I purchasing the Phonak M90 13T aid next week and I like the bluetooth connection to my phone. I am getting 13T for the larger battery size but it comes with a telecoil standard. I read some on the use of the telecoil to connect to the TV etc but first I don’t know to do it and what else can I use it for. Any help would be appreciated.
On my old Siemens I had telecoil turned on. My audi gave me some small magnets to put on the phones at work because modern electronic telephones don’t have the magnet power to activate the telecoil.
I found it to be bothersome. The receiver had to be held just so to activate it, and if I moved slightly it would deactivate. I gave up on it and decided I could hear well enough without it. On my new aids I haven’t even considered it.
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Neither my previous HAs (Starkey Halos) nor my current HAs have telecoil capabilities. I was unaware of the technology when I selected my first HAs five years ago and telecoil didn’t factor into my selection of my Oticons.
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A telecoil allows you to interface with a lot more technology. If you go to the movies, theater, church etc. you can use their “large area system” with your hearing aids. This is so much better then hearing aids alone or using their system with earbuds. You simply use a neckloop with your t-coil HAs and interface with the FM, Infrared or Loop system the venue has installed. You can also use the t-coil and neckloop to interface with telephone amplifiers or TV or computer technology. A telecoil also allows you to use some tech from other manufacturers not just your particular brand of hearing aid. For example, I can use Roger tech with Oticon hearing aids.
Hearing loops are apparently very popular in Europe as an accessibility feature. There are more and more places offering them in North America. I noticed the standard sign in the cafeteria area of a ferry and tried it out. After turning on the telecoil program on my HA’s, in some particular spots I could hear some extra noise and hiss and other ambient sounds. I went to the register and there it was again. I mentioned to the person there and she laughed and thought it was all bogus. She was surprised that there was such a thing. I could hear her well enough. Then she got closer to the mic and she was loud.
I have strung a hearing loop in my home and have connected the center speaker of a basic 5.1 amp to it. Really helps for dialog.
You don’t need a neck loop if there’s a larger functioning hearing loop. You don’t really need the telecoil for your own home audio connectivity when you have bluetooth. My HA’s don’t.
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When I first got my HAs, I had trouble with my telecoil activating when I didn’t want it to and when I did want it, it would stubbornly refuse to activate no matter how I positioned things. So I had my audiologist make it switchable and it is much better. I activate it by selecting the telecoil program by using the switch position and when finished, I just switch it off. Slick!
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Our Church has a loop around the whole sanctuary. Anywhere you sit in there if you turn on the T-coil you have direct sound streamed into your hearing aid. Awesome! Everyone that uses it say they wouldn’t be without it!
Loops are becoming more and more popular in the US I am told.
Also as @sufhl stated,
I wouldnt be without it. 
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I have never found a place that was looped. I have never had an old phone that would work with a telecoil.
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I have had the t-coil in the past and it worked great at my church and I miss having t-coils now that I don’t have them.
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Europe has some laws on the books requiring certain public spaces to have t-coil, so you will see it in airports and churches. Very sparse usage in the US for public spaces. I loved that in UK airports that you could hear PA announcements via t-coil.
As a technology, a few challenges: susceptible to interference from other sources (fluorescent lights, cars). Also, original concept based on sizeable magnet in telephone speaker, but that is seldom the case with newer phones.
I have set up loops in my house for television audio, but eventually abandoned these as I replaced with Bluetooth technology.
Lately it has been a space limiting technology in the HAs themselves, several manufacturers make you move up to a larger casing if you want t-coil.
Cheers.
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My Resound aids have a remote mike (separate accessory) that has T-coil built in. Very handy and doesn’t take up one of the built in programs. It adds a separate program when the multi-mic is first paired. Works very well in our church.
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Yes there are several brand-specific external devices that can also pick up signals from a loop and relay the sound to the HA’s.
The beauty of the telecoil in the HA’s themselves is the discrete-ness. No other gear. No necklaces. No bulky headphones in plain beige that scream I’M HARD OF HEARING.
Just flip to the telecoil program and start listening.
I guess it is a trade off, mine does not use one of the 4 programs. The multi mic is small and works well when it is in my pocket. Does do much screaming.
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I love t-coil when it works as it’s supposed to. The problem I have at work is we have fluorescent lighting and some affect the magnet more than others so if I try to use the landline with the T-coil I get all kinds of interference. If I am in a church, local civic theater or the local broadway it works incredibly. It’s like piping the sound directly to your ear and you don’t hear all the rest of the world. I preferred it to be T rather than MT or mT for that reason. I am going to see if they can make 2 tcoil programs so I can see if the mT will have less interference from the lights.
I have a T-coil setting in my 4-y.o. Siemens HAs. At my request, the audi set it up to give me both ambient input as well as T-coil reproduction. I love it that way. The coil has a tinny sound, a bit like a small transistor radio on an AM station. But it sure makes it MUCH easier to understand speech in our meeting hall that has lousy acoustics. I am waiting for the Phonak Marvel RT (rechargeable with T-coil) to be available. As soon as they hit the market, I will upgrade to them. My latest information is that they will be available by late summer 2019. Can’t wait!
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Re the T coil question. Yes I do use it. I am a hybrid kind of guy on this forum in that I now have a cochlear implant (Medel Sonnet) as well as a Phonak Nadia HA. There comes a time when your hearing deteriorates to the point that HA’s alone don’y Cut it anymore. So I now have a CI in my weaker ear. Another whole batch of learning to go through. CI’s are no heck on the phone either. You need some additional assistance. I am equipped with Roger equipment and find it a god send for many things - both with the HA and the CI. But not so handy in my opinion with phone use, partly because I found the volume insufficient and the Roger pen has no volume adjustment on it. I use an iPhone and find it best for my hearing. I learned on the Hear Peers forum some Medel CI people use about the Artone 3 Max neckloop device that uses the TCoil. My CI has a TCoil setting as well. So I obtained one and it works well. Haven’t seen it mentioned in this forum. The Artone 3 also has bluetooth that connects with the iPhone AND has a volume control button on it. The signal is sent to the T coils on my hearing devices which I switch into the TCoil setting with the remote (Finetuner) for the CI and with my finger with the Naida. And it works well. I find my word recognition is better with the setup than anything else I have tried and the volume I get is fine. This is for me what counts. The Artone folks have another device that can connect to modern TV’s that take an audio signal and sent it to your Artone 3. I don’t use this as my Roger equipment is fine for this purpose.
So in conclusion, while the TCoil tech is “old” I found it worked well for my needs and Medel folks must feel the same as their latest CI’s are equipped this way.
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So’s the wheel but we still use it. Just because it’s old tech does not mean it isn’t useful and good.
Thanks for the story.
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I have not used telecoil for around 11 years. I find the hassle of it and the interference of it, is too much and I can hear better without as Noise Control on my Phonak’s is so good.
The auditorium where I live has terrible acoustics. The telecoil in my 4-yr old Siemens HA adds an '”overlay” of clarity to speakers’ presentations and enhances my experience. I have my T-coil program set to add the telecoil sounds to the ambient sounds. Also, I use open domes. I am waiting for Phonak MRT HAs to come on the market so that I may continue to benefit by a telecoil assist. Supposedly later this summer. 
When I was shopping for HA’s I was aware of the Telecoil option, but could not think of one place that we go to that has the service. For that reason it wasn’t even on the list of wants for a HA option.