How W&H Has Changed Elisabeth’s Life
BeHear ACCESS Customer Shares Her Experience
♦ “The first time I truly understood the ACCESS actually works as advertised was during breakfast in the noisiest restaurant in town with friends. Midway through our meal, I realized that I was hearing the conversation just fine, and I felt my tension fall away as I relaxed and just enjoyed being with my friends.” ♦
“I am an 83-year old woman who has never worn hearing aids. When I had my hearing tested, the audiologist recommended hearing aids that cost $6,000, plus the cost of an iPhone, plus tax—roughly $7,300. I thought that was obscene! I went immediately to the internet and searched for alternatives. That’s how I found Wear & Hear. I learned that they were releasing a follow-up to the BeHear NOW, and I wanted to be one of their first customers.
It took a few months to receive my device [until the official release -Ed.], but it was worth the wait. The BeHear ACCESS is brilliant! My main problem was that my ear canal is so small I couldn’t use any combinations of the ear buds and hooks. Fearing that I wouldn’t be able to use the device, I contacted Wear & Hear and they responded immediately. Their technician suggested using it without buds or hooks. For me, that worked perfectly! I have not been self conscious about wearing it. Even people who knew I was going to be receiving the device ask me what I’m listening to. I say, “You.”
I discovered that the senior center where I attend an exercise class offers individual hearing loops, which enabled me to use Telecoil mode. I was surprised to be able to discern words in what had been mostly a wall of noise from the public address system.
The last time I attended a program at our local theatre, I heard about 20% of what the speaker said. I knew I couldn’t go back. After I received BeHear’s ACCESS, I contacted the theatre and was delighted to learn that they support Telecoil. I’ll be back!
My favorite feature is the [EasyListen -Ed.] Slow, Slower, Slowest settings with phone calls—so handy when you’re trying to listen to a fast talker! Next is ListenThrough. I have several friends who wear top-of-the-line hearing aids (we’re talking $6,000-$8,000), and they have nothing that is comparable. Most of them ask if I mind having something around my neck, and I tell them I don’t; in fact, I don’t even notice it except when the cords catch on my clothing. In any case, it’s a small inconvenience when you consider the price difference! I always point out that any high tech device is going to be obsolete in 6-12 months, and I can afford to buy a new BeHear device every year for the rest of my life for half of what one pair of high end hearing aids would cost in the first year. And, because it is rechargeable, I won’t be bothered with those pesky little batteries that die at exactly the wrong time.
One of the things I appreciate about Alango is that they have democratized hearing help by making the device compatible with an old version of Android (4.4) at a very affordable price. Their mission is to provide hearing technology to as many people as possible; however, they are not motivated solely by money—there is an altruistic element to what they are doing. To understand what I mean, everybody should read The Future Is Now: “How we can create an affordable, self-administered solution to hearing loss” with Dr. Alexander Goldin. ”
Elisabeth Starnes
Dedicated Customer
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Stylish, Over-the-Counter (OTC) Hearing Devices
“These headphones have good ergonomics.”
♦ Stewart Wolpin, a writer for Techlicious “Tech Made Simple”, recently included the BeHear ACCESS in his lineup of four new “Over the Counter” (also known as OTC) hearing devices.
As per the article, “Alango’s Wear & Hear BeHear ACCESS operate as regular behind-the-neck Bluetooth headphones, letting you listen to music, take calls, and adjust the volume of ambient sound. They also have a couple of OTC hearing aid extras.
If you have trouble following fast talkers or people with accents on phone calls, an EasyListen mode elongates consonants to remarkably improve comprehension. – Stewart Wolpin, Techlicious
“The BeHear Access are T-coil compliant, which means you’ll receive broadcasts directly to the headphones in loop-enabled public venues like theaters and churches. (You can tell by the ‘T’ designation on your program.)”
“And the headphones have good ergonomics: The headphone controls are extra-large, uniquely-shaped buttons you can control by feel, and there is a drop-in magnetic charger, so you don’t have to fiddle with tiny jacks and plugs.”
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Tech Expert “Ask Dave Taylor” Reviews BeHear ACCESS
“Good as Audio Headphones but Pretty Darn Amazing with Assistive Hearing”
♦ Tech expert Dave Taylor of https://www.AskDaveTaylor.com/ tried out the BeHear Access and found them to be good as audio headphones but pretty darn amazing with assistive hearing. Among its many features are easy charging, long battery life and full support for telecoil.
Hearing aids don’t have to look clunky and cost thousands of dollars if you only have mild to medium hearing loss. Just pair the amazing BeHear Access Assistive Hearing Aid Headphones to your smartphone. Then you can run a simple hearing test and have the BeHear Access automatically adjust for your actual hearing loss across the frequency spectrum. – Dave Taylor, Tech Expert
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Wear & Hear Featured in Hearing Technology Showcase
“These are not your grandpa’s hearing aids.”
♦ Vicki Dean, writing for the Herald-Tribune, recently interviewed spokespersons for companies showcasing their solutions at the Hearing Tech Expo, held February 15 at the Manatee Technical Institute in Bradenton, Florida.
In its eighth year, this event is sponsored annually by the HLAA Sarasota chapter. Hundreds attended to take advantage of free hearing clinics and workshops, to meet with various support groups, and to try out the latest in hearing health technology.
As first-time exhibitors at this event, we at Wear & Hear were honored to be interviewed by Ms. Dean, and mentioned in the subsequent article in the Herald-Tribune. Our products caught her eye when we launched the BeHear ACCESS, a personalizable hearing headset, at the CES 2020 event earlier in the year.
Of the new technologies showcased at the event, Ms. Dean wrote:
These are not your grandpa’s hearing aids…New devices function like Bluetooth headsets to amplify relevant sounds while filtering out background noise.
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Karl Strom Reviews BeHear ACCESS
“The BeHear ACCESS is among the best personal sound amplification products (PSAPs) that I’ve tried.”
♦ Karl Strom, Editor-in-Chief at The Hearing Review, included the BeHear ACCESS personalizable hearing headset in his blog covering hearing updates of note presented at CES 2020.
Specifically, he wrote:
“This hearable neckloop was an honoree in CES’s Accessibility, Tech for a Better World award category. The BeHear ACCESS is among the best personal sound amplification products (PSAPs) that I’ve tried. It has a very intuitive self-hearing assessment test (that was surprisingly accurate for my mild-to-moderate high frequency hearing loss) with corresponding ‘first-fit’ amplification and options for adjustment. Although it has a fairly high ‘nerd factor’ due to the neckloop, it does do a good job in selective listening situations as advertised: face-to-face conversations, public places, music and TV listening, streaming audio, and telephone conversations. Whenever I’m trying to remind myself about the potential bright side of future OTC hearing aids, BeHear and a half-dozen others are the ones that give me hope.”
“…it does do a good job in selective listening situations as advertised: face-to-face conversations, public places, music and TV listening, streaming audio, and telephone conversations.” – Karl Strom, Editor-in-Chief – The Hearing Review
Read the original article here.
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Induction Loops, Telecoils and BeHear ACCESS
The News
BeHear ACCESS, a Personalized Hearing Amplifier headset in the BeHear product line, incorporates telecoil receivers.
Function
Induction Loop Systems transmit wireless audio input via a magnetic field to telecoil receivers. These receivers are found in many hearing aids, some dedicated headphones, and, now, in BeHear ACCESS headsets. In an induction loop system there is no interference, no reverberation, no background noise, just the original signal transmitted directly from the input, whether that is the microphone on a podium, the audio system in a theater, the microphone the cashier is speaking into at the bank, or the music from the concert hall stage. This closed system provides people, especially those with hearing loss, an excellent way to hear voice and audio signals clearly, even in noisy places or when the sound source is far away.
Terminology
Induction Loop Systems were first introduced publicly in 1937 in a U.K. patent application for a system featuring what was then called a telephone coil. The term telephone coil has been shortened to telecoil or just T-Coil. Induction loops are also known as hearing loops, or simply “loops”.
Prevalence
Induction loop technology is common in Europe and the U.K. and is universally accepted as the international standard for hearing access. Installed base is growing rapidly in the United States as organizations such as HLAA (Hearing Loss Association of America) and others press venues to become compliant with the ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act).
Typically, induction loop systems can be found in:
- Places of Worship
- Concert Halls
- Theaters
- Universities
- Government Offices
- Banks
- Ticket Kiosks
- Post Offices
- Airports
- Museums
Hearing Loop Demonstrations
The following two animated hearing loop animations and explanations are provided with thanks to www.hearingloop.org — an excellent resource for more information on this technology.
T-Coil Support in BeHear ACCESS
BeHear ACCESS T-coils can be activated wherever a loop system is installed. The wearer simply chooses either the T-Coil Exclusive or T-Coil Transparent mode (from the W&H BeHear app Home page, or by scrolling through the Hearing presets using the middle button on the right-hand control box). Exclusive mode allows only the direct signal from the T-Coil transmission to reach the wearer’s ears, while Transparent mode allows nearby important sounds (such as a companion’s voice) to be heard as well.
Each BeHear ACCESS headset incorporates two T-Coils that are perpendicular to each other, thus greatly decreasing sensitivity to the wearer’s orientation in the magnetic field of an Induction Loop System.
Self-Tuned Bluetooth Hearing Amplifier with Telecoil Support Introduced
Designed to aid those with situational hearing loss, the BeHear® ACCESS personalizable hearing headset joins Alango’s Wear & Hear line of hearing enhancement and assistive listening devices
IFA – Berlin, Germany & Tirat Carmel, Israel — September 6, 2019 — Today at the IFA Berlin international tradeshow Alango Technologies Ltd. (“Alango”), a global leader in digital voice, audio, and hearing enhancement technologies, will introduce the latest member of the Wear & Hear line. BeHear ACCESS is a Personalized Hearing Amplifier housed in a stylish Bluetooth® stereo headset. It enhances hearing in various situations, such as face-to-face conversations, live concerts, mobile phone calls, streaming music, TV listening, and others. BeHear ACCESS integrates telecoil receivers making it ideal for use in venues equipped with Induction Loop Systems. Alango will also introduce HearLink™ Plus, a long-range, low latency audio transmitter. This device channels sound from audio sources (such as television sets) directly to BeHear headsets to clarify and personalize the listening experience.
BeHear ACCESS hearing amplifier HearLink PLUS Bluetooth transmitter
Addressing Growing Concerns About the Prevalence of Untreated Hearing Loss Worldwide
According to recent data from World Health Organization, around 466 million people worldwide have disabling hearing loss, and that number will practically double by the year 2050. Untreated hearing loss is associated with isolation, cognitive decline, and dementia. Globally, hearing aids provide a solution to less than 3% of those that could benefit. Factors for low hearing aid uptake include high cost, stigma, limited functionality, and the long fitting (personalization) process.
“With our Wear & Hear line, we aim to change the unfortunate worldwide hearing health situation. Alango leverages almost two decades of practical experience developing digital sound processing technologies and incorporates them into consumer electronics devices,” states Alango Founder and CEO Dr. Alexander Goldin. “The result is stylish, self-tunable, all-around hearing enhancement products like BeHear ACCESS – viable solutions to the worldwide hearing loss epidemic that cost a fraction of what people generally pay for even basic hearing aids.”
Availability
Samples are currently available for reviewers and distribution partners. General availability for both BeHear® ACCESS and HearLink™ Plus is scheduled for Q4 2019. For more information about Wear & Hear, visit www.WearAndHear.com.
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July 2019 Newsletter
New Wear & Hear Slogan Selected
♦ Congratulations to Contest Winner, Recipient of Free Headset ♦ New Customer-Oriented Web Site Launched ♦ HLAA Members Review BeHear NOW ♦ Visit Wear & Hear at IFA in Berlin ♦ Latest Customer Reviews on Amazon ♦
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