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Picking the Right Mobile Phone if You Use a Hearing Aid

Hearing aids have not previously always worked well

with cellular phones, because of electronic

interference between the two devices that caused

static, whistling or squealing noises, or lost words.

Thankfully, improvements in technology and new

government regulations have made the issue “Will

this phone work with my hearing aid?” easier to

answer. The regulations mandated new labeling

requirements and ratings that help you to find a cell

phone that works well with your hearing aid.

Understanding the rating system requires a bit of knowledge about the modes that

hearing aids can operate in. There is an M mode (which stands for microphone) and a

T mode (which stands for telecoil). In M mode, your hearing aid uses its built-in

microphone to pick up audible sounds from the environment and amplify them so

that you can hear them. In T mode, the hearing aid uses telecoil technology instead.

The hearing aid is able to pick up the electromagnetic signals from inside the phone

directly. Roughly 60 percent of all cell phones sold in the US have a telecoil (T) mode.

The rating system for these two modes of hearing aid operation uses a scale that

ranges from the lowest sensitivity (1) to the highest sensitivity (4). To be sold in the

United States as hearing aid compatible (HAC), a mobile phone or cordless handset

must have a rating of at least M3 or T3.

In addition, many hearing aids (and cochlear implants) have a similar M and T rating

to measure their sensitivity and their resistance to radio frequency interference.

When shopping for a phone, to determine its compatibility with your hearing aid,

simply add its M and T ratings together with those of the phone to create a combined

rating. A sum of 6 or more makes a solid pairing. That hearing aid and mobile phone

combination should work well for you. A sum of 5 is considered normal and should

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work fine for typical cell phone users. If the combined rating is 4, this is thought of as

acceptable but not very usable if you make a lot of extended phone calls.

If you are shopping for a mobile phone online, you can usually use this combined

rating to determine how compatible the phone you are interested in buying will be

with your hearing aid. A better approach, of course, would be to go to a store that

allows you to “try before you buy,” and actually use the phone you want while

wearing your hearing aid, in both M and T modes.