I have been using the Amplicom PowerTel 500 cordless telephone for a month, and it’s the first cordless handset I’ve tried that works well enough with my hearing aids to combine the superior clarity of a land-line phone with the portable convenience of my wireless cellular phone. It also combines amplification and sound-shaping features for hearing-impaired users with all the top-end features anyone needs on an office or home-business phone, such as caller ID, multiple handsets that communicate internally, conference calling, and an extensive contact database with one-button dialing.
The new phone meets the Telecommunications Industry Association’s TIA-1083 hearing-aid compatibility standard and is among the few amplified phones to offer DECT 6.0 technology, the low-interference frequency that is standard in Europe but only recently being widely adopted in North America. The PowerTel 500 is a cordless handset with hands-free speakerphone, caller ID, and a large two-line illuminated display. It provides amplified volume of up to 50 dB and features a sound-shaping equalizer with five frequency settings.
I’ve always preferred a land-line phone for lengthy personal conversations and business calls, because even a fractionally better signal over what you usually get with a cellular phone connection can make a big difference when you are hearing impaired. Even then, when I participate in conference calls, or when anyone is using a speakerphone at the other end, my comprehension often is limited to about 30 percent of what is said. But for lengthy one-on-one conversations, land-line connections with an amplified handset work very well for me. Dropped calls are almost non-existent with land lines, whereas cellular connections can go bad at a moment’s notice. And when you have a land-line handset designed for hard-of-hearing consumers that provides several levels of amplification, an equalizer with some sound-shaping frequency adjustment, and t-coil compatibility, there is really no comparison.
Recently, as cell-phone quality started catching up with land lines, I had found that many of the cellular phones with M4-T4 hearing-aid compatibility ratings often would work nearly as well for me as my land-line phone. My LG clamshell cellphone doesn’t have any bells or whistles — no email, web browsing, fancy display, or keyboard — but it’s got an excellent speaker, and when I use it with the t-coils and my hearing-aid volume maxed out, I can hear pretty well. Plus, it’s portable. These days I’ve become so accustomed to having a portable phone that being tethered my desk-bound land-line phone in the office has become a little annoying.
That’s why I’ve been eager to try the next generation of cordless amplified land-line phones, which free me from the wire but once again promise to give me much better audio quality than my cell phone. Until now, the cordless land-line units I had tried either weren’t hearing aid compatible at all, or they failed to offer the degree of amplification that I need. A mere 15-35 db of amplification doesn’t help me in all cases, and I really prefer that extra boost up to 50 db when I need it. But the Amplicom PowerTel phone meets all those needs and then some.
First and foremost, the sound quality in the PowerTel is excellent, even with maximum amplification (which I’ve found can sometimes cause distortion in other amplified handsets). The quality is so good that I’ve experienced a significant reduction in the number of frustrating calls where a bad handset or connection on the other end makes it difficult or impossible to understand the other party. In the few conference calls I’ve participated in, I discovered I depended far less on my business partners (who graciously act as my note-takers) to catch me up afterward on whatever I missed. Best of all, the hearing-aid compatibility without using the t-coils is excellent: it’s the first handset I’ve found that I can use all the time without turning on the t-coils.
That last point is an important one, because the only gotcha I found in the review was a noticeable hum with my t-coils — when I used the handset at full volume, with my hearing aid’s external microphone turned off, and with the t-coil on at full volume, there was some interference. Amplicom is justifiably proud of conforming to the TIA-1083 hearing-aid compatibility standard, which was developed with extensive input from hard-of-hearing consumers between 2004 and 2007 to eliminate the signal interference hearing-aid wearers had begun to complain about with new digital cordless handsets. So it concerned me that I experienced some interference when using the t-coils. I had a long discussion with Michael Abramowitz, President of Amplicom USA, who explained that the DECT 6.0 transmission technology, even when TIA-1083-compliant, can exhibit some interference with older t-coils. Because my t-coils are going on four years old, they are positively ancient in “technology years.” I’m assuming newer t-coils work better with DECT 6.0 handsets that conform to the TIA-1083 technical spec. It’s an academic question for me, however, because I’ve found the sound quality of the PowerTel 500 is so good I don’t need to depend on the t-coils at all.
Sound quality of the PowerTel 500 is further enhanced by an easy-to-use equalizer that offers five preset frequency settings, with a mix ranging from additional amplification at lower frequencies for people with more low-frequency loss, to more amplification at higher frequencies for people with more typical high-frequency loss. You can choose the equalizer setting you want when you initiate a call, or you can preset your preferred setting using one of the two red memory buttons, which also personalize other aspects of your profile, including the volume and boost settings you prefer. I have used the equalizer that’s set for a “normal” hearing profile, because I use the phone with my hearing aids on, which are already programmed to equalize the volume levels for me. However, I’ve also played around with the higher and lower frequency settings to help eke out a little more comprehension on calls where the signal quality has varied. For people with mild hearing loss who don’t like to use the phone with their hearing aids, however, the equalizer settings can be an even bigger help in comprehension.
Another issue of concern to a power user is battery life, because amplification and other features can drain the battery in a portable handset pretty quickly. But here I’ve been more than satisfied, as the PowerTel 500’s battery has outlasted even my longest conversations. When the call timer shows me I was on the phone over an hour, I may see the battery has run quite low, but replacing it in the PowerTel 500’s small base station re-charges the unit rapidly enough that I’ve never worried about a dead handset.
There are some other nice features in the PowerTel 500 for normal-hearing and hard-of-hearing users alike. For hard-of-hearing users, there’s an up-to-90 db ringer (with nine ring-tone options) that can wake up the rest of the neighborhood if you set it loudly enough. But if you work in a quiet office or at home with others who might find the extra-loud ringer annoying, there’s a light at the top of the unit that flashes so brightly when the phone rings that I don’t have to set the ringer on at all. It’s so noticeable I’ve yet to miss a call when I’m in the office using it with the ringer turned off. The unit also has a nice back-lit display which makes it easy to identify callers, and it can be programmed to display in English, Spanish or French. It also has a 2.5 mm jack for a standard headset (I use Hatis headsets with my t-coils), and connections to other Amplicom assistive devices including the new PowerTel 601 Wrist Shaker/Remote Answer device.
For small office settings, the PowerTel 500 can communicate in an intercom fashion with up to four other handsets; callers can be put on hold and transferred to other handsets sharing the same line; and when combined with the PowerTel 680 desktop unit, it can perform even more intelligent business-phone functions.
Amplicom USA is a recent entry in the US assistive listening market but has rapidly established itself with sales through the leading resellers of products for hard-of-hearing consumers, including Harris Communications, Sound Clarity, and Westone. The Amplicom PowerTel 500 has a suggested retail price of $139.95, and for anyone who needs real help with comprehension of regular phone calls, it’s more than worth the price. That’s great news for hard-of-hearing consumers. The other good news is there are other products out there to compare, in a marketplace not accustomed to having many competing options. Clarity Products has had an amplified cordless phone out on the market for a long time and, from what I understand, has continued to improve its sound-shaping equalizer features. And ClearSounds has long been a leader in providing cordless amplified phones, including its A600 Cordless Phone based on DECT 6.0 technology.
Like other manufacturers’ products, Amplicom phones most often come with a 30-day money back guarantee, and for hard-of-hearing consumers who have very specific, personalized requirements, it’s more than worth it to try out several products. One manufacturer’s equalizer scheme might be perfect for you, but not for someone with a different hearing profile. Therefore, Amplicom USA’s Abramowitz advises, “When it comes to hearing properly, every individual has unique needs, so it’s important to make sure you find the product that works best for you.”
Paul Uhlir says
David,
Happy new year! Please keep up the amazing work in the new year!
Paul