by Neil Bauman, Ph.D.
Serene Innovations has just released what I have been looking for (and longing for) for a long time, namely a loud in-line amplified binaural hands-free headset for a standard desk phone.
I have tried all the hands-free headsets I could find, but none of them had the volume I required. (In their “wisdom” the engineers had limited the maximum volume to a value well below what I required.) Thus, you can imagine my surprise and delight when I discovered the new Serene Innovations UA-50 Handset/Headset amplifier!
Since I do not wear my hearing aids much (my choice), and since I have a severe loss at 1000 Hz, I need lots of amplification in order to hear on the phone, and this is where this handset/headset amplifier excels.
Currently I use the most powerful amplified phone there is (the Clarity XL-50) now replaced by the Clarity Alto+, but I wanted a binaural headset so I could hear in both ears and have my hands free at the same time.
Hearing in both ears at the same time has two major advantages. First, you only need about half the volume when listening with both ears as compared to listening with only one ear to get the same degree of comprehension. This means that by turning the volume down a bit, your own voice is not so loud in your ears. (This has always been a problem for me. I need so much amplification that my own voice almost deafens me.) Thus this reduced volume requirement helps preserve my little remaining hearing.
Second, your comprehension goes up when you hear with both ears. In other words, you now understand more of what the person at the other end is saying. This means you don’t have to strain so much in order to hear/understand them, nor ask for as many repeats.
When I first put this headset on, I thought I had died and gone to heaven! The sound was loud and clear in both ears, yet it did not overload my ears as the phone handset does, and my own voice wasn’t deafening me anymore either. Because of the attached boom mic, I no longer have to try to jam the phone under my chin while I type on the keyboard.
There’s no two ways about it. I love this hands-free, in-line amplifier and binaural headset. It works with basically any phone with the dial in the base—home or business phone—since it sits between the phone base and handset. (You can switch between the phone’s handset and the amplified headset at the push of a button.)
If you are in the same boat as me, you will love it too. Click here to get this UA-50 handset/headset amplifier for yourself.
P. S. Don’t tell anyone, but I’m using this amplified headset on my amplified phone (which they say never to do—but it works). With the enormous amplification available in the XL-50 phone base itself plus the added amplification in the UA-50 headset amplifier, if I crank them both up, I’ll bet I’ll be able to even hear you thinking (and all without any hint of annoying feedback either)!
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