This question and answer is from the March Ear Talk webinar with Value Hearing founder Christo Fourie. You can find the full presentation on YouTube. If you would like to have your question answered live, leave a comment below RSVP to the next webinar which is on the first Wednesday of the month at 11am AEST.
Today's webinar revolves around Bluetooth.
Bluetooth is quite a nice feature in hearing aids but it's also quite bugbear for many people because of the technicalities involved.
So today I'm just going to try and explain that in simpler terms if possible and hopefully address most of your issues.
- We'll start off just looking at the history of Bluetooth hearing aids.
- We'll also look at the types of Bluetooth used in hearing aids.
- We'll look at the benefits of Bluetooth.
- We'll look at the limitations of Bluetooth.
- We'll look at troubleshooting Bluetooth or common Bluetooth issues and,
- We'll also look at any unanswered questions I may have missed as I go through this topic.
The Benefits of Bluetooth
The benefits of Bluetooth hearing aids are plentiful.
I actually use a set for phone calls, for listening to audiobooks and podcasts, which I do all day long; listen to the TV on it so the kids can sleep. It's really great, it takes phone calls from being one of the biggest bugbears about hearing aids to being one of the more enjoyable things about hearing aids actually.
They also allow you to connect your television with, typically, the use of a TV unit, simply because if you connect through Bluetooth through the television there's typically a delay of two seconds which means the lips don't sync.
Most manufacturers have their own proprietary TV unit that plugs into the back of the TV and streams straight into the hearing aids, typically in stereo, and that's quite an enjoyable feature.
You can also stream audio from the phone, which is what I use for phone calls, any YouTube videos, any podcast, any audio books, any video, anything that plays sound which also unfortunately includes notifications if you've got notifications turned on.
And then it also allows for the remote control of the hearing aids through an app on the phone; typically a manufacturer specific app and it also allows things like remote programming where we can dial in at a specified time. You give us permission to connect, we have a video call and on that video call we can adjust your hearing aids from the comfort of your home.
Is Bluetooth secure?
Bluetooth is also secure because each Bluetooth connection needs to be negotiated. It's pairing is a unique key that gets given to that pairing and you've got to commit that connection so it's not like someone can just hack into Bluetooth.
Is Bluetooth safe?
And Bluetooth is also safe. The frequency range of Bluetooth isn't a range that can actually pass through the body. In fact any water in your body actually stops the Bluetooth from working which can also lead to some breakups because the Bluetooth's on your head but it means it's not going to cause you any cancer or any side effects like that, which is obviously very important for something you wear all day long.
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