@contentandwell
Hi,
Most BTES have Tcoils. The major advantage beside looped venues is the ability to hear on the phone without background noise or interference. My landline is not equipped with a Tcoil but I use an earlink....a device I plug into my Captel landline and slip behind my ear. Sound is clear and loud and sent to my ear. Most cells phones have Tcoil settings...you will notice , if you buy a new cell phone, that it will have a Tcoil rating on the box...like T3 or T4....the higher the rating the stronger the signal.
I can also plug my earlink into my cell (Samsung).

Tcoils are valuable when using assisted listening devices. I sometimes wear a neck loop and switch my Tcoil on and use my Pocket Talker when I want to hear music better on the TV. The neck loop is similiar to a looped area, but just around your neck. Many proprietary assisted devices that are used along with hearing aids require a Tcoil setting. I have 2 settings which I recommend.....straight Tcoil which eliminates all outside sound and Tcoil + mic which I use in a looped area so I can hear both the speaker but also those around me.

All hearing aids should come equipped with Tcoils. As an unintended benefit, if you are in an usually noisey environment, and turning down the volume is not helping, switch to Tcoil and enjoy the silence for a bit. Can’t tell you how many times I have used that ....I have gone to churches where the rock band like music before the service is intolerable. Rather than take the aids out, I just switch to Tcoil.
If you wear 2 aids you can choose to have this setting (or any settings) synchronized so that switching to one program will happen on both aids. I chose to have the volume setting individualized since, many times, I want to volume down on the right ear but leave the left ear alone. My Tcoil program and the rest of the programs are synchronized.

If you have the option on your current aids, have the Tcoil program added..If not I strongly advise your next aids to have it. I wouldn’t be able to use any assisted devices without it.

Regards from Mary

Ps I have a profound bilateral loss in both ears and currently wear Phonak BTES ....40 years worth of hearing aids