You can stay connected to your phone while you are streaming a movie or television show from your tablet. With the streamer, you can pause audio on your tablet and take a phone call. Some streamers act like remote controls and you can adjust the volume of the show you are watching that is streaming to your hearing aids.
Since Bluetooth is a standard data platform you don’t have to worry about it working with one device and not another. It’s also secure and not subject to transmission interference. It will work in your car and it means you can talk on the phone “hands free.”
Give your Neighborhood Hearing Aid Center a call today and we can discuss how to enhance your listening experience with Bluetooth streaming.