Beverly Hills Hearing Center was founded in 1983 by Bonnie Baehr. Prior to that, Dr. Baehr practiced at the House Ear Clinic in Los Angeles as a staff audiologist for seven years. She was involved with diagnostic testing, hearing aid evaluations, research and rehabilitation. Dr. Baehr did her clinical fellowship training at the Veterans Administration Outpatient Clinic in downtown Los Angeles. She is a member of the American Academy of Audiology, American Speech Language and Hearing Association, California Academy of Audiology and Academy of Doctors of Audiology.
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Technology can truly improve all parts of your life. From better replacement knees to a refrigerator that helps you write your grocery list; technological advancements are everywhere. The hearing aid industry is no exception. At Beverly Hills Hearing Center, we keep in tune with all of the latest technological updates for hearing aid models and we are ready to share the information with you to improve your hearing experience.
Being able to hear and process all the sounds around you, from the chirp of a bird to the whisper of a loved one enriches your life and we don’t want you to miss a thing. One of the nicest advancements in hearing aid technology is the advent of Bluetooth streaming. If you haven’t tried it – give us a call today.
Bluetooth Advances
Bluetooth streaming with hearing aids used to be limited to certain mobile audio devices like mobile phones and personal music players. That meant if you wanted to listen to music while you were out for a walk or working out, you would have to take out your hearing aids and put in earbuds or put on headphones.
Now, wireless hearing aids give you the option to connect with almost all personal devices as well as televisions and laptops, and even connect to sound systems at some public venues. The sound streams directly to your hearing aids.
Bluetooth is a wireless communication platform that moves of data between one electronic device and another. Radio waves at a very high frequency transmit the data in a secure sequence.
Bluetooth has been incorporated into a wide range of products and hearing aid manufacturers have taken advantage of that and made their devices compatible for the benefit of hearing aid wearers.
Some specific Bluetooth technology has been patented by Apple. So certain hearing aid models have virtually seamless with Apple “i” products including iPhones, iPads and iPods. This technology lets devices communicate directly with each other without draining the battery or encountering delays in moving data. Google is working on hearing aids that will interface with Android devices.
Is Your Model Bluetooth Compatible?
If you can’t directly stream with the hearing aids you have, the professionals at Beverly Hills Hearing Center can discuss upgrading your hearing devices to newer models. It might be time for an upgrade anyway. If you like what you have now, there are some options you might want to consider.
Wireless hearing aids can use compatible assistive listening devices which are sometimes referred to as streamers. A streamer can provide a communication link from the wireless capacity you have in your hearing aids to a Bluetooth enabled device or a Bluetooth data stream.
The streamer is a device that looks like a small remote control. You can wear it t around your neck and it looks like an ID card on a lanyard. Some streamers will also work if you put them in a shirt pocket. When you set it up, it can pick up the Bluetooth signal from your phone or other Bluetooth device and send it back to your hearing aids via an FM signal.
The Benefits of Streaming
Streaming gives you a highly personalized listening experience. The sound using streaming is so much clearer and “natural” compared to using your hearing aids with other electronic devices. You can adjust the streamed signal to a volume you find comfortable. Depending on the model of hearing aid you wear the volume is either adjusted on the hearing aid or on the streamer.
If you are listening to music, the sound comes directly into your hearing aids – in stereo – so you don’t need earbuds. Your hearing aids function as wireless earbuds. You can choose to stream from your phone into one hearing aid so you can listen in the other ear to what is happening around you.
You won’t have to try and move the phone to where the microphone in your hearing aid will pick up the sound. If your hearing aids are configured differently for each ear, the streaming volume can be adjusted accordingly.
You can switch back and forth from different Bluetooth enabled devices with ease. You can use your phone while streaming from the television or a tablet. Since Bluetooth is a standard data platform it should work with all of your devices. It’s also a secure network and not subject to hacking or interference. It will alloy you to talk on the phone “hands free” in your car.
Call Beverly Hills Hearing Center today and ask about streaming and Bluetooth.