Thank you for sharing with us. You hit the nail right on the head for the most part. Yes, cochlear implant processors all have telecoils now. They have not always had them though. People who were pioneers in CI technology had to lobby the industry to let them know that t-coil connectivity was wanted and needed. It didn't take long before they became standard. And, most hearing aids that are manufactured now have telecoils in them, but it takes activation by the fitter to make them work. And, sometimes the buyer has to choose between volumne control and telecoil, which doesn't make sense when you need both. It remains a mystery as to why those who fit and sell hearing aids don't tell their customers about options that work...or take time to teach them how they work.

There has been a lot of emphasis with providers and manufacturers on BlueTooth (BT) technology to use in some of the ways telecoils are used. You are correct, the dollar difference is huge.While a simple telecoil in a hearing aid or CI processor costs no more than $25, the BT add on devices and capability are likely to add $1000 or more to the price of the hearing aid! It's newer technology so the sales pitch favors it. Still, one can have both BT and telecoil in a hearing instrument. You don't have to choose one over the other. People do not realize that while BT is wonderful, sophisticated, relatively new tech, it cannot do everything that telecoils and loops do. Why? Because each personal device that has BT capability is set to be used with a single add on BT device; a remote microphone in particular. Yes, you can give your BT mike to a speaker and hear clear as a bell from afar, BUT no one else can. If there were 25 people in a room with BT technology, the speaker would have to use 25 BT microphones. Not exactly practical.

With a loop system that works with every telecoil equipped device within a workable radius, it takes only one microphone that is connected to the public address system the general audience in the room is using to connect. No hassle. No add on receivers. Nothing to do but flip a switch on your personal device when you want to hear what's being said. FM receivers and infrared receivers also work well, and anyone can use them even if they don't use hearing aids, but they have to plug something into them to allow them to pick up the main signal. For those w/o telecoils that means headphones. You've chosen to add a hearing loop to the FM transmitter via a neckloop attached to an FM receiver. You are using 2 different technologies. It would require a headset or ear buds of some kind for others to use the system with the receiver and no personal hearing devices. It works. But it's so much easier to just have a hearing loop installed in the room for everyone to use. And yes, those w/o hearing aids can use a loop with headphnes and a receiver. We used FM with neckloops in our community almost exclusively for years. We found that people did not want to use headsets that other people may have used. We encouraged them to buy their own. At some point it was difficult to purchase monaural headphones, so they'd plug in stereo headphones and get no signal. Big turn off. Many of the receivers sat in boxes unused. We also had to encourage each venue to add the cost of personal neckloops to the FM receivers. We now have over 800 hearing loops installed in Wisconsin, thanks to education and advocacy done by people who want to hear. It sounds like what you are doing is working for you. Again, thank you for sharing. Keep on educating those folks in your community.