What are my go-to solutions for a new hire that is deaf?
I’m no sure if he’s partially deaf or if he needs a full on speech to text solution.
Hell I don’t even know where to start with this topic.
Anyone?
Deaf users generally would rely on TTY services.
Try Live Captions on an Android or iOS device, using Sangoma Talk, or any other decent SIP app.
If this is unsuitable, provide details.
Wouldn’t that be a one way solution? You would have to account for a deaf person’s ability to speak. That could range from well to almost nothing depending on the person. Which means there needs to be a way for the deaf person to respond over the call if they can’t speak well.
When tested with Groundwire on my Pixel 9, I could type a “message” and it was spoken quite clearly to the remote party. A significant shortcoming is that what you type isn’t sent until you tap the send button, so the remote party must be fairly patient. Depending on the context, predictive typing reduces the delay significantly.
Oh that’s nice. I guess the first step would be to find out what this person’s limitations really are. Are they partially deaf? Completely deaf? Do they have a hearing aid device, etc before finding a solution.
You really need to ask the person themself, as they are likely to have a much better insight into their needs, and what is available.
Although I’m a hearing aid user, my hearing is not bad enough for me to have had to consider TTD, but I suspect that it now mainly used for consumer communication, not for B2B, and I suspect that, particularly, younger users, now make use of instant messaging instead, especially as smaller businesses are unlikely to have TTD terminal, but may well have WhatsApp, etc. I suspect that TTD is mainly used by people who have used it for a long time. This seems to be born out by research on the subject:
Assistive technology for the Deaf (TTY/TTD) appears to have become obsolete with advances in modern communication technologies, which has implications for policy decisions.
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Thank you everyone for the insights.
Spoke with the customer some more. This is new for the employee that is going deaf and for the company as this it the first time trying to provide solutions for her. This is also a new one for me as well as we’ve never came across this issue before.
I’m hoping the employee can provide more insight with what she needs when she adjusts to her newly developing situation.
I guess going forward I’m wonder what solutions are compatible with Sangoma phones. Any maybe some anecdotal stories on how other business approached this issue
Someone who is “going deaf” can almost certainly speak well and will likely retain that ability, so you only have to be concerned with the listening side.
If using a desk phone, she needs one with Bluetooth, as acoustical and telecoil coupling does not work well. The Sangoma s705 qualifies (and possibly other models); if you have one she can try that now.
If she already has Bluetooth enabled hearing aids, great.
Otherwise, for moderate to severe loss, the hearing aid feature built into Apple AirPods Pro may be adequate. Unfortunately, battery life is only ~6 hours, but with recharge during lunch they should last the workday.
Next step up, look at Costco. A pair runs $1600-1700 and several major brands are available. Costco Hearing Aid Center
I know nothing about aids for profound loss, other than that a pair costs $4000-8000 and typically requires several fitting sessions. In extreme cases, look at cochlear implants.
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One of our clients / volunteers is deaf. People who are deaf use video options for sign language. There are services that they call through and they get video with a sign language interpreter and then the interpreter talks to you. I have seen 3 different setups for this, this is one of them
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It sounds like the collapse in hearing is sudden, so I don’t think a DIY approach would be a good idea. I suspect DIY works best for long terms users with stable condition, who have had a lot of practice getting technicians to set up aids to their liking, and possibly for technically oriented users with mild, age related loss. I’m not sure what the situation is on these in the UK, as hearing aids are prescription only medical devices.
There are two general categories of Bluetooth enabled hearing aid: standard Bluetooth, and Bluetooth LE. The trend is towards the latter, using the LC3 codec. This combination is supported by some mobile phones (even my mid-range Samsung, even though the technician only claimed iPhone support), but is unlikely to be in desk phones. As well as longer battery life, it has the advantage that it has a significantly lower latency than standard Bluetooth headset profiles, possibly more important for live presentations, than telephone use.
Manufacturers of Bluetooth LE aids tend to sell pocket devices that act as gateways between standard Bluetooth headset audio and Bluetooth LE audio.
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