It is exciting to develop ideas and products to cater for all contingencies, and be best of breed. We do our best to procure advice from stakeholders including Govt entities, audiologists, architects, Access / Disability people, electrical designers and the like. Our fresh take on things is something we try and share as efficiently as we can. This science is a continually evolving one.
One part of this evolution is that the Federal Government currently supply hearing aids to learners with TWO different receivers on them. That is, one receiver brand receives transmissions via its proprietary platform. The second brand receives transmissions via a unique Bluetooth platform.
And, not all Australian learners have aids that can receive TSwitch / induction signals.
There has been a bundle of changes in recent years; five years ago, one brand of receiver was attached to aid supplied by the Federal Government, then it changed to a completely different brand of receiver, and now two types of receivers are being supplied.
Phew! This means it is crucial to embrace hearing augmentation technology that is not tied to any one transmission platform.
So what is the answer?
We have taken risk out of hearing augmentation in Schools.
That is why Hear and Learn’s UConnect hearing aug solutions are specifically built so that both transmitters can be used, and can support other types of transmitters. Instructions we provide both physically on the in-classroom devices, in User Guides we provide to staff, are clear and obvious. Our ongoing HearAssist support means that staff will continue to understand issues of soundfield and hearing augmentation.
Please look at our Hearing Augmentation Solutions page.
Further, our performance-based solution mean that only a minimal amount of transmitters be procured – ie not one transmitter per room which is permanently installed – to minimise the risk of redundancy.
Sometimes educators want to stick with what they know but times have changed and will continue to change.
While we understand that it seems a good idea to adopt solutions that have been adopted in the past, the goalposts have moved.
Contact us for any advice.