@joyces, I can explain what you may or may not have experienced. Your audiologist should be your go-to person whenever you have a problem with any product that they sell to you. Don't give up on them when you have a problem. The manufacturer specific products (hearing aid, remote mic, streamer, etc) are setup by the audiologist. So, you mentioned that you had a remote mic and it wasn't strong enough. Chances are, it was setup by your audiologist incorrectly. Hearing aids are programmed to NOT make your hearing worse. They do that by limiting the volume. When you use a manufacturer specific remote mic, it has its own profile programmed into your hearing aid. You would have to make sure your aid was in the remote mic program when you want to use the mic. The same is true for a telecoil. You have to make sure your aid is in the telecoil program mode when you are using your telecoil to pick up the signal from and induction loop. The audiologist programs how much input comes from the hearing aid mic, remote mic, or telecoil. The hearing aid smartphone app may give you control over these inputs. For example, when I use my remote mic, I have to put my hearing aids in the remote mic program. Since we may want to be able to hear the person next to us, the hearing aid microphone needs to work. My phone app lets me control how much signal can come in from the hearing aid mic and how much can come in from the remote mic. I may not want to hear the person next to me so would give ALL input to come from the remote mic. Your app or hearing aid may not give you this functionality so your audiologist would have to program your aid to your needs.
Now, regarding your question on an induction loop. First, you do not need a Pocketalker if you have a telecoil. Keep in mind that the telecoil needs to be activated by your audiologist. If you have a telecoil program, then you have the telecoil inside your aid. Even if you do not have a telecoil program, you may still have the telecoil in the hearing aid, its' just not been activated by the audiologist. In your case, the Pocketalker would be used if your hearing aids die. It's an amplification device, same as a hearing aid, but with a built in telecoil. You would use it with headphones or earbuds. Note that the older Pocketalkers did not pick up the signal from an induction loop. The Pocketalker 2.0 will.
Let me know if there's something that I haven't covered enough
Tony in Michigan