Hear Clearly on the Phone

As most people age, they find that their hearing is not what it once was. And one of the most difficult things to do if you have hearing loss is to talk on the telephone. Because of the absence of visual cues, you may find it more difficult to guess words you didn’t understand completely, and you can easily find yourself losing the thread of the conversation.

Amplify Your Conversation
A simple solution to this problem is an amplified telephone. These readily available devices come in different strengths, 30 decibels (dB) of amplification for mild hearing loss, 40 dB of amplification for moderate hearing loss, and 50 dB of amplification for severe hearing loss.

With these special telephones, you can adjust the tone as well as the volume during a conversation. If your audiologist has told you that you have hearing loss within specific frequencies, this is a good feature for you. Amplified phones also have a loud ring and often come with a light that will flash when the phone rings. They come with the standard telephone features you’ve grown to expect, like cordless models, built-in answering machines, and caller ID.

Refit Existing Phones
If you would rather not buy a new phone, you can always add an amplifier to a corded telephone. These little amplifiers, called in-line amplifiers, plug in between the handset and the base of your phone and allow you to control the tone and volume of a call without buying a whole new phone.  While they won’t affect the volume of your telephone’s ring, they can make speaking on the telephone a pleasant experience again.