PROXY Listening Experience Helps Battle Zoom Fatigue
Alango releases BeHear PROXY, a customizable Bluetooth neck speaker and hearing amplifier that provides a comfortable, rich stereo sound experience for TV watching, mobile calls, audio/video streaming, gaming, and live conversations
Alango Technologies announced that a new model called BeHear® PROXY has been added to its line of hearing enhancement solutions.
The COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent preference to shelter at home have driven remote working, virtual communications and TV watching through the roof. It turns out that virtual communication is stressful for the brain and over-use of these platforms can create a type of tiredness, worry, or burnout which has been coined “Zoom fatigue”.
BeHear’s PROXY can help alleviate some of the stress of Zoom fatigue by creating a comfortable, customized, immersive listening experience. Straining to hear and the need to focus almost entirely on vocals (in contrast to an in-person interaction that provides many more visual cues) is a major factor in Zoom fatigue. PROXY connects to the audio source to deliver sound in close proximity (get it?) to the ears, while Alango’s advanced hearing enhancement technology clarifies dialogue and customizes amplification based on the wearer’s unique hearing profile.
PROXY’s ergonomic form factor rests lightly on the shoulders, emitting rich surround sound enhanced by Alango’s technology. This enables the wearer to enjoy high quality sound without having anything in the ears, worrying that earbuds will fall out or getting hot from over-the-ears headphones. Ears-free is a different and cool way to listen but the true beauty in PROXY is the customization capabilities.
Alango’s audio experts designed the product to produce an individualized hearing profile for every user, including those who are hard of hearing. BeHear PROXY can be used with hearing aids, or as a back-up hearing amplifier to relieve hearing aid fatigue. Amplification can be ~20% stronger than that of a mobile phone or computer speaker – but it is applied only where and when needed, according to the user’s hearing profile. Amplification on its own just makes everything louder. The BeHear magic is in custom fitting the sound to each user and supporting their individual hearing needs.
“We developed BeHear PROXY to create a new hearing experience, to make life sound better when watching TV and participating in mobile and video calls,” notes Alango’s CEO and Founder, Dr. Alexander Goldin. “In these difficult times, it’s good to be able to alleviate the stress of Zoom fatigue and straining to hear. Why not pamper yourself with a comfortable and satisfying listening experience?”
BeHear PROXY also includes extractable earbuds that support personal sound amplification for live conversations. The earbuds are also useful for private listening during mobile phone and video calls, or while watching television when others are present but not engaged. BeHear PROXY can pair simultaneously via Bluetooth to two different devices, such as a smartphone and a computer.
About Alango Technologies
Alango Technologies, Ltd. (www.alango.com) has been developing sound enhancement technologies since 2002, selling over 50 million software licenses that improve the audio experience in automotive, entertainment, and smart home applications around the world. Realizing the importance and opportunity of combining the sound enhancement technology found in hearing aids with the advances and costs in the consumer electronics world, the Company is now using its field-proven expertise in sound technology to create products for personal hearing enhancement: the “Wear & Hear” product line (www.WearAndHear.com).
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BeHear, HearLink, and Wear & Hear are registered trademarks of Alango Technologies, Ltd. in the United States. All other trademarks are the property of their respective holders.
Also published at:
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/proxy-listening-experience-helps-battle-143500018.html
Working from Home?
Hear loud and clear in your virtual meetings and mobile phone calls with BeHear headsets
Video calls are a workday staple while we shelter in place, and hearing clearly is essential to performing well in these sessions. You’ll appreciate how effortless it is to communicate using a BeHear headset, which is specifically designed to help you hear your colleagues, clients, and classroom clearly.
All BeHear Bluetooth headsets pair simultaneously with your computer and smartphone. Get the full benefit of working remotely, whether via mobile calls or conference platforms such as Zoom, Skype, Microsoft Teams, Google Meet, etc., as you enjoy these great BeHear features:
- Customization: Using the integrated smartphone app you can automatically program the headset to suit your unique hearing profile.
- Amplification: Get a volume boost when you need it: about 20% greater than your mobile phone gives you!
- Comprehension: Our proprietary EasyListen technology imperceptibly slows down incoming speech to improve understanding.
- Loudspeaker: The BeHear PROXY can rest on your shoulders, or on a table to deliver clear dialogue to your unencumbered ears.
- Multi-functional: Our Bluetooth headsets can be used for live conversations as well as streamed audio.
Which BeHear is Right for You?
All are great for Zoom, Skype, Microsoft Teams, Google Meet, etc., mobile calls, and face-to-face conversations!
NOW – Classic BeHear headset, streamlined neck loop style 
ACCESS – all the great features in NOW with added T-coil, large buttons, and charging cradle 
PROXY – Ergonomic neck speaker with tabletop option. Can be used with hearing aids.
Pleased with Mobile Call Clarity in BeHear NOW
“In the family they’ve stopped saying ‘why can’t you hear?’, ‘why’d you ask me to say that again?”
Rodney Lever, BeHear NOW Customer
Rodney’s Story
Now, it took me a while to realize that I actually needed any help with my hearing. The family really pushed me into it. And when I eventually got the hearing aids, after much discussion about the high costs, I found them OK, but then I found that batteries are expensive, so in the long term I stopped wearing them, which really was a very silly thing to do, but that’s what happened. So this led me to look for another solution.
I was actually looking for hearing aids that are rechargeable.
But when I was looking I found this interesting company called Wear & Hear and after some searching with Frequently Asked Questions and listening to people who had actually used the device I decided to take a plunge and go ahead and buy the BeHear NOW. It was of course very very very much cheaper than the headphones I was looking at and so I bought it and I’m very pleased with the results so far. And of course, particularly in the family they’ve stopped sort of saying “why can’t you hear?”, “why’d you ask me to say that again?”
So, it’s changed quite a lot in the house, because my wife particularly is benefiting from not having the television absolutely blasting out.
The situation I find now is that when I’m particularly listening to a conversation on a mobile phone, this is dramatic improvement for me because I was finding it very difficult to hear conversations either on the actual phone itself (holding it to my ear) or in fact through the speaker. This has made a dramatic difference, it is really very very clear, and that’s a great help. The other thing I find is that, it’s rather interesting, if somebody’s on the line, and absolutely gabbling away to me, I press the speech “slow down” button and that really helps also!
Advice for Others Starting Their Journey to Improved Hearing
I would say that anybody who’s looking for hearing aids, or some solution to help their hearing, I would certainly say try one of the Wear & Hear headsets because, first of all, there is a tremendous saving from the economical point of view but also from the actual quality of hearing.
People think you’re listening to music and people don’t realize you have a hearing problem.
Thoughts About Usability: Simple as A-B-C
I love playing with gadgets, and this to me was a new gadget. It took me a very short time, I read the instructions. There are also very helpful videos, which I watched as well. And, to set it up and do the hearing test, really very simple, absolutely A,B,C. And got it up and running very quickly. And then after that, of course, I found out there were other little tweaks that you can do. And so, really it was not a problem at all. Anybody who isn’t sort of “tech” — no problem at all.
Understanding People Wearing Masks is No Longer a Problem
One of the things I do find very useful is when I’m outside the house is when shopping, and particularly at the checkout counter, it’s very helpful to hear first of all, what they’re saying, and nowadays with the Perspex screen in front of the cashier and the masks on, it’s very difficult sometimes to hear what people say and now I have no problem at all with that.
Spreading the Love & Well-Being
I noticed one particular person always asking me the same questions: “how easy is it to use?”, “is it comfortable?” and I said, yeah, yeah, why? “Well, I actually have a little bit of trouble hearing.” And to cut a long story short, they went out and bought one and are forever grateful. Every time we talk she says “oh, thank you so much, thank you so much.” She says to people: “Rodney’s changed my life!”
Watch Rodney’s full video testimonial below:
Most Important: It Helps Speech Comprehension
“The sound from the Bluetooth is very nice, I can hear all the ssss and the consonants. Also, plenty of gain and low delay when listening to TV.
Lévis Malenfant, BeHear NOW Customer
General Comments About BeHear NOW
Fast delivery and good support.
The unit looks very nice and includes a sturdy case. Feels like quality is there!
Documentation is very good and I appreciate the YouTube demos.
I like the neckband form factor and the ear hook design very much. I can wear it all time even when not using earbuds and never worry about losing them or even searching for them.
Most hearing aids come with one side only, I like very much having the two earbuds. Less listening efforts, less fatigue. After all, we don’t wear eyeglasses with only one lens…
The self fitting (personalization) works very well and is quite accurate. I like the sound tuning platform for finer adjustment.
Working Performance of the BeHear NOW Headset
The sound from the Bluetooth is very nice, I can hear all the ssss and other consonants. Also, there is plenty of gain, and low delay when listening to TV. ListenThrough is a nice feature when watching TV with others.
For me, Personal Hearing mode performs best with the volume below mid-level, especially for Indoor mode; at a higher volume, the microphones are overly sensitive to room acoustics (reverberation), especially with noise that is in close proximity. Personally, I prefer using the Personal Hearing in ‘Crowd mode’. It feels less sensitive to room acoustics and and the microphones seem to be more directional.
My Conclusions
I am a satisfied BeHear customer. I like the form factor and the features, but most important it helps a lot with speech comprehension.
Netflix Subtitles Are No Longer Necessary
I received my new hearing device about 10 days ago. The first time I put it on I exclaimed to my carer “amazing! I didn’t know how much my hearing has deteriorated.”
Shayna Orbaum, satisfied BeHear ACCESS customer
In April of this year an article about our assistive hearing products was published in The Jerusalem Post, Israel’s most-read English news website and best-selling English newspaper. As a result, we were flooded with inquiries and purchase orders for our products in our local market. One such customer, Mrs. Shayna Orbaum, filled out our customer feedback form. Her comments are reprinted below, with permission.
Before I was able to use the device I had to do the set-up, which included performing my own assessment of how each ear received the different sounds and tones. And also pairing it with the Bluetooth on my smartphone.
The accompanying instructions are very clear with pictures and big writing. Very easy to follow.
I am able to enjoy TV so much more.
I found myself tuning in more and more to Netflix because there I could read the subtitles. I still love Netflix, but now am able to pick out movies from the VOD library and hear every word loud and clear.
I used to have the volume up to about 45, when now I don’t need to raise the volume to more than 28, which is comfortable for my carer.
Phone calls: what a pleasure to be able to hear so well. I don’t even have to hold the phone to my ear. The phone sits on the table or desk and I just speak normally as though I am speaking to someone nearby. I still have to try out the slow speaking mode.
I have tried medical hearing aids about 3 years ago. I just could not adjust, always hearing an echo or other noises. I went back to the audiologist about 6 or 7 times and it was determined that my ear canals are small and hearing aids are not suitable for me. I was refunded the 8,000 shekels without any problems.
I thank Hillel Fuld for his article in the Jerusalem Post about Wear & Hear.
Personal Bundle Makes TV Watching More Enjoyable
“I previously listened to my TV at a volume level 45, now I comfortably have it set at 17.”
♦ The following are excerpts from a review posted by a customer on Amazon:
“After trying many personal hearing amplifiers with lots of disappointment, I am thrilled with this product, it exceeded my expectations.
The app which sets your frequencies is fantastic. It personalizes your hearing needs at frequencies we tend to lose as we age.
I previously listened to my TV at a volume level 45, now I comfortably have it set at 17.
Setup is a breeze, and the different modes it offers is a major plus. Indoor, outdoor, crowd, live music. I absolutely love this product and would recommend it to anyone who is having any hearing difficulties.
No more awkward “what was that” during conversations. I only wish I had discovered this 2-3 years ago. I’ve shared my experience with friends and neighbors who can not wait to get their own.”
The bottom line:
“Truly an affordable solution to hearing difficulties.”