The meeting featured Melanie O’Brien, Au.D., who is the Mid-Atlantic Customer Trainer for Phonak Hearing Systems.  She described some of the features now available in Phonak hearing aid, such as SoundRecover.  This is a means of converting higher frequency sound information into a lower frequency range.  This may be advantageous for those with high frequency loss, and better hearing at lower frequencies.  Phonak also has available a bluetooth receiving device worn as a neck loop that is capable of transmitting in stereo to both ears. The receiver can be paired with a variety of bluetooth devices such as telephones, music players, etc.

She reviewed a considersable range of assitive listening devices (ALD) that work with Phonak HA’s.   HLA members were pleased to find a hearing aid manufacturer that does not assume the their instruments represent a complete and total solution to hearing loss problems.