January 2022 Newsletter

January 27, 2022

Here’s an Idea for a New Year’s Resolution…

granddaughter-whispers-to-grandmothers-accessOur first two articles in this January 2022 newsletter describe how individuals have used their personal experiences to improve the quality of life for many people. We hope they inspire you to share your journey to hearing health with others.

Awareness and education about hearing loss are the first steps on the path to a more equitable environment for all, and we would be happy to serve as a platform for you to share your story. Let us resolve together to normalize hearing loss treatment, and support those who need hearing assistance. Do you have an idea? Let us hear it!!!

IN THIS NEWSLETTER:

♦ What one woman has achieved for many
♦ “El Deafo”: now an educational and entertaining animated series for children
♦ Bonus features in BeHear ACCESS
♦ New BeHear branding
Great savings on refurbished BeHear PROXY TV watching bundle 

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“It was easier for me to change the world than it was to lower my standards.”

New York City Telecoil BeHear ACCESS

Janice Lintz wanted her young daughter to experience the full spectrum of culture and mainstream education provided in New York City, despite her hearing loss. While on a visit to London Mrs. Lintz learned that taxi cabs there were outfitted with hearing loops, which allowed those with high end hearing aids to hear conversations clearly.

While popular in Europe, hearing loops were not widely used, even though ADA legislation passed in 1990 mandated assistive listening technologies for public places. Today, thanks to Mrs. Lintz’s efforts, New York City taxi cabs, subway information booths and call boxes, Broadway theaters, museums, and baseball stadiums are on the long list of those who host the induction loop technology. Read more about her efforts, here.

We applaud activists like Janice Lintz for refusing to accept the status quo when it comes to quality of life. We are proud to support Telecoil in our BeHear ACCESS hearing amplifiers.


Animated Adaption of Award-Winning Graphic Novel

Perhaps you are a parent of a child with hearing loss, or an educator wondering how best to integrate that child into the classroom. This animated series, now streaming on Apple TV+, is a great way to educate the uninitiated and normalize behavior surrounding treatment of children with hearing loss. Highly recommended!


3 Hidden Features of BeHear ACCESS

Maybe you have heard about BeHear ACCESS, or even already own one. But did you know about these special features, exclusive to it in the BeHear line?

BeHear ACCESS is much more than a hearing amplifier – did you know about these special features?
  • SoundFocus™ – Choose your direction of interest (narrow, wide, omni). Important sounds will be amplified based on that input range only. Very helpful when you want to zero-in on your conversation partner, and not the whole room!
  • Support for Unilateral Hearing – In the CROS and BiCROS implementation in BeHear ACCESS, sound that reaches the microphones on the non-hearing side is transferred to the speaker in the ear bud of the hearing ear. This function helps people with unilateral hearing to enjoy stereo audio content, such as music, as well.
  • Eliminating “Own Voice Echo” – A typical downside of wearing a pair of earbuds is the “occlusion effect”; a perceived echo of your own voice when your ear canal is sealed by the device. A four-step slider in the BeHear app allows you to control how much you hear yourself when wearing the BeHear ACCESS headset.

BeHear is Being Rebranded

Did you notice that our logo has changed? The new design symbolizes the gradual hearing amplification offered in our products, represented by a thickening of the lines in each successive letter:

BeHear logo and slogan

We are also simplifying our brand hierarchy by phasing out the use of “Wear & Hear” and “W&H”. Instead, our registered trademark “BeHear” will be the brand name for all our hearing enhancement products. As a result, our product names are now: BeHear.ACCESS , BeHear.PROXY, BeHear.SMARTO, etc.

Our slogan “Life Sounds Better” remains as we are still committed to our original mission: to bring affordable, high-quality, self-fit hearing enhancement products to market.

Changes to our Web site and product packaging will happen gradually, over the next few months. Come take a look to see how we are progressing…


Great Savings on BeHear PROXY TV Bundle

Treat yourself to clear, crisp TV dialogue and superb stereo sound with this refurbished* wireless neck speaker and Bluetooth audio transmitter. Your ears will thank you twice: once for fantastic sound and once for keeping them free!

Get a 25% discount when you purchase a refurbished BeHear PROXY with HearLink PLUS.

*Refurbished units are used but cleaned, tested, and fully updated.

I can listen to a podcast whilst mowing the lawn!

April 20, 2021

Before buying the BeHear ACCESS, I had NHS behind-the-ear hearing aids for five years and needed them to be readjusted after three. This required waiting for an appointment with the audiologist.  Luckily that was before Covid and the lockdowns. One of the great things about the BeHear hearables is that if I feel my hearing has deteriorated, I can just use the built-in hearing assessment any time I like (lockdown or not) and save the settings in the App’s library.

Robin Choularton – satisfied BeHear ACCESS customer

My original reason for moving on from my hearing aids, was I wanted to use Bluetooth.  My hobby is Family History and our U3A group face to face meetings had had to be cancelled during lockdown, so we trialed Zoom meetings with great success.  Unfortunately, my laptop sound is not of sufficient quality or level for my hearing, and I was losing a lot of the conversation. 

I researched a number of available Bluetooth adapters such as neck loops as well as hearables products, and although there are other hearables that also have a self-assessment feature, the BeHear wearables looked to be the only ones that could offer the range of features I was looking for and the level of audio gain that my high frequency hearing loss required.

When I had my NHS (National Health Service) hearing aids readjusted previously I had also had the Telecoil feature enabled as I had found theatre acoustics and reverberation a problem. The BeHear ACCESS provided the perfect solution with the in-built Telecoil.

Having had the BeHear ACCESS for a while now, I have been very pleased with the purchase. There are a number of activities that have improved that I had not considered originally; for example, I can listen to a podcast whilst mowing the lawn or adjust the sound settings on the fly for a difficult sound situation.  The wind noise (with or without the supplied wind mufflers) is much less of a problem than with the BTE. 

With the extra boost these give to my high frequency hearing, I can appreciate bird song again.

Finally, my BTE hearing aids pick up unwanted noise from behind.  This is particularly bothersome in a restaurant.  Sitting with my back to a wall doesn’t solve the problem as the hard surface reflects the sound onto the hearing aids.  With lockdown coming to an end I am looking forward to enjoying restaurants and theatre shows.

Negatives are few and small. The NHS hearing aids are more comfortable; I did find the earbuds a little difficult to get used to and had to use the smallest size (perhaps I have small ear canals) and they can make my ears sore if I have them in all day. The Bluetooth range would be better if it was version 5.0 rather than Version 4.2, but connection can be made to two devices e.g., laptop and phone concurrently, which is really useful.

Joe Tomaso Reviews BeHear Assistive Hearing Headset

April 01, 2020

“They are so much better than traditional hearing aids.”

15 minutes with Joe Tomaso

♦ In this 4-minute audio review, True Crimes podcast host Joe Tomaso (who suffers from hearing loss himself) packs in a lot of information. He brings anecdotes from his professional and personal lives to illustrate how much he likes the BeHear assistive hearing headsets. For example:

“As I’m hosting and doing production work and even editing my podcast, I am using both the BeHear ACCESS and the BeHear NOW personalized assistive hearing products. I have had traditional hearing aids and they cost me thousands of dollars. I also have used similar products that not only cost me a lot more than my BeHear devices, but they were big and clunky and not as comfortable. Also, they didn’t give me the personal hearing experience that matches BeHear.”

“My wife likes this as I’m not blasting the volume on the TV anymore.” – Joe Tomaso, True Crimes Podcast Host

“My BeHear devices are stylish and they help me hear better whether it’s live conversations, hearing better in public places, live music, cell phone calls or just listening to TV.”

“I really can’t say enough for these devices. Recently I was also able to hear birds chirping near sunrise. I have not been able to hear that sound even with my hearing aids and it’s not just what you can hear that counts. It’s what you’re missing out as well. I highly recommend these devices.”

Listen to Joe’s 4-minute review by clicking the link below:

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How W&H Has Changed Elisabeth’s Life

March 10, 2020

BeHear ACCESS Customer Shares Her Experience

Elisabeth Starnes BeHear ACCESS Satisfied Customer
Elisabeth Starnes is extremely pleased with BeHear ACCESS.

♦ “The first time I truly understood the ACCESS actually works as advertised was during breakfast in the noisiest restaurant in town with friends. Midway through our meal, I realized that I was hearing the conversation just fine, and I felt my tension fall away as I relaxed and just enjoyed being with my friends.” ♦

“I am an 83-year old woman who has never worn hearing aids. When I had my hearing tested, the audiologist recommended hearing aids that cost $6,000, plus the cost of an iPhone, plus tax—roughly $7,300. I thought that was obscene! I went immediately to the internet and searched for alternatives. That’s how I found Wear & Hear. I learned that they were releasing a follow-up to the BeHear NOW, and I wanted to be one of their first customers.

BeHear headset replacement parts
All BeHear headsets are supplied with a wide variety of sizes and shapes of silicone ear buds and hooks.

It took a few months to receive my device [until the official release -Ed.], but it was worth the wait. The BeHear ACCESS is brilliant! My main problem was that my ear canal is so small I couldn’t use any combinations of the ear buds and hooks. Fearing that I wouldn’t be able to use the device, I contacted Wear & Hear and they responded immediately. Their technician suggested using it without buds or hooks. For me, that worked perfectly! I have not been self conscious about wearing it. Even people who knew I was going to be receiving the device ask me what I’m listening to. I say, “You.”

Hearing Loop symbol
When you see this symbol you’ll know that your BeHear ACCESS can tap into the looped system to provide you with the best audio.

I discovered that the senior center where I attend an exercise class offers individual hearing loops, which enabled me to use Telecoil mode. I was surprised to be able to discern words in what had been mostly a wall of noise from the public address system.

The last time I attended a program at our local theatre, I heard about 20% of what the speaker said. I knew I couldn’t go back. After I received BeHear’s ACCESS, I contacted the theatre and was delighted to learn that they support Telecoil. I’ll be back!

EasyListen slows down speech to improve intelligibility
EasyListen slows down speech to improve intelligibility in mobile phone calls.

My favorite feature is the [EasyListen -Ed.] Slow, Slower, Slowest settings with phone calls—so handy when you’re trying to listen to a fast talker! Next is ListenThrough. I have several friends who wear top-of-the-line hearing aids (we’re talking $6,000-$8,000), and they have nothing that is comparable. Most of them ask if I mind having something around my neck, and I tell them I don’t; in fact, I don’t even notice it except when the cords catch on my clothing. In any case, it’s a small inconvenience when you consider the price difference! I always point out that any high tech device is going to be obsolete in 6-12 months, and I can afford to buy a new BeHear device every year for the rest of my life for half of what one pair of high end hearing aids would cost in the first year. And, because it is rechargeable, I won’t be bothered with those pesky little batteries that die at exactly the wrong time.

Dr. Alexander Goldin Founder & CEO Alango Technologies
Dr. Alexander Goldin Founder & CEO Alango Technologies

One of the things I appreciate about Alango is that they have democratized hearing help by making the device compatible with an old version of Android (4.4) at a very affordable price. Their mission is to provide hearing technology to as many people as possible; however, they are not motivated solely by money—there is an altruistic element to what they are doing. To understand what I mean, everybody should read The Future Is Now: “How we can create an affordable, self-administered solution to hearing loss” with Dr. Alexander Goldin. ”

Elisabeth Starnes
Dedicated Customer

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Stylish, Over-the-Counter (OTC) Hearing Devices

March 09, 2020

“These headphones have good ergonomics.”

techlicious logo

♦ Stewart Wolpin, a writer for Techlicious “Tech Made Simple”, recently included the BeHear ACCESS in his lineup of four new “Over the Counter” (also known as OTC) hearing devices.

As per the article, “Alango’s Wear & Hear BeHear ACCESS operate as regular behind-the-neck Bluetooth headphones, letting you listen to music, take calls, and adjust the volume of ambient sound. They also have a couple of OTC hearing aid extras.

If you have trouble following fast talkers or people with accents on phone calls, an EasyListen mode elongates consonants to remarkably improve comprehension. – Stewart Wolpin, Techlicious

“The BeHear Access are T-coil compliant, which means you’ll receive broadcasts directly to the headphones in loop-enabled public venues like theaters and churches. (You can tell by the ‘T’ designation on your program.)”

“And the headphones have good ergonomics: The headphone controls are extra-large, uniquely-shaped buttons you can control by feel, and there is a drop-in magnetic charger, so you don’t have to fiddle with tiny jacks and plugs.”

Read the original post here.

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Tech Expert “Ask Dave Taylor” Reviews BeHear ACCESS

March 07, 2020

“Good as Audio Headphones but Pretty Darn Amazing with Assistive Hearing”

Dave Taylor Reviews BeHear ACCESS personalizable hearing amplifier
Dave Taylor reviews BeHear ACCESS personalizable hearing amplifier in this YouTube video.

♦ Tech expert Dave Taylor of https://www.AskDaveTaylor.com/ tried out the BeHear Access and found them to be good as audio headphones but pretty darn amazing with assistive hearing. Among its many features are easy charging, long battery life and full support for telecoil.

Hearing aids don’t have to look clunky and cost thousands of dollars if you only have mild to medium hearing loss. Just pair the amazing BeHear Access Assistive Hearing Aid Headphones to your smartphone. Then you can run a simple hearing test and have the BeHear Access automatically adjust for your actual hearing loss across the frequency spectrum. – Dave Taylor, Tech Expert

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Watch Dave’s complete video review here.

Karl Strom Reviews BeHear ACCESS

January 08, 2020

“The BeHear ACCESS is among the best personal sound amplification products (PSAPs) that I’ve tried.”

 

♦ Karl Strom, Editor-in-Chief at The Hearing Review, included the BeHear ACCESS personalizable hearing headset in his blog covering hearing updates of note presented at CES 2020.

Specifically, he wrote:

“This hearable neckloop was an honoree in CES’s Accessibility, Tech for a Better World award category. The BeHear ACCESS is among the best personal sound amplification products (PSAPs) that I’ve tried. It has a very intuitive self-hearing assessment test (that was surprisingly accurate for my mild-to-moderate high frequency hearing loss) with corresponding ‘first-fit’ amplification and options for adjustment. Although it has a fairly high ‘nerd factor’ due to the neckloop, it does do a good job in selective listening situations as advertised: face-to-face conversations, public places, music and TV listening, streaming audio, and telephone conversations. Whenever I’m trying to remind myself about the potential bright side of future OTC hearing aids, BeHear and a half-dozen others are the ones that give me hope.”

“…it does do a good job in selective listening situations as advertised: face-to-face conversations, public places, music and TV listening, streaming audio, and telephone conversations.” – Karl Strom, Editor-in-Chief – The Hearing Review

Read the original article here.

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Induction Loops, Telecoils and BeHear ACCESS

September 15, 2019

The News

BeHear ACCESS, a Personalized Hearing Amplifier headset in the BeHear product line, incorporates telecoil receivers.

Function

Induction Loop Systems transmit wireless audio input via a magnetic field to telecoil receivers. These receivers are found in many hearing aids, some dedicated headphones, and, now, in BeHear ACCESS headsets. In an induction loop system there is no interference, no reverberation, no background noise, just the original signal transmitted directly from the input, whether that is the microphone on a podium, the audio system in a theater, the microphone the cashier is speaking into at the bank, or the music from the concert hall stage. This closed system provides people, especially those with hearing loss, an excellent way to hear voice and audio signals clearly, even in noisy places or when the sound source is far away.

Terminology

Induction Loop Systems were first introduced publicly in 1937 in a U.K. patent application for a system featuring what was then called a telephone coil. The term telephone coil has been shortened to telecoil or just T-Coil. Induction loops are also known as hearing loops, or simply “loops”.

Prevalence

Hearing Loop symbol
The telecoil receivers in BeHear ACCESS can be used when this symbol is present.

Induction loop technology is common in Europe and the U.K. and is universally accepted as the international standard for hearing access. Installed base is growing rapidly in the United States as organizations such as HLAA (Hearing Loss Association of America) and others press venues to become compliant with the ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act).
Typically, induction loop systems can be found in:

  • Places of Worship
  • Concert Halls
  • Theaters
  • Universities
  • Government Offices
  • Banks
  • Ticket Kiosks
  • Post Offices
  • Airports
  • Museums

Hearing Loop Demonstrations

The following two animated hearing loop animations and explanations are provided with thanks to www.hearingloop.org — an excellent resource for more information on this technology.

T-Coil Support in BeHear ACCESS

BeHear ACCESS hearing amplifier home screen
BeHear ACCESS operation modes for T-coil enabled locations.

BeHear ACCESS T-coils can be activated wherever a loop system is installed. The wearer simply chooses either the T-Coil Exclusive or T-Coil Transparent mode (from the W&H BeHear app Home page, or by scrolling through the Hearing presets using the middle button on the right-hand control box). Exclusive mode allows only the direct signal from the T-Coil transmission to reach the wearer’s ears, while Transparent mode allows nearby important sounds (such as a companion’s voice) to be heard as well.

Each BeHear ACCESS headset incorporates two T-Coils that are perpendicular to each other, thus greatly decreasing sensitivity to the wearer’s orientation in the magnetic field of an Induction Loop System.

Self-Tuned Bluetooth Hearing Amplifier with Telecoil Support Introduced

September 06, 2019

Designed to aid those with situational hearing loss, the BeHear® ACCESS personalizable hearing headset joins Alango’s Wear & Hear line of hearing enhancement and assistive listening devices

IFA – Berlin, Germany & Tirat Carmel, Israel — September 6, 2019Today at the IFA Berlin international tradeshow Alango Technologies Ltd. (“Alango”), a global leader in digital voice, audio, and hearing enhancement technologies, will introduce the latest member of the Wear & Hear line. BeHear ACCESS is a Personalized Hearing Amplifier housed in a stylish Bluetooth® stereo headset. It enhances hearing in various situations, such as face-to-face conversations, live concerts, mobile phone calls, streaming music, TV listening, and others. BeHear ACCESS integrates telecoil receivers making it ideal for use in venues equipped with Induction Loop Systems. Alango will also introduce HearLink™ Plus, a long-range, low latency audio transmitter. This device channels sound from audio sources (such as television sets) directly to BeHear headsets to clarify and personalize the listening experience.

Addressing Growing Concerns About the Prevalence of Untreated Hearing Loss Worldwide

According to recent data from World Health Organization, around 466 million people worldwide have disabling hearing loss, and that number will practically double by the year 2050. Untreated hearing loss is associated with isolation, cognitive decline, and dementia. Globally, hearing aids provide a solution to less than 3% of those that could benefit. Factors for low hearing aid uptake include high cost, stigma, limited functionality, and the long fitting (personalization) process.

“With our Wear & Hear line, we aim to change the unfortunate worldwide hearing health situation. Alango leverages almost two decades of practical experience developing digital sound processing technologies and incorporates them into consumer electronics devices,” states Alango Founder and CEO Dr. Alexander Goldin. “The result is stylish, self-tunable, all-around hearing enhancement products like BeHear ACCESS – viable solutions to the worldwide hearing loss epidemic that cost a fraction of what people generally pay for even basic hearing aids.”

 Availability

Samples are currently available for reviewers and distribution partners. General availability for both BeHear® ACCESS and HearLink™ Plus is scheduled for Q4 2019. For more information about Wear & Hear, visit www.WearAndHear.com.

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