Telephones & Hearing Aid Compatibility

The Hearing Aid Compatibility (HAC) Act of 1988 requires all landline telephones manufactured or imported for use in the United States to be hearing aid compatible. In other words, all corded and cordless telephones that plug into a jack in the wall must provide inductive and acoustic connections that allow hearing instrument (and/or cochlear implant) users to communicate by phone.  At the time Congress passed the law, cell phones were exempt since Congress considered this technology non-essential. As such, many hearing instrument wearers experienced a loud buzzing noise when trying to use cell phones. In the past 5 years, the government has responded by partially lifting the exemption of cell phones from HAC, mandating compliance with ANSI C63.91. For more information on cell phone interference, see the previous post in this blog entitled No-Buzz Cell Phone Solutions.

When the HAC Act was mandated, all cordless phones were 900 MHz analog devices and, therefore, worked well with hearing instruments.  Since then, cordless telephone technology has evolved to digital products operating at the 2.4 GHz or 5.8 GHz frequencies. Unfortunately, this caused hearing instrument users to experience the same audible buzzing noise seen with cell phone use when trying to use a landline cordless telephone!

As a result of consumer feedback, the Telecommunications Industry Association (TIA) and cordless phone manufacturers formed a working group to address the issue and offer a solution. The outcome was the development of TIA-1083 , a performance benchmark  outlining digital cordless telephone performance measurement requirements designed to reduce interference hearing instrument users were prone to experiencing. Many corded phone manufacturers have indicated phased-in commitments to 100% compliance by 2010 although this is not necessarily a mandated requirement of all cordless phones. Cordless phones meeting the requirements of this standard will typically be labeled as TIA-1083 compliant on the packaging. So, if your hearing instrument patients are concerned about getting a cordless telephone that is hearing aid compliant, the best choice is to choose a phone that is TIA-1083 compliant.

About AU Bankaitis

A.U. Bankaitis, PhD is a clinical Audiologist with extensive clinical, research, and business experience within the hearing industry. Dr. Bankaitis created this blog to educate her colleagues on viable product solutions for their patients and/or clinical practice.
This entry was posted in Hearing Assistance Technology and tagged , , , , , , , , . Bookmark the permalink.

5 Responses to Telephones & Hearing Aid Compatibility

  1. hearing aid says:

    I like your article and it really gives an outstanding idea that is very helpful for all the people on the web
    Hearing aid

  2. hearing aid says:

    I would really like your post ,it would really explain each and every point clearly well thanks for sharing.
    Hearing aid

  3. Pingback: United Telephone Jack

Comments are closed.