The primary functions of the BeHear PROXY neck speaker are:

1. To provide a comfortable and convenient way to listen to streamed audio (from a television, smartphone, laptop, gaming console, music player, etc.).

2. To allow you to participate in mobile/video calls.

For these use cases Bluetooth is required, and both “ears free” loudspeaker mode and earphones mode are supported.

A secondary function of the BeHear PROXY is to provide hearing amplification for live conversations and ambient sounds. No Bluetooth is required for this functionality, which is supported in earphones mode only. For best results, however, we recommend personalizing what you hear by performing the Hearing Assessment in the W&H BeHear app, which requires a Bluetooth connection to the smartphone on which it is installed. Upon completion of the assessment your unique hearing profile will be programmed into the BeHear PROXY neck speaker, and the Bluetooth connection will no longer be needed.

The answer is no. Personal Hearing mode in BeHear PROXY works only when you have the earbuds in your ears. Only Bluetooth-streamed audio (from a paired device, such as your mobile phone, television, computer, audio transmitter, gaming console, etc.) will reach your ears in Loudspeaker mode.

Yes, our assistive hearing headsets are designed to give you personalized amplification for computer-generated audio and conference calls, as well as live conversations.

For conference calls with apps such as Skype, Zoom, MS Teams, Google Meet, and WebEx, you will simply need to pair the BeHear headset with the sound source (smartphone or computer) and select BeHear in the conference platform’s audio settings.

Oftentimes, when you connect BeHear to your computer, you will see two BeHear entries: one as Headphone and one as Headset. For best results we recommend the following:

• For 2-way communication – Use the headset entry if you are on a video or audio call and the headset communication is two-way (send and receive).
• For 1-way communication (streaming only) – Use the headphone entry if you will be using BeHear for music/audio listening.

1. To connect your BeHear headset to a Windows PC desktop computer, first you must place the headset into pairing mode (when the headset is OFF, press the power button for several seconds until the LED flashes alternating red and blue lights).
2. Then (and only then!) go to Settings > Bluetooth & other devices on your Windows PC.
3. Click the “Add Bluetooth or other device” option
   
4. Click “Bluetooth”:
   
5. Your BeHear headset will appear as an audio device in the list next to a “headphone” icon. Click on this device name to connect:
   

Note: If you don’t follow the sequence detailed above, and instead start searching for new device in the PC while your headset is simply ON (not in pairing mode), BeHear will appear in the list as unknown device, with no “audio” under the name and no “headphone” icon next to it. Connecting to this device will not activate BeHear as a headphone/headset.

Sure! BeHear products connect to practically any Bluetooth-supported device (such as an iPad, music player, or other tablet) to stream audio directly to your headset. For tips on connecting multiple Bluetooth devices to your headset see this video (for BeHear NOW) and this video (for BeHear ACCESS).

1. As the headset can be connected to two devices at any one time, you need to make sure it’s not currently channeling the audio from any other device you may have connected (iPad/tablet/HearLink, etc.)
2. In order to make sure your headset is connected to the computer, double-click the speaker icon on the Windows lower menu bar.  
   The name that appears should be “BeHear” and not “Speakers”. If you see the name “Speakers” click the ^ (arrow). If the BeHear is connected properly you will be able to see it listed under the list of playback devices. Choose the “Headset” option.
3. When connecting to a desktop / Windows computer, the BeHear headset can appear in two different listings, once as a “Headset” and once as “Headphones”.
4. Only the “Headset” listing will enable the BeHear microphones to transmit (the “HeadPhones” setting uses BeHear as a speaker only). Try switching between these two options.
5. If you are using a communication application, such as Skype or Zoom, it is not enough to specify in the computer settings that the BeHear headset should be the audio device. You will also need to specify it in the communication application’s audio settings.

This sometimes happens when two Bluetooth devices (e.g., your smartphone and a computer) are both connected to the BeHear headset. We recommend disconnecting the device which is not currently in use for the purposes of the call.

Yes, absolutely!

Depending on the application, BeHear may appear either as a headset or as a headphone, just like most other Bluetooth headphones.

For most music players it will be listed as a “headphone” while for messaging services, such as Skype/Viber/WeChat etc., it will be listed as a “headset”.