One of the items that IPAT provides recommendations for on a regular basis is phones. Specialized phones make communication possible for individuals that may have a hearing, vision, or dexterity loss or if using one’s voice is problematic. The choices can be complicated within the specialized phone field.
Last week I was able to sit down with a new telephone program client and we talked about the features she needed. She was experiencing a hearing loss so that meant we would look at her audiogram to see the needed level of amplification. The next questions were intended to find the features she would like.
- Was it important to be able to move throughout the house while talking or talk in different areas of the home? She enjoyed talking in one place, so we decided a corded phone would be good. She also said that she has liked being able to use the speakerphone option on other phones.
- Did she need an answering machine? She stated that was a service she subscribed to through her phone company.
- Was Caller ID important? She liked knowing who was calling, so we included that feature.
- Was a flashing notification something she would like? Although the ringer can be adjusted, she thought that would be helpful to know when the phone was ringing.
- Would she like speed/memory buttons to make dialing easier? She felt like she could dial the numbers fine so that was not necessary.
The next step was to identify a phone for her to try. We first tried the Clarity Alto+ and then the Clarity XL45. She thought the XL45 provided a clearer call sound and the features matched what she wanted. In the end it was a determined that the Clarity XL45 was the right phone.
Although it may take several questions to find the right phone, and also trying it out, this can make all the difference in finding the right phone to meet each unique individual’s needs. Contact IPAT to see if we can help you find the right phone.