How many Bluetooth devices can I pair to the Phone Clip?
Up to 8 device can be paired but only 1 can be “on” at a time
Is the Phone Clip in stereo?
No, it is mono.
Can the Phone Clip be used for music with an iPhone?
Yes, once it is paired with the phone.
Can the Phone Clip be paired with more than one phone?
Yes, the Phone Clip can be paired with up to 8 different Bluetooth devices but can be used with only one device at a time.
Does the phone ring through the hearing aids?
Yes, it will when it is paired with the Phone Clip.
Is there a way to turn off the hearing aids’ mics to hear the phone better in noisy environments?
If this is a recurring problem for the wearer and adjusting the volume on the Phone Clip is not providing enough volume, changes should be made in the fitting software. The Phone Clip program should be changed from “speech plus mic” to “speech”. It is also possible to have the microphone active only on one side, which might help in noisy situations but still allow the wearer to maintain awareness of what is going on around them.
Can the Phone Clip be paired with MP3 players or is the TV streamer needed?
The TV streamer can be used if the user plans to be stationary. The Phone Clip can be used for those players with Bluetooth, otherwise an adapter, such as the Rocketfish RF-MRBTAD Micro Bluetooth Adaptor can be purchased for about $40 (USD) and used to pair the Phone Clip to the player.
Does the Phone Clip have noise reduction?
Similar to most Bluetooth headsets, the Phone Clip does not have noise reduction.
Why can’t we adjust the unite clip while in software?
The receiver (antenna) of the Airlink is reserved for communication with the computer. This is possible with our technology with a NOAH Link but it was cut from the scope of the project to get it to market. It is on the list of future improvements.
How might the Phone Clip user avoid losing connection to one ear or cutting out during a conversation when the wearer turns his/her head?
Move the Phone Clip closer to the wearer’s head and in the midline – these complaints typically come when the Clip is on the shirt pocket on one side.
How can you tell if the Phone Clip is turned on?
To tell if the Phone Clip is turned on, a short push on the Phone Clip button will make the blue light flash twice in quick succession. This indicator is instead of having a constant light or a regularly occurring flash because those would both decrease battery lifetime.
Is it possible to stream through an iPod Touch?
Yes; an iPod Touch can be paired to the Phone Clip and the sound streamed directly to the hearing aids.
Is it possible to send a call back to the mobile phone after beginning the conversation on the Phone Clip?
Yes, but it must be transferred on the mobile phone itself; pressing the multifunction button on the Phone Clip will just end the call.
How long will the rechargeable battery last on the Phone Clip?
About 5 hours of talk time; longer for standby – less than 200 hours. In terms of lifetime, it should last a minimum of 500 charges.
How can you make the Phone Clip monaural?
You can click on right or left ear option from the drop down menu under the Phone Clip program in Aventa.
What adaptor can be used to connect an iPod to the hearing aids?
The Rocketfish RF-MRBTAD Micro Bluetooth Adaptor works with iPod. Cost is about $40.
4 thoughts on “Alera FAQs – Unite Phone Clip Part 3”
The main front switch on my phone clip is indefinite. It pushes in only a tiny (almost imperceptible) bit and does not always work. Is this normal? Is it defective?
It is unfortunate that the switch does not provide tactile feedback. However, the main problem is that digital communications involves time delay for signal processing. This is called latency. If you place two cell phones side by side, place a call to the other one,there is a substantial delay before the other one rings. Then there is about a one second lag between speaking and hearing the spoken word on the second phone. The phone clip adds further delay. Hence when you press the answer button and say hello, you have to wait. A couple of seconds or more later, you will hear the other party. Instinctively, without tactile feedback, the human response is “I hear nothing, I better push the button again. This disconnects the link and you conclude the phone clip is unreliable. You have to use a deliberate protocol involving timing. Further complications result when hearing aid batteries are weak. To savew waning energy, the hearing aid will drop out the phone clip link. The battery may wtill have enough energy to operate the hearing aid for a few more hours, but it won’t have enough to link with the clip. Digital information is sent in short discrete burts. Each burst received by the hearing aid is followed by an acknowledge ment that it was properly decoded without corruption. If corrupted, the clip will send it agin. Thus the hearing aid battery has to power a transmitter, which greatly increases the power drain.
Lou Messer, retired electronics engineer, and hearing aid user.
It is nice having 8 connections, But there is no way to manage them. Users will typically put the most important phone(s) on first. Then try out connection to their computer, their tablet, etc, Eventually, they will connect to something and the most important phone will be deleted (the oldest pairing) and be replaced by the trial. The user cannot delete the unimportant pairings. So will now have to replace the most important phone, this deletes the second most important, then pair the second most important deleting the third most important and so on.
It would be simple to provide some connection control over a bluetooth link to a smart phone app or even a USB link to an application on a computer.
But HOH users are not expected to be competent enough to manage a Bluetooth hub so do not even get the facility for a full reset.
My phone clip + produces stereo. I listen to stereo from my I phone 6+. Resound says it handles stereo. I use a Minimic for connection to my desktop, which lacks Bluetooth. The phone clip has too much latency to watch video. The sound lags the video by well over a second. Thus, the problem of handling 8 pairings is moot. The high latency is in the Bluetooth link from the source to the phone clip. Resound designed their own proprietary link from both clips to the hearing aids for two reasons: 1. Shorten the latency, 2: Bluetooth 3 at that time was a standard that tried to be all things to all people. That is a recipe for doing none of them well. The maximum transmission time was limited to 60ms. That greatly increased the energy demand beyond what a hearing aid battery could tolerate in terms of peak power. (A zinc air battery is a fuel cell that burns zinc.) So my advice is to get a Minimic for your other devices, or get a newer pair of hearing aids that can work with Bluetooth 4.0 These are still marginal in terms of peak power demand. 87 year old retired EE and hearing aid user.