My husband got recently a Jabra ENHANCE PRO 20, EP262 from Costco. At home, we are using a landline with some old handsets we have in many places in the house. We would like to replace them with newer ones, as the ones we have are not hearing aid compatible (HAC).
As we were looking for a new phone/handsets (which now have to be hearing aid compatible), we learned from the Costco technician that the Jabra model my husband just bought doesn’t work “properly” supposedly with ANY handsets… We were very surprised to hear this.
The Costco technician configured a “button” for my husband’s iphone 15 which if pressed, switches the hearing aid to “telecoil phone” mode and makes it possible for the user of the HAC handset to hear properly on the landline. Then, if the iphone is used for calls, one has to switch back.
This is a major inconvenience and sounds hard to believe. It is a major drawback for us. The technician didn’t know whose problem this is, but it seems that it comes with Jabra.
I called Jabra but their customer service could not understand what I was talking about, had no idea about this topic and had no answers. I could not find any reference to this problem online or in the Jabra manual.
If you are aware of this issue, could you please let me know if this a unique problem for this make and model hearing aid vs. a generic issue with most new hearing aids when using a HAC handset.
If this is a Jabra “feature”, then we might return the hearing aids.
Why does anyone still have a landline? And, why have an iPhone and care about a land line at all? We gave up our landline and telephone handsets at least ten years ago. I’m surprised that anyone at Jabra customer service even knows what a landline even is. If your husband has a solution that allows the iPhone to receive landline calls, but have switch back to cell phone is a very small inconvenience. The Jabra Enhanced Pro 20s are excellent hearing aids and returning them for an ancient technology like tele-coil seems a little ridiculous. Just my opinion.
Thanks for the reply, but it did not address my question. The requirement for switching might be a small inconvenience for some and a major one for others. Just like what’s ridiculous to some might not be to others. I did not ask for criticism about how we use our phones and hearing aids, but for knowledge that addresses my question. I hope that someone else knows if this is a Jabra bug or a generic issue for all the latest hearing aid models.
Sorry your having this issue, but the problem is not the HAs, if they have t-coil you have the R13 so on that program for phone calls from a landline should work, as it’s only a magnetic switch, but look the thing is it’s old technology and all the latest models have moved onto bluetooth streaming of calls and streaming, but do check out the ReSound Multi Mic which has t-coil as well as many other features,a 3.5mm port plus can use a loop system etc this could be a solution?
Thanks for your reply, @tenkan. Do I understand correctly that you think/know that this new Enhance Pro 20 should work with a landline handset that is HAC? It uses 312 batteries and we were told that it does have a telecoil. I do know that landlines and phones that work with them are old technology, but they are HA compatible.
Are you mentioning the ReSound Multi Mic as another option instead of the Jabra?
There are quite a few very knowledgeable audiologists usually on this forum. I do hope that one of them can conclusively tell me if what I perceive as a problem with the Jabra is a reality or if it is just the lack of knowledge of the Costco technician.
Usually the manufacturer’s more technical staff doesn’t want to speak with end users and they send one back to the seller of the device, so I do not know how to get reliable information.
Well actually for some reason I thought the 62 t-coil model is size 13 battery, but regardless you could read a few of our older posts on how people were connecting to office/landline here, lots of posts.
Yeah but no much with the latest HAs, so it’s all bluetooth now, not many t-coil, HAC phone are available as you know, sometimes you have to activate the “Phone Program” on the HA if it’s been set up that way or through the App, are you using it? this will show exactly what programs you have on the HAs
No, the Jabra one is exactly the same, it’s another device you can use that can connect to any Bluetooth device, in your case a bluetooth landline, like Panasonic, Cisco etc
If you want t- coil you can use the built-in t-coil from the Multi Mic.
Thanks. Sorry, I have no idea what the “phone Program” is. I am not a technical person. How would using this program help me use the HA with a landline handset?
If we would go back to Costco, what exactly should we ask the technician to do (or ask him to ask Jabra staff for) to allow the HA to work with a handset:
to activate the Phone Program?
to use the built-in t-coil from the Multi Mic ?
Is there any documentation for the Jabra HA that explains how to set things up? Should Costco provide that?
Absolutely they should, so it’s best for you go back and get the Costco rep to explain and show you how it should work, it’s very slack and not on that they’ve let you walk out without explaining this, the rep can show you how to use the Multi Mic with a landline ( they can use their own phone to show you this) the extra cost may or may not be worth it to you like $250 or so, I brought one off eBay for $35 open box and worked perfectly fine and very easy to set up yourself.
Thanks. I would very much appreciate an answer from someone who has experience with this HA, has the manual for this HA, can confirm conclusively that this HA works with an HAC handset without having to switch back-and-forth and maybe could tell me what exactly the Costco technician should do to enable this.
Yeah sure, plenty of us on the forum, unfortunately you’ll be hard pressed to find anyone in your actual situation, but give it some time as it’s only been one day since your post.
Very easy to find on the interwebs.
This is a question for Costco!
This is definitely something your rep at Costco will Show you, unlikely you’d need to tell them how it should work?
Here’s some links I found in just a few minutes of using uncle Google
Thanks for the links. I assume that from a pairing perspective it doesn’t matter if the HA is a rechargeable or a battery operated one. Hopefully they will help the technician to figure out what he has to do. Unfortunately our experience with teh Costco technicians is that their knowledge is very limited. The price of the device is good, but they really do not know how to program it to get the best out of them for a user. They just use the manufacture’s settings and if one needs soeme “special” setting they just have no idea how to do it.
Yes this can happen in this industry, not just at Costco, have you got more then 1 local store to choose from, you may be able to find another HIS or Audiologist that is more “willing” to help out.