Using the Telephone

We know that no longer being able to chat on the phone, or to use the phone to make calls to make appointments or arrangements can be incredibly frustrating and disheartening.  All of our patients who have used the phone at some point in the past tell us that being able to get back on the phone is one of the things they hope for with a cochlear implant.  You may be hoping for this too, even if it’s not a top priority for you right now.  And we hope that it will be possible for you with a cochlear implant at some point – but it’s not something we can guarantee.

Research studies have shown that the factors which make it more likely for adults to hear on the phone with a cochlear implant include:

  • Growing up with normal hearing, and not losing hearing until later on in life
  • Only having a severe-profound hearing loss for a short time before getting a cochlear implant
  • Having found it possible to use the telephone with hearing aids
  • Having support and practice to get back to phone use (even for excellent cochlear implant users, it can take months or even years before they are confident listening on the phone).

After you have a cochlear implant, we will offer you support and training  (both one-to-one coaching and group workshops) to help you try to get back on the phone when you feel ready.  We can advise you about different phone models and accessories which might be helpful – such as induction couplers, volume and tone amplifiers, and neck loops – which will work across all the different brands.

The Cochlear Kanso and MED-EL RONDO processors can be used with a normal telephone but the handset needs to be placed over the microphone which is on the headpiece. Many Kanso and RONDO users find using a speakerphone more convenient or connecting to their mobile phone via a Bluetooth or neckloop accessory.

All the devices have built in telecoil.  In addition, the manufacturers have additional solutions to support using the phone:

Cochlear MED-EL
Nucleus 7 CP1000 Kanso

SONNET 2

SONNET black

RONDO 2
Able to wirelessly stream telephone calls directly from a compatible iPhone or Android phone Wireless Phone Clip – Bluetooth enabled wireless streaming from your smartphone.phoneclip

AudioLink. Stream phone calls from a smartphone using the AudioLink.

  Artone Bluetooth Neck Loop – Bluetooth enabled neck loop to stream audio or telephone calls from any Bluetooth device

Don’t forget to check which accessories are included in the current offer packages, and which would be available to be purchased separately.