Hearing aids & videocall: how to do it?

Q: Have an agenda for team meetings

The first and most important point is to plan meetings in advance and to send, together with the email invitation and the link to connect, the meeting agenda. Besides being a good practice to make the content accessible and clear, sending the agenda is essential to give an idea of the topics to be addressed from the outset. Moreover, it facilitates a better understanding of the meeting's progress, even during challenging discussions, and ensures that objectives are clearly communicated to all participants.

Tips for video calls and hearing aids

Video calls are an integral part of our daily lives, especially at work: a simple and practical tool that, since the pandemic, has almost completely replaced face-to-face meetings. Let's explore how to use hearing aids to make calls.

How to connect hearing aids and laptop

To simplify meetings with hearing aids, the first step is to connect the PC to the hearing aids. The process is really quick, but above all convenient. The wearer can make video calls using the hearing aids as if they were real headphones, with a considerable advantage in comfort and freedom from headphones and other accessories.

It only takes a few steps:

prepare the devices for connection: check that Bluetooth is active on the hearing aids and PC. For the PC simply check the settings, for the hearing aids simply reboot them and place them close to the computer;
find the hearing aids on the computer's Bluetooth setting. Once the hearing aids transmit the signal, they are ready to be connected and will appear on the computer's Bluetooth list. Select the hearing aids in the list of detected devices;
wait for the connection. Within a few seconds, the two devices will establish a connection. Typically, the process is successfully completed when a beep or tone is heard.

Depending on the type, make and model of the hearing aid, the procedure may vary slightly, but user manuals help by providing all the information needed. For additional insights, consider conducting a brief online search.

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Make your meetings deaf aware

For those who suffer from a hearing impairment or wear hearing aids to hear better, making a video call can be a bit intimidating or even seem like an insurmountable hurdle. Nonetheless, adopting a few good practices can help prepare the wearer, enabling them to approach the meeting with peace of mind and focus on achieving the desired outcome. Let's look at how to make video calls more accessible for those who wear hearing aids or are deaf or hard of hearing.

Have an agenda for team meetings

The first and most important point is to plan meetings in advance and to send, together with the email invitation and the link to connect, the meeting agenda. Besides being a good practice to make the content accessible and clear, sending the agenda is essential to give an idea of the topics to be addressed from the outset. Moreover, it facilitates a better understanding of the meeting's progress, even during challenging discussions, and ensures that objectives are clearly communicated to all participants.

Have time for key takeaways and next steps

The agenda always guides the meeting and each agenda is organised into points. At the end of each item, it is important to underline important concepts both to summarise what was said or agreed upon and to dispel any misunderstandings. This step is useful to understand whether or not the objectives set have been achieved. To enable everyone to follow the meeting better, it is also important to briefly introduce the next steps. This may seem trivial, but it makes the meeting more organised, precise and effective.

End of meeting follow up notes

The meeting is over. One might think that everything is resolved and there is no more action to be taken to help those with a hearing impairment. Nothing could be more incorrect. At the end of the meeting, it is important to send follow-up notes. There are several reasons for this:

it keeps everyone aligned, reinforcing the key concepts expressed in the meeting;
it provides a clear and specific summary of the topics discussed;
it offers a mirror of the next steps, saving valuable time.

Use meeting rooms for group discussions

Group chats can prevent the oversight of crucial information. They can be used to share some key points or to ask for some clarifications or specifications, allowing those who suffer from hearing impairments or wear hearing aids to better follow the meeting.

It can be used to:

ask for a quick clarification;
send a summary of the points touched upon during the meeting, e.g. once an agenda item has been closed, thus keeping track of the main topics;
have a more connected team that communicates flexibly and easily.

However, it is important to remember to leave the chat history active, in order to make it usable at the end of the video call.

Turn your cameras on

Often during video calls, people tend not to turn on the camera. Actually, showing one's face during a conversation or meeting is very important. The resulting experience is more complete than simply hearing a voice speaking or illustrating concepts and can greatly help people with a hearing condition. Why? Because by turning on the camera, we provide extremely important communication elements: smiles, movements and gestures. Therefore, we should not hesistate to show ourselves when we are speaking, even if the quality of the video support is not optimal.

Skype, FaceTime, Zoom and WhatsApp video calling

The platforms for making video calls are many and almost all offer specific features for people with hearing impairments.

Skype, Zoom and Microsoft Teams are the most popular ones, even for business video calls, and all of them, in addition to the possibility of activating the video camera and integrated chat, allow subtitles in real time, both in meetings with a few people and in large group meetings. At the end of the video call, it is also possible to access recordings and transcripts of what was said. Thanks to Artificial Intelligence, this inclusive experience becomes achievable through swift, continuous, and real-time text transcription.

WhatsApp instead is often used and handy for informal video calls: the smartphone is easily paired with the hearing aid thanks to Bluetooth.

Apple offers a complete accessibility package for the hearing impaired, with services integrated directly into the entire Apple line (iPhone, iPad and iPod); these include:

Made for iPhone hearing aids, with which you can hear the sound of phone calls even more clearly, simply by pairing your hearing aid;
FaceTime video calls: available on all iOS devices and can be used to make video calls to all other iOS users;
Live listening: turns Apple devices into a remote microphone that sends ambient audio to Made for iPhone hearing aids or AirPods;
Visual alerts: the LED flash lights up every time a notification is received, useful for not missing anything, especially if the phone is locked;
RTT (Real-Time Text) calls: instantly transmit messages as they are dialled;
Subtitles: available on some iTunes video content;
Earphone settings: customise the audio settings of your headphones or earbuds, adjusting the hearing frequency to suit your needs.

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Technology for communication

Hearing aids are becoming increasingly high-performance and adaptable to our needs. Amplifon, above all, is at the forefront in improving the daily lives of those with hearing impairments. Products from the ampli-connect line are combined with digital media for direct hearing from the hearing aid. They are simply operated via the app.

The first step to benefit from them is to visit one of the Amplifon centres for a hearing test and to find the best solution.

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How to make video calls with hearing aid