Finding the Right Cell Phone for You
This panel was moderated by Suzan Mazrui from AT&T. The panel members
were Shelly Blakeney from T-Mobile, Paula Hall from Sprint, and Scott
Kelley from Motorola.
Susan began the discussion by pointing out the things you should do
before deciding on a particular phone. One important task is ensuring that
the service you are considering has good coverage in the places you need
it, including your home, where you work, and other locations that you
frequent.
Another decision to consider is the kind of plan you want. If you want
the phone primarily for emergency use, you would want a different plan
than if you intended to use it as your primary (or only) phone. It's
worthwhile to talk to friends with similar lifestyles to learn about their
plans and how they like them.
You also want to consider if the service and a particular phone support
text messaging, which is especially useful for people with hearing loss.
Also, are the service and the phone TTY-compatible?
Also, some companies, including AT&T, have a 411 (information) service
that can do things like text you the address of a restaurant you're
interested in.
Another feature you might be interested in is conference calling or
three way calling. This is another feature that might be especially
valuable for people with hearing loss. For example, my dad, who is 88 and
has hearing loss, went to the doctor and thought the doctor told him that
his gall bladder was gone! My brother and I were sure that Dad
misunderstood, so my brother called the doctor. But the doctor couldn't
give him any information, due to privacy regulations. So we set up a
three-way call between Dad and the doctor, with my brother also on the
call. It turns out that Dad did hear the doctor right. Apparently it's not
uncommon for the gall bladder to gradually shrink as a person ages.
Additional features that you might want to consider include caller ID,
a calendar function with reminders, and web browsing.
Of course, one of your primary concerns will be that the phone doesn't
interfere with your hearing aid or CI, either in microphone or telecoil
mode.
The next speaker was Scott Kelley from Motorola. He discussed the
rating system that indicates how likely a phone is to cause interference
with a hearing aid or CI. Phones that have been tested will have an
M-rating and a T-rating. The M-rating indicates how secure the phone is
from causing interference when the hearing aid is using the microphone,
and the T-rating indicates how secure the phone is from causing
interference when the hearing aid is using the telecoil. Each rating
system is from one to four, with four being the best. (The T-rating also
considers the strength of the magnetic coupling, which is important for
stimulating the hearing aid's telecoil.)
Note that hearing aids and CIs are also rated from one to four for
susceptibility to interference on both microphone and telecoil mode. To
determine the likelihood that a particular phone will interfere with a
particular number, the ratings for the phone and the hearing aid (or CI)
are added together. Totals of four are considered usable, five is
considered ok for normal use, and six or greater considered excellent.
The bottom line is that just relying on the phone rating is a mistake.
Even a phone with a rating of four may cause interference if your hearing
aid is rated one.
Each of the rating numbers represents a range of about 5db; some
devices perform at the top of the range and others perform at the bottom
of the range. For example, a device at the bottom of the four rating is
only marginally better than a device at the top of the three rating.
Audiologists and hearing aid dispensers often ask me which phone they
should recommend to their hearing aid clients. That's an impossible
question to answer without knowing a lot more about the client and how
they want to use the phone. But it's also not their job! They're trained
to fit hearing aids, not recommend phones!
The panel then opened the floor to questions, with each member having
an opportunity to respond to each question.
Q. How do customers find out about what hearing aid compatible (HAC)
phones you have?
Shelley suggested that people visit their website or go to a T-Mobile
store. They offer HAC phones with various features and in different price
ranges. They encourage people to test the handset before they purchase it,
and have a 30-day return policy.
Paula suggested that folks interested in Sprint could also either visit
their website or one of their company stores. They include the spec sheets
for all their phones on their website, and the spec sheets include the M
and T ratings. They also encourage people to try a phone at a Sprint store
before purchasing, and offer a 30-day return.
Susan reported that AT&T policies are similar to those at T-Mobile and
Sprint. She also pointed out that many of these policies only apply if you
deal with a company store. None of the service providers can do anything
about a contract you have with an independent organization.
Scott mentioned that people can visit the Motorola website for
information on their phones. He also pointed out that Motorola is a
handset manufacturer, not a cell phone service provider. Motorola makes
the handsets and sells them to T-Mobile, Sprint, and AT&T. So you won't
find a Motorola store.
Q. Are there ratings on Bluetooth?
A Scott replied that Bluetooth is a very low-power interface intended
for short distances and does not have M and T ratings.
Q. Weren't the ratings really developed for hearing aids? If so, are
they applicable to CIs?
A. Scott replied that the ratings were originally developed for hearing
aids, but that they also apply pretty well to CIs. There are some
differences, but they're much like the differences between individual
hearing aids.
Q. I've heard that CDMA has less interference than GSM. Is that true?
A. Scott replied that it's true that different services use different
technologies, and that different technologies cause different levels of
interference with particular hearing aids. Sprint and Verizon use CDMA,
while T-Mobile and AT&T use GSM. It's sometimes harder to get a GSM phone
to have a rating of four. But the best way to determine if a particular
phone will interfere with your hearing is to try it!
Q. Some consumers like to use amplified neckloops with standard 2.5 or
3.5 mm plugs, but they are incompatible with the proprietary plugs used by
the manufacturers. Do you see that changing?
A. Scott replied that he echoed the frustration expressed by the user,
and acknowledged that the policy is generally the handset manufacturer's,
rather than the service provider's. He noted that a user can generally buy
an adapter that allows him to used his standard neckloop.
Q. Suppose a consumer has a two-year service agreement and their phone
interferes with their new hearing aids?
A. Susan replied that AT&T tries to accommodate those kinds of
situations on an individual basis. Shelly and Paula reported that their
companies had similar policies.
C. Arizona recently passes a law requiring audiologists and hearing aid
dispensers to inform clients about telecoils. The fact that a law is
required speaks to the state of hearing aid dispensing, and I think we as
consumers need to educate the dispensers about the importance of
telecoils.
