Communication Choices - BT's guide to hearing better on the phone - bt.com/includingyou
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Communication Choices BT’s guide to hearing better on the phone bt.com/includingyou
Foreword
The growth of social networks, like Facebook
and Twitter, and more versatile mobile phones
haven’t changed the fact that the phone still
plays an important, if not vital, role in helping
you keep in touch. We’re glad that BT is still committed to
making the phone accessible to people with a hearing loss.
This guide is one part of that commitment. It’s an easy-to-read, jargon-
free guide to getting the best out of today’s phones, written specifically
for people with a hearing loss. It includes practical suggestions on how
to make phone conversations easier and valuable information that can
help you make informed choices about what best suits your needs.
Although this booklet has been produced by BT for its customers and
we can’t endorse specific BT products, we recommend it to everyone
with an interest in achieving better communication on the phone.
Dr Lorraine Gailey
Chief Executive, Hearing Link
hearinglink.org
2
Contents
Foreword . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Our website. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Other BT guides . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Using the phone without a hearing aid. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Try Before You Buy centres. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Digital hearing aids. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Analogue hearing aids . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Microphone settings when you’re on the phone. . . . . . . . . 11
Inductive coupling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
What is inductive coupling?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
How does inductive coupling help on the phone?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
How to tell if your phone has an inductive coupler . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
Tips on positioning your phone. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Using the inductive coupler with a hearing aid . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Programmable telecoil option (PTO). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
Bone anchored hearing aid (BAHA) or cochlear implant . . 16
Body-worn hearing aid. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
Headsets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
Hands free or loudspeaker phones. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
Interference. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
3
Cordless phones. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 Digital Enhanced Cordless Transmission (DECT) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 Analogue cordless . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 Batteries. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 Mobile phones. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 More help with mobiles. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 Dealing with a whistling hearing aid. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 Using a behind the ear (BTE) aid. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 Using an in the ear (ITE) aid. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 Problems hearing the phone ring. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26 Getting more from your phone. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28 Texting or Short Message Service (SMS). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28 Emergency SMS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28 Relay services. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29 BT’s calling features. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29 More tips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31 Get included online. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32 Making phone calls over the internet. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32 Text and video calls over the internet. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33 BT’s contact and service details. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34 Live chat. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35 Tweeting. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35 Facebook. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35 References and further contacts. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36 Acknowledgements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37 4
Introduction
For many people, the phone is a simple way to stay in touch
with friends and family and many businesses still prefer to
use the phone when they’re dealing with customers.
Over time, starting around your 20s, your hearing starts to change.
This is natural and you shouldn’t worry about it. But if your hearing
is or becomes impaired, using the phone can be frustrating for you
and for the person at the other end of the line. It can also be awkward
and uncomfortable if you have to rely on someone else to make your
phone calls.
This guide discusses some simple steps you can take to help make sure
you get the best possible clarity and volume of speech when you’re on
the phone.
Our website
For more details, go to bt.com/includingyou, our website for people
that need extra help with communications.
5
Other BT guides
Communication Choices: for deaf or hard of hearing people
This is a BT guide that helps you find the best way to communicate
if you’re deaf or hard of hearing. It’s mainly about phones but it also
shows you how the internet and other technologies can help.
To read or download Communication Choices, click on ‘Useful
downloads’ on the ‘Help’ page at bt.com/includingyou
Including You: BT’s guide to help
you communicate
Including You
In this guide, you’ll find information BT’s guide to help you communicate
about our standard and more specialised
products and services, especially aimed at
our customers who find communication
more challenging.
To read or download this guide, click on
‘Useful downloads’ on the ‘Help’ page at
bt.com/includingyou
www.bt.com/includingyou
We’ve also got a range of accessories you might find helpful. For more
information, go to bt.com/shop/accessible_products
6
Using the phone without a
hearing aid
When you’re on the phone, how you hold the handset can make a big
difference to the quality of sound that you hear.
If you don’t use a hearing aid when you’re on the phone, try checking
that you’re holding the earpiece of the handset in the right place on
your ear.
You’ll see holes or slots on your phone’s handset, where the sound
comes from. Make sure that you hold the handset so that these holes
or slots are directly over the entrance to your ear canal, or ear hole.
Just getting it slightly off centre
can make a huge difference to
what you can hear.
It’s important to nestle the
earpiece comfortably against your
ear, so that it forms a good seal.
Just a one centimetre gap can
more than halve the volume and
seriously affect the quality of the
sound you hear. Also, that gap
can let in room noise and mask
incoming speech.
7
It might be worth testing the sound by calling a familiar voice, listening to voicemail or dialing a Freephone number before you make a live call. But before you do that, make sure that you remove or reduce any other sources of sound. Another trick is to shut your eyes so that you’re not distracted by something you see and to help your brain focus on what you hear. If you still struggle to hear once you’ve checked all these things, you could try a new phone with incoming speech amplification and volume control. Many new phones – either corded or cordless – now come with better clarity, a volume control and a hands free facility (see page 19). Try Before You Buy centres If you’re thinking about getting a new phone, it makes sense to check things out before you buy. Working with third-party Try Before You Buy (TBYB) centres, BT provides over 200 places where you can see, handle and try out our equipment to make sure it’s right for you – without being pressurised by sales people. To find your nearest Try Before You Buy centre, go to www.btplc.com/inclusion/trybeforeyoubuy/ 8
Digital hearing aids
Most new hearing aids are digital, which is good because they can
be programmed more precisely than analogue aids to suit your own
hearing needs. Some digital aids are even self-adjusting. The audiologist
who tests your hearing will discuss with you which type of hearing aid
is best for you. The audiologist will also programme the aid, show you
how to use it and fine tune things later if it needs it.
Some digital aids have a volume control. Others automatically adjust
their volume according to the environment. This could be a drawback
when you’re on the phone as the aid could try to quieten the phone’s
sound, making it more difficult for you to hear. If you get this problem,
let your audiologist know and they should be able fix things by
adjusting your aid’s settings.
9
We can’t suggest specific adjustments for when you’re using the phone because the controls and settings for different makes of hearing aid vary. Your audiologist will help you when they first fit the aid and will explain how it works in different situations: with a group, one-to-one, in a noisy environment and when using the ‘T’ setting, also called the telecoil setting or inductive coupler, for use with the loop system (see page 12). Make sure you ask your audiologist to activate the ‘T’ or telecoil option in your hearing aid. There are many styles of digital hearing aids, like behind the ear, in the ear and receiver in the canal. Most hearing aids also have an additional programme that can help you hear better in quiet situations. Your audiologist might arrange follow up visits once you’ve had a chance to use your aid, to see how you’ve been getting on and to make any adjustments to the original settings. Analogue hearing aids Analogue aids use older technology and aren’t as advanced as digital aids. They usually have a microphone and telecoil option but not any automatic functions. 10
Microphone settings when
you’re on the phone
When your aid’s microphone is on, all sound enters through it and is
then boosted and modified by the hearing aid and sent directly into
your ear canal.
When you’re on the phone, you need to make sure that the sound
coming from the phone earpiece reaches the ear canal by moving the
ear piece close to the microphone on the hearing aid. The best way
to do this depends on your hearing aid’s style – ask your audiologist.
It’s useful to try holding the handset in different positions to find out
what suits you best. One way of doing this is to listen to the phone
dialling tone or a recorded announcement on a Freephone number.
See ‘Tips on positioning’ on page 13.
You can use both analogue
and digital hearing aids when
you’re on the phone. Use your
hearing aid’s ‘T’ setting if it has
one, otherwise use the standard
setting.
11Inductive coupling What is inductive coupling? Inductive coupling, ‘T’ setting, telecoil, inductive coupler and loop system are effectively talking about the same thing. A telecoil is a small component in your hearing aid that picks up magnetic signals from an inductive coupler in a hearing aid compatible phone or from a loop system in a room. It detects then converts the magnetic signals into sound and reduces background noise, so you hear more clearly. How does inductive coupling help on the phone? A telecoil can reduce background noise and eliminate the feedback (squealing or whistling) that you sometimes get when you hold your phone next to your hearing aid. How to tell if your phone has an inductive coupler On the box it should say ‘hearing aid compatible’ or ‘inductive coupler’ and show an ‘ear’ symbol. All BT payphones and most of the remaining analogue cordless phones on the market have inductive couplers fitted as standard. All BT corded phones that feature speech amplification also have inductive couplers. Some digital cordless phones also have inductive coupling. 12
Tips on positioning your phone
Using the inductive coupler with a hearing aid
The sound from a phone earpiece comes from the holes in the centre
but the inductive coupler electromagnet is usually fitted around the rim
of the earpiece, usually about a centimetre back from the microphone.
It’s important to hold the rim of the earpiece as close as possible to the
magnetic pick-up within your hearing aid, maybe even touching your
hearing aid.
There’s no way of knowing where the telecoil is, so you’ll need to
experiment to find the best position for the handset and adjust the
volume on the hearing aid and/or phone to a comfortable level.
Here’s a starting point: place the handset with the earpiece on the
side of your head, above your ear. Slide it down so that it rests on the
‘shelf’ of your ear, sandwiching the hearing aid between the portion
of the earpiece rim nearest the centre of the handset and the side of
your head.
To do this, your ear will be
gently forced outwards
and you should now
slowly slide the earpiece
round the curve of the
hearing aid until you hear
the loudest sound.
13Once you’ve found the best position, try not to move the handset. If you slide the rim of the earpiece just a centimetre one way or the other away from the best spot, you could lose the signal altogether. You can use the constant sound of the dialling tone or a recorded announcement on a Freephone number to see how the sound varies with the handset in different positions. If your hearing aid has a combined microphone and telecoil option (an ‘MT’ position) you can pick up both the normal voice sound and the inductive coupling sound. Many hearing aid users do this as it can increase the overall sound – but if you’re in a noisy place, it’s probably best to choose telecoil only, to keep down any background noise. The magnetic coils in the phone and hearing aid work best if they’re aligned in the same direction. Most hearing aid manufacturers try to make the angle of the inductive coupler suit both phone and room loop use but it might help if you rotate the phone to see if the sound gets better. Many corded phones have an inductive coupler in the earpiece. Others, like cordless or mobile phones, could have a standard headset socket, which means you can plug in an inductive loop (sometimes called a neck loop). You can also get a mobile phone with a Bluetooth connection for neck loops. You’ll find more about using a phone when wearing a hearing aid on the ‘Making calling easier’ pages at bt.com/includingyou 14
Programmable telecoil option (PTO)
Many digital hearing aids have a programmable telecoil option (PTO).
The PTO automatically selects your preferred phone setting,
programmed by the audiologist, when triggered by your phone’s
magnetic field. This can be loop, microphone or microphone and loop
together. Some aids are supplied with a small, powerful magnet which
boosts the magnetic field and triggers the programme when you place
it on the earpiece of a phone. This is useful when the magnetic field
from the handset is too weak to operate the PTO programme on its
own. Your audiologist will explain if your aid has a PTO.
15Bone anchored hearing aid (BAHA) or cochlear implant Bone anchored hearing aids and cochlear implants are surgically implanted hearing aids. The positioning of the bone anchored hearing aid or cochlear implant, and non-implanted bone conduction hearing aids, is a little different from that of a behind the ear aid but the general principles of hearing speech on the phone are the same. Depending on your hearing aid, the tips on page 13 still apply to your aid or implant and will help you find out if you’re likely to get interference when you’re using a cordless or a mobile phone. The hands free feature on some phones (see page 19) is a really useful option but remember to turn down the volume to the lowest comfortable level to minimise distortion. This is especially important if you’re using a digital cordless phone where the hands free amplification is built into the handset itself. With newer cochlear implants, you can use your phone with either the microphone or the telecoil, or both. As with other hearing aids, you’ll need to experiment to find the best place and position to hold your phone. 16
Body-worn hearing aid
Body-worn aids (quite rare these days) use a microphone and sound
processor housed in a casing worn clipped to your clothes, usually at
chest level. Although the microphone isn’t at ear level, the way they’re
used with the phone is almost the same.
As the microphone of a body-worn aid is worn on your chest, you need
to hold the phone handset upside down. This brings the earpiece closer
to the aid’s microphone and the handset mouthpiece further up, nearer
to your mouth.
If the handset is fitted with an inductive coupler, you can switch your
hearing aid to the ‘telecoil’ setting.
The easiest, most straightforward way is to use a phone with a hands
free feature (see page 19) so you can talk and listen without having to
hold anything.
17Headsets Some phones have a headset socket and a button to switch the headset on and off instead of lifting the handset when you make or take a call. On a lot of modern phones, if you pick up the handset before pressing the headset button, you can use both the headset and the handset earpiece but the handset microphone stays disconnected. If you still struggle to hear clearly and have a friend with you, you could use the headset and microphone while they can listen using the handset and repeat the speech to you by ‘lipspeaking’ or mouthing it. Or you could ask them to make notes. Some corded phones with a hands free feature let you use the handset earpiece at the same time. If you use a body-worn aid you can hold the handset to the microphone on your body aid and speak into the hands free microphone while the earpiece is down on your chest. And the ‘MT’ position on most body-worn aids lets you pick up both sound and the magnetic signal from the earpiece at the same time. If you wear a hearing aid in just one ear, you could use a headset to one ear and the handset to the ear with the hearing aid, so you can listen to incoming sounds with both ears at the same time. You can also buy headsets with noise-cancelling microphones to reduce background noise – go to bt.com/shop or call 0800 917 0510. These headsets can be connected and used either directly on your ear or with your hearing aid microphone. 18
Hands free or loudspeaker phones
A phone with a hands free or loudspeaker option lets you chat without
holding the handset. You hear the speech through a speaker and your
voice is picked up through a microphone in the phone or handset.
This gives a balanced sound, which you’ll probably find much easier to
hear. It will help a lot if you wear two hearing aids, use a body-worn
hearing aid or have severe hearing loss or tinnitus.
It also means that everyone in the room can share in the conversation.
Corded phones get their power from the phone line and, as this power
is quite low, the loudspeaker quality and volume can also be quite low.
Phones that use batteries or mains power to improve the quality of the
broadcast speech will offer a better sound quality. Some hands free
phones are designed to work without any additional batteries, but they
might not be as good as battery-assisted phones.
It’s worth noting that the speaker for the hands free feature could be
in the handset – so you can get a much louder volume if you hold the
handset close to your ear or aid.
19Interference Mobile phones and digital cordless phones can sometimes cause interference on hearing aids. This is usually a buzzing sound and it can be enough to make conversation impossible, especially if the aid is on the telecoil setting. Most hearing aid circuits intercept this interference but if yours is affected, see page 13 for some tips on how to keep interference down. It can help if the cordless phone has a hands free facility because you can hold the handset far enough away from the aid to stop interference but still hear the incoming speech. (See hands free, page 19.) For more help with interference, see ‘Dealing with a whistling hearing aid’ on page 24. 20
Cordless phones
Cordless phones have a base unit that plugs into an ordinary phone
socket and a power supply. Extra handsets need just a power supply.
Depending on the model, a cordless handset can be used up to 300
metres away from the base outside and 50 metres inside a building.
There are two types of domestic cordless phone.
Digital Enhanced Cordless Transmission (DECT)
Virtually all new cordless phones are DECT. Most feature a small screen
that displays information such as call and directory lists. They usually
have speech volume adjustment.
Many handsets also have amplification but it might not be very powerful.
You might prefer a cordless phone with the hands free speaker in the
handset rather than the base unit – so you can hold the handset close
to your ear or hearing aid.
Many DECT phones also come
with an in-the-ear earpiece and
headset socket which you can
use with other headsets, plug-in
inductive loops or ear-hooks.
If your cordless phone causes
interference on your hearing aid,
see page 20.
21Analogue cordless You can’t buy new analogue cordless phones anymore but a lot of people still have them and they’re simple to use. They usually have a visible handset aerial and generally don’t have a display screen. They’re often fitted with inductive couplers and offer limited speech volume adjustment. Batteries DECT and analogue cordless phones need a power supply in order to work and to recharge the batteries. The batteries will last longer if you occasionally let them run down completely. You’ll probably need to replace the batteries every 18 months to two years. Remember that cordless phones won’t work during power cuts so it’s worth having a corded or mobile phone for emergencies. 22
Mobile phones
All mobile phones are digital and you should be able to use them
with your digital hearing aid if you hold your phone to your hearing
aid’s microphone.
If you use an analogue hearing aid, you might get buzzing interference
whether you hold the earpiece up to the microphone or use the ‘T’ setting.
Many mobile phones now come with a loudspeaker or hands free
feature which lets you turn up the volume of the other person’s voice.
This could be enough for you to be able to hold the mobile phone far
enough away from your hearing
aid to avoid interference.
You might also be able to buy
an inductive neck loop for your
mobile phone. These fit either
around your neck or hooked
between your aid and your ear.
They plug into the phone and
come with a microphone that
you can keep away from your Mobile phone’s headset socket
hearing aid to avoid interference. connected to hearing aid
Bluetooth inductive loops can be a bit pricey but they work with any
Bluetooth-enabled mobile, so you don’t need to get a new loop or
adapter if you change your mobile phone.
More help with mobiles
The Global Accessibility Reporting Initiative (GARI) is a project designed
to help you find mobiles with special features that might help. Although
a USA site, it includes some phones that are available in the UK.
Go to mobileaccessibility.info
23Dealing with a whistling hearing aid If your hearing aid whistles, it’s usually caused by feedback, when the microphone picks up the sounds going into your ear and amplifies them again. Using a behind the ear (BTE) aid Now that all new hearing aids are digital, whistling hearing aids are much less of a problem. But if you find that putting the phone earpiece up to the top of your ear causes a whistling sound, it’s likely that the mould or tip/dome isn’t in the ear properly, or it needs to be changed. A visit to your audiologist will probably fix things. You could also get whistling if your hearing aid volume is too high (which also distorts the speech). The natural reaction here is to hold the phone away from the ear, which can be tiring. Here’s a way to make things more comfortable if your hearing aid whistles when you put the centre of the phone earpiece over the microphone: • slide the handset forwards against the side of your head towards your eyebrow for two or three centimetres (following the line of the arm of your glasses if you wear them) • twist the handset so that the earpiece is turned from your temple towards your ear so the sound is being projected back towards the microphone • move the earpiece nearer to the microphone until just before the whistling starts in order to get the loudest sound 24
Or you could try using a phone with an amplifier so you can turn down
the hearing aid’s volume and turn up the phone’s incoming speech
volume. Try not to have it too loud though or you’ll hear the whistling
you’re trying to avoid.
Using an in the ear (ITE) aid
With in the ear hearing aids, the shape of the ear canal itself is an
integral part of the hearing process so if you cover your ear with your
hand or phone earpiece your aid might whistle. If this happens:
• rest one edge of the phone earpiece against your ear on either side
of the ear canal so that the sound from the earpiece flows across it
• pivot the handset to ‘open’ or ‘close’ the earpiece over your ear canal
until it’s comfortable. This will work with any phone, including those
with built-in speech amplifiers
As we’ve already said, all BT payphones and most analogue cordless
phones have inductive couplers fitted as standard. All BT corded
phones that feature speech amplification also have inductive couplers.
The amplifier can also be used to boost the speech volume when using
your hearing aid set to ‘T’.
25Problems hearing the phone ring If you have trouble hearing your phone ring, you might find it helpful to get a new phone with a choice of ring tones and volumes. Ask your audiologist if you hear high or low pitch sounds better, and choose a phone with a ringtone that’s easier for you to hear. Or you might find that a phone with a visual call indicator might help. But if you still miss calls, you might find an extra alert is useful. If you’re a BT home customer and are hard of hearing, we’ll supply a Tonecaller and socket doubler, free of charge, that you can fit next to the phone. To order, call 0800 800 150. A word of warning: don’t plug too many things into your phone sockets. Every device that rings on your phone line has a Ringer Equivalence Number (REN) which is used to work out how many items can be connected to a phone line. If you go over four REN per line, the equipment might not ring. A way round this is to buy a cordless phone that comes with up to five handsets but still has a REN of a single unit. 26
If you also struggle to hear your door bell and possibly your smoke
alarm, or you don’t hear your phone ringing when you’re watching
television, even if it’s right next to you, you could contact your local
council’s Social Services department. They often have specialist
social workers for deaf and hard of hearing people who can give you
information on alternative devices such as a flashing light or a vibrating
pager system. Hearing Link and Action on Hearing Loss also have help
teams that can offer advice (see further contacts on page 36).
Remember: if you’ve got a broadband line, you need to use a
broadband filter between the phone socket and phone or alerting
device.
27Getting more from your phone Texting or Short Message Service (SMS) Text messaging is a quick, cheap and easy way to stay in touch if you’re hard of hearing. You can easily text from a mobile phone and, with BT Text and a suitable phone, you can do the same from your landline. To send texts on your BT line, you need an SMS compatible phone and BT Caller Display or BT Privacy. You can get Caller Display as part of BT Privacy. For charges, see bt.com/callingfeatures. Text messages sent to standard phones or to lines without Caller Display will be delivered as voice messages. For more information, go to bt.com/callingfeatures Emergency SMS If you’ve a mobile phone and can’t use the normal 999 service, you can contact the emergency services by sending a text message to 999. You need to register your mobile phone before you can use the service. For more information, go to emergencysms.org.uk 28
Relay services
If you struggle to hear speech on
the phone, a text relay service
might help.
Text Relay helps people with a
hearing or speech impairment to
have typed phone conversations,
either person-to-person or via
a relay assistant. Text Relay is
available free. Find out more at
textrelay.org
BT’s calling features
If you’re a BT customer, our calling features give you more control over
your phone and calls, making it easier to stay in touch, make and take
calls and pick up voicemail messages – and more. Some calling features
are included at no extra cost with our calling plans. Some you need to
pay for.
BT Privacy
BT Privacy gives you more control over incoming calls by letting you
see the number that’s calling you before you answer so you can decide
whether to pick up the phone or leave it to your answering service.
BT Privacy registers you with the Telephone Preference Service
(tpsonline.org.uk) and comes with the option of Caller Display.
For charges, see bt.com/callingfeatures.
29BT Answer 1571 A voicemail service that’s always on – so you don’t miss a call when you’re out, can’t get to the phone or you’re on another call. To set up BT Answer 1571, just call 1571 from your home phone and follow the prompts. For charges, see bt.com/callingfeatures. BT 1471 Dial 1471 to get the number of the last person who called you. Caller Display Lets you see the number that’s calling you before you answer. So you can decide whether to pick up the phone or leave it to your answering service. For charges, go to bt.com/callingfeatures. Choose to Refuse Helps block some nuisance and unwanted calls, including withheld numbers. Choose to Refuse lets you block up to ten numbers, including the last number you answered. You can check your list of blocked numbers at any time and change or unblock them if you want to. For more information on unwanted calls, go to bt.com/unwantedcalls Anonymous Call Reject Blocks calls from withheld or anonymous UK numbers. If a caller in the UK withholds their number, they won’t be able to get through to you. Calls from ‘unavailable’ numbers, such as calls from abroad, can’t be blocked. Call Sign Get an additional number with a different ring tone. You can then give this number only to close friends and family so you can distinguish between incoming calls. For more information, go to bt.com/callingfeatures 30
More tips
We hope this guide helps you make the most of your phone.
If you’ve found it useful, you can now let your friends and family know
that you can hear better on the phone and that there’s no need for
them to shout. But you could suggest that they speak more slowly.
If you get a call from a stranger, do explain to them that you’ve some
hearing difficulties or that you use a hearing aid. And if you’re not sure
what someone has said, ask them to:
• repeat the sentence
• say the sentence in a different way
• spell important words
• say the alphabet and stop at the correct letter
• count from number one and stop at the correct number – if you’re
having a problem with a number or date
Also always repeat back the information you’ve heard to make sure
you’ve got it right. Remember, people are ringing you for a reason and
want to hear from you, so it’s in their best interests to make it easier for
you to hear them.
To help people hear what you’re saying on the phone, hold the
mouthpiece below your bottom lip, in front of your chin. Modern
mouthpieces are very sensitive and holding them too near to your
mouth can distort what you’re saying.
31Get included online If you’re hard of hearing, the internet can help, perhaps in ways that you don’t automatically think of, including new communication possibilities. For example, you can make phone calls over the internet, stay in touch with text-based services like instant messenger and, if you use BSL, a webcam can help you sign to others over the internet. Making phone calls over the internet If you’ve got broadband, you could set things up to make phone calls over the internet with Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP). You can use your computer’s microphone and speakers or you might prefer a special phone, plugged into your PC, modem or router. With some VoIP services, you can use a normal phone, corded or cordless, including those fitted with inductive couplers or amplifiers. Voice quality with VoIP might not always match that of a normal landline and it can vary depending on how busy the internet is. So you might find it more difficult to hear clearly when using a VoIP line. It’s also worth remembering that VoIP phones won’t work if you have a power cut and some call types are not guaranteed e.g. 999, 112, emergency calls. 32
Text and video calls over the internet
There are lots of instant messenger programs to choose from. All of
them let you use text and some of them have a video feature too –
ideal if you use BSL. You’ll need a webcam (some laptops and computer
monitors have one built-in).
You’ll find more information and help with the internet in the ‘Getting
online’ pages at bt.com/includingyou
33BT’s contact and service details
When you contact us, Bill date
29 Aug 2012
Bill reference
M123 AB
Your account number
SD 1234 5678
you’ll usually need toBill date How we worked out your bill
Bill reference Your account number
29 Aug 2012 M123 AB SD 1234 5678
quote your BT account
Total £
Line rental and other basic charges
You're making great
number, which you’ll find
Phone line savings by paying your
Line Rental 28 Jul-27 Aug 12 £ 0.00 line rental in advance
for the year.
Call Minder 28 Jul-27 Aug 12 £ 3.15 www.bt.com/rentalsaver
This is the cost of your Call Minder charged in advance (£3.15 a month)
International FreedomW28 Jul-27 Aug 12 £ 5.20
This is the cost of your International Freedom charged in advance at £5.20
on your BT bill.
a month
Inclusive calls to 36 international destinations
Package
Broadband and Calls 28 Jul-27 Aug 12 £ 21.00
This is the cost of your Package at £21.00 a month, charged in advance from
28 Jul 2012 to 27 Aug 2012. This gives you:
Calling Plan Unlimited Anytime Plan
Broadband BT Total Broadband Option 3
Add BT Vision to your package for great TV from BT- www.bt.com/vision
Total line rental and other basic charges = £ 29.35
What you used
Phone usage See page 4 £ 10.09
You made 38 call(s) - number of free call(s) 10
= £ 10.09
orked out your bill
TOTAL including VAT = £ 39.44
Page 3 of 4
Total £
Your online starting point for all of BT’s services is bt.com
d otherTobasic charges
manage your own BT services, including seeing and downloading
your bills, tracking your orders and getting the latest offers
You're makingand
great help,
go to My BT at bt.com/mybt savings by paying your
ug 12 £ 0.00 line rental in advance
You can also find out how to get help and contact for
usthe
atyear.
ug 12 £ 3.15
bt.com/includingyou/help-support-contact.html
l Minder charged in advance (£3.15 a month)
www.bt.com/rentalsaver
If 12
W28 Jul-27 Aug you prefer to contact us by phone, here’s how:
£ 5.20
ernational Freedom charged in advance at £5.20
0800 800 150 – for BT sales and service
national destinations
0800 401 000 – for our BT Asian languages helpdesk where advisers
can answer calls in Hindi, Gujarati, Urdu and Punjabi
28 Jul-27 Aug 12 £ 21.00
0800
ckage at £21.00 288 in– advance
800charged
a month, for ourfrom
BT Welsh language helpdesk
12. This gives you:
d Anytime Plan
0800 800 151 – for faults
Broadband Option 3
If you’re using a textphone, remember to dial 18001 before the
kage for great TV from BT- www.bt.com/vision
above numbers.
her basic charges = £ 29.35
To contact us in BSL, go to bt.com/bsl
d
34 £ 10.09
mber of free call(s) 10Live chat
If you find speaking difficult and have a question or need some
help about BT’s products and services, you can use Live chat, an
instant-messenger style way to talk. Just go to the ‘Help’ pages at
bt.com/includingyou, click through to Live chat via ‘Contact us now’
and type in your question.
We’re open from 8am to 9pm, Monday to Friday.
Tweeting
If you use Twitter, you can contact us via @BTCare and we’ll tweet you
back with help or suggestions. A lot of people find this a quick and easy
way to contact us for help.
Facebook
We’re also on Facebook at facebook.com/BTUK
35References and further contacts Action on Hearing Loss (the new name for RNID) actiononhearingloss.org.uk Tel 0808 808 0123 British Deaf Association bda.org.uk Tel 0207 405 0090 Deafness Research UK deafnessresearch.org.uk Tel 0808 808 2222 Hearing Link hearinglink.org Tel 0300 111 1113 National Association of Deafened People nadp.org.uk Tel 0845 055 9663 SENSE sense.org.uk Tel 020 7520 0972 The National Deaf Children’s Society ndcs.org.uk Tel 0808 800 8880 Organisations wanting to improve their communication with hearing impaired customers who prefer to make contact by text, can also find useful information at textrelay.org 36
Acknowledgements
BT would like to thank Hearing Link for their help with this booklet.
And many thanks to our models who appear in this booklet for
giving up their time and lending us their hearing aids:
Jeremy Blake, Brian Davies, Laura Hignett, Claire Johnson and
Aaron Miller.
37Offices worldwide © British Telecommunications plc 2013 Registered Office: 81 Newgate Street, London EC1A 7AJ Registered in England No. 1800000 The services we’ve described in this publication may not always be available and we may change them. And nothing we’ve written here is contractual. When we supply services and equipment, our terms and conditions apply. BT is not responsible for content of third party websites. Written and designed by The Art & Design Partnership and Muse Publishing. PHME 69192
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