BLACKBERRY BOLD 9700 & TELECOIL: A user’s perspective
By Jody Lee Bell I had had my Cochlear Implant (CI) a year before I decided that I needed to find a cell phone that I could use together with my CI. We did a bit of research and also spoke with other CI recipients to find out which phones they were using. One person in particular, Andrea, from Hear2Day (www.hear2day.co.za) loved her BB Bold and was using it very successfully. My mom set up an appointment with the representative of Blackberry (BB) at Bayside Mall and I got my first experience of using its telecoil functionality. You must remember that before this I had never been able to use a cell phone at all. The BB rep went into the Options settings of the phone, then to Hearing Aid Mode and selected “Turn On”. The BB bold has the following Hearing Aid (and/or CI) compatible rating: M3 and T3.
Understanding Hearing Aid Compatible Ratings:
The FCC in America defines Hearing Aid Compatibility (HAC) for cell phones in terms of radio-frequency (RF) emissions—the "M" (microphone) rating, and telecoil coupling—the "T" (t-coil) rating. The rating scale ranges from 1 to 4. The four possibilities are: M1 or T1 (poor), M2 or T2 (fair), M3 or T3 (good) and M4 or T4 (excellent). Only phones rated 3 or 4 are allowed to be sold as hearing aid compatible (HAC). Phones that would have only been rated 1 or 2 are deemed unacceptable.
- "M" (Microphone) Rating
If you use your cell phone while wearing your hearing aids in the microphone ("M") mode, look for one that is rated M3 or M4. (M4 is better.) This does not guarantee that these phones will be interference-free with your specific hearing aids. However, the higher the rating, the less likely you will be to experience interference. Also, note that just because a cell phone is not rated does not mean it will cause interference—they may or may not—but unrated phones are much more likely to do so. (How much interference a cell phone causes depends to a large extent on the transmission technology used: i.e. CDMA, iDEN, TDMA or GSM with CDMA being the best and GSM the worst.)
- "T" Telecoil Rating
If you use your cell phone while wearing your hearing aids and/or CI in t-coil ("T") mode, look for a phone that is rated T3 or T4. (T4 is better.) Again, this will not guarantee that these phone will be interference-free when using your t-coils, but the higher the rating, the less likely it is that you will experience interference. Note that phones rated as T3 or T4 must also be rated either M3 or M4. Therefore, phones rated as good for t-coils will also have been rated good when used with hearing aids in the microphone mode.
- Possible Ratings for Rated Phones
There are only 6 possible ratings allowed by the FCC for cell phones rated as being hearing aid compatible (HAC). The phone could be rated (from worst to best):
- M3
-
M4Phones rated M4/T4 have the best chance of being interference-free whether used with your hearing aids in microphone or t-coil mode.
- M3/T3
- M4/T3 (or M3/T4)
-
M4/T4
Okay, so now that the explanation is finished; back to the story. My mom called the BB reps cell number (as I had his phone) and despite being in a very noisy shopping mall environment and being quite a distance away from my mom, I heard and understood what she was saying. Amazing – I had my first cell phone conversation! Below is a picture of the BB Bold.
As I was not yet due for a cell phone upgrade, my mom decided to buy the BB Bold in Dubai as it was much cheaper. I also need to mention that my CI is on 100% telecoil so that when I am using the T-coil I do not hear any other noise; this makes the listening experience a bit easier. Using the cell phone, even with T-coil, did not just happen overnight. I still struggle with certain people’s voices, but it does get easier over time. One really has to practice to use the cell phone on a regular basis. All I can say is, thank goodness for technology!
