Technology has opened up a new world of communication for people with hearing loss. It has levelled the playing field for deaf, deafened and hard of hearing people in terms of access, with a wide range of assistive listening devices and technical devices available to assist the communication process.

Examples include access to: telephone through technology such as TTYs, phone amplifiers, ringers and visual signaling devices; e-mail through e-pagers; television through captioning; alarms through visual signaling devices; and meetings from remote areas through videoconferencing.

Technical devices that can help you communicate with people who are deaf, deafened or hard of hearing:

Pocket Talker is a portable one-to-one communication device to assist conversation with a hard of hearing person who is not wearing a hearing aid. The speaker talks into the lapel microphone. The sound is then carried directly to the headset of the hard of hearing person, which minimizes background noises.

Amplified phones and separate phone amplifiers are available to augment the sound on a conventional phone.

An adapter is available that connects the phone to an input jack on cochlear implant processors.

Volume control can be added to phones, including public phones, through a portable amplifier (a device that attaches to any phone) or by means of a built-in device.

Signaling devices are used to signal or alert the person with hearing loss that an important sound is occurring: the telephone ringing, someone at the door (of a house, office or meeting room, hotel room, etc.), the fire alarm, or the baby crying.

TTYs are telephones that consist of a keyboard and small display screen allowing communication over the phone lines via typed conversation. Some TTYs are used in conjunction with conventional phones, others plug directly into the phone jack. Public pay phones can be equipped with TTYs.

Voice Carry Over (VCO) is a relay operator service. TTY users speak for themselves and use the TTY to read the response. VCO works with a conventional phone and a TTY as well as with phones equipped with the VCO feature.

E-mail technology, including E-paging, has connected deaf, deafened and hard of hearing people, both personally and professionally. E-mail communication is a valuable tool for instant, inexpensive access to people and information.