Ampetronics: In the loop
Many Class 9 buildings are required to provide a hearing augmentation system to assist those with hearing impairments. Kate Jordan talks to Jonathan Hoskin from Ampetronics about custom integrators adding this service to their repertoire.
In Australia, building owners and managers are charged with making their buildings as accessible as possible for people with disabilities. To help those with hearing impairments, a hearing augmentation system is required by law in any Class 9 building – which includes healthcare, assembly and aged care buildings – that use an in-built amplification system.
One type of hearing augmentation system is audio induction loop systems. Ampetronic technical sales engineer Jonathon Hoskin describes an induction loop system as “a magnetic field that is picked up by a telecoil inside a hearing aid. It’s assistive listening for people with hearing impairments.”
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Induction loops are most often found in places like boardrooms, lecture theatres and cinemas, and are becoming more common in transport hubs like train stations and airports. A loop’s presence is indicated by a sign informing those who need help that they should turn on the telecoil setting in their hearing aid, an action that requires a mere flip of a switch.
“The biggest strength of induction loops is the ability to be seamless and transient and not have to draw attention to yourself because you have a disability. Hearing aids are now pretty discreet and most people can’t tell whether someone has one,” Jonathon says.
In contrast to induction loops, other assistive hearing systems, such as infrared or RF, require the person with a hearing impairment to request a receiver from the venue.
While audio loop system installations are increasing, they’re not so common that integrators come across them regularly and this can make their design and commission a time consuming process.
“Because it’s not something integrators deal with every day, you tend to have to go back to reference material and pull out something that you’ve maybe done on a training course six months ago or a year ago,” Jonathon explains.
Ampetronics has developed a system called Loopworks to help integrators meet regulations and commission systems in a much more profitable timeframe.
“Loopworks is an app that runs on the iOS platform and it allows you to specify, measure and commission a loop system to Australian and international standards,” Jonathon explains.
“Loopworks has four elements within it: learn, connect, measure and design. It takes you from start to finish, so you can design the loop system and measure its performance. If you’re having a problem with commissioning or designing, you can connect via live chat to our engineers. If you’ve gone on a training course, all of the learning and training material will be available in your personalised portal.”
The app goes a step further by incorporating live recording.
“Previous field strength meter tools are effectively just analogue systems with a number LEDs on them. Now, you can record audio, so say there’s some background noise that affects the intelligibility of the sound. It can make a recording of that and actually show to the venue manager that there’s a problem here, here and here, for example. Or you can upload it onto the cloud and we can sign in as Ampetronic and have a listen to it alongside the integrator, and give them a good idea of what might be producing it so they can solve the problem,” Jonathon says.
There is also an element of automation that offers significant time-savings.
“In conjunction with our new amplifier, the MOD14 net, we can effectively take a number of measurements with our Loopworks receiver and automate the commissioning process. Take three or four measurements within the room, hit automate commission and the amplifier does all the commissioning for you. Previously, commissioning a loop system would take probably a minimum of about an hour of work – this takes it down to about five minutes of work,” Jonathon says.
“Overall, the tools Loopworks incorporates have never really been done before in the loops field, but it’s been done in other areas of audio. We think it’s about time for us to catch up.”
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