I’ve got a 50db hearing loss in one ear and tinnitis in both. In the past I’ve been able to handle phone calls if the environment was relatively quiet, but my hearing is getting worse.
Anyone out there with hearing loss and still able to handle phone support? Any suggestions on good headsets?
in the USA Plantronics is a major brand of phone headsets with lots of models and styles.
Do you wear hearing aids?
I ask because a lot of hearing aid manufacturers have Bluetooth add-ons that can sync with a phone or headset and deliver the sound to your hearing aids.
I have them. I wish I could turn up the volume up just a little for phone calls. Sometimes I do not get a clear connection. When the connection is good it is reallly nice. A little strange though. Normally on a phone call you hear the phone call in one ear. I now hear in both ears. A little strange. It is like a voice in your head.
I know what you mean! It takes a little bit of getting used to; I feel the same effect using the hearing aids’ Bluetooth connection with music.
I don’t have much experience with headsets, but I do think Plantronics is a good brand. Good luck! 
A key to look for might be HAC (hearing aid compatible) headsets. In the cell phone business, HAC compliance means we place a circuit that couples with a hearing aid, enabling better audio for the end user.
A quick search shows the term is used in handsets as well…so maybe you’ll find it in a headset.
If not…I bet there’s a market for them! 
-D/a
I don’t. There’s a complication with the hearing in my right ear. When sound gets to the point where that ear can pick it up, I get a resonating sound similar to what you hear from a broken speaker. Basically an echo of white noise.
As it stands, I can hear a single sourcejust fine. Add any additional sound and I lose localization and I have to work a ton harder to understand, including lip reading.
You CAN get telephones with amplifiers in the handsets. That can help some. GTE used to make an UBER amplified handset, but they took those off the market when normal-hearing people pushed the turbo button and blasted away their normal hearing.
Eventually, the day may come when amplification of any kind just won’t help. Hearing correction is NOT like getting glasses for near-sightedness or astigmatism. Even with the “new” digital hearing aids, comprehension comes from resolution of the audible sounds into what you recognize as speech. Telephones are truly AWFUL in delivering clarity of speech.
TTY (or TDD) works beautifully, but some (better make that a LOT) of normal-hearing people don’t want to strain themselves by becoming familiar with the protocol. It’s certainly not brain surgery, but the insensitive jerks do not want to be burdened with the inconvenience.
I’ve seen commercials for a phone that somehow routes calls through a relay operator, and the conversation is displayed on a screen. That is only available on land lines, though.
My hearing loss has progressed to the point where I cannot use the phone. My home is in an off-grid area of NE AZ, so relays and conversation phones are out of the question. For phone calls which MUST be made, I utilize my husband for a relay operator. PITA, but it does work.
And with the explosion of texting on cell phones, I now have a cell phone and I have a list of emergency contacts that I can use in the event something dire happens when I’m out in the middle of nowhere.
~VOW
The tracfone SVC worked out great for my dad as it is completely hearing aid compatible and the buttons are big which makes it easy for him to send text messages
I got my dad one of these. It’s called a CapTel phone and it has a screen which displays whatever is said on the other end. As long as you don’t use it for commercial purposes it’s only $99 and the service itself is free (subsidized by the phone companies). It works best with broadband internet but will work without it. It doesn’t use machine voice recognition, an anonymous operator listens to (I assume) just the calling side and transcribes it. If that doesn’t bother you it really works perfectly! The handset also has an amplifier which can get really loud.