This stumps many of us who are 'in the know' about supporting this feature. We have worked hard to advocate for communication access in public places. If it were not for my discovery of The Hearing Loss Assn. of America Inc. years ago, I might not know about telecoils.

Providers push BT. It justifies the high cost of the product. Both BT and telecoils require a bit of time spent by the provider to educate.

Providers often refer to telecoils as 'old technology'. It is. It has been around for decades and was first developed to connect hearing aids to landline phones; thus the name 'telecoil'. It does so much more. In fact, it doubles the value of a hearing instrument.

The reality is: It is still a viable technology that assures communication access in so many venues. It is the key to hearing without debilitating background noise in those places. BT is wonderful. It provides access to personal devices.

In a looped venue, only one microphone system is needed to connect with everyone in the room who has telecoils. To use your BT device in the same venue would require the speaker to have a separate microphone for everyone who wants to use the system. Visualize a speaker with 20 microphones pinned on to his/her shirt! Loops connect directly to the PA system.

HLAA chapters have been largely responsible for advocating for communication access. http://www.hearingloss.org

Do you know if there is an HLAA chapter in your area?