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  • 1.  Portable assistive listening devices

    Posted 04-16-2019 01:20 PM

    Hello everyone,

    As part of a building renovation, the Denver Art Museum is reviewing many tools and resources we currently provide visitors with disabilities.  In particular, we are looking at replacing our out of date and very cumbersome portable assistive listening devices (ALDs) that are used on public tours.  I would love to hear from the group about the ALDs you use at your organization. 

     

    •         What brand do you use? Do you like it? Hate it?

    •         How intuitive are they to charge in-between uses? Is charging/getting ALDs ready for use usually completed by docents/paid guides or sales/service staff?

    •         How well do the ALDs interface with hearing aids? 

    •         Has anyone use wireless portable ALDs?

    Any other information is very much appreciated!

     

    Cheers,

    Danielle

     

    Danielle Schulz
    Manager of Adult and Access Programs

    Pronouns: She/Her/Hers (What are pronouns and why do they matter)
    (720) 913-0074
    dschulz@denverartmuseum.org


    Denver Art Museum
    100 W. 14th Avenue Parkway
    Denver, CO 80204

    Visit www.denverartmuseum.org and sign up for our e-mail updates. The Denver Art Museum salutes the citizens of metro Denver for helping fund arts, culture and science through their support of the Scientific and Cultural Facilities District (SCFD).

     



  • 2.  RE: Portable assistive listening devices

    Posted 04-17-2019 03:19 PM
    We use a Williams Sound Personal PA FM Tour Guide System - TGS Pro 737: Google Express  which we love. They're very easy to use, the sound quality is excellent, and they work well with hearing aids. They're battery operated, and we just need to check them 1-2 times per year to replace batteries as needed. Museum staff usually make the ADLs available prior to events, but sometimes volunteer docents or interns do this. It's easy to do. We have 10 sets of receivers, and limited ear buds. Our event staff clean the earbuds off with alcohol wipes each time so that they are sterile and ready for the next users. I think they make larger sets available, though.

    ------------------------------
    Douglas Perkins
    Associate Director, Operations and Finance
    Middlebury College Museum of Art
    Middlebury, VT
    ------------------------------



  • 3.  RE: Portable assistive listening devices

    Posted 04-18-2019 10:08 AM
    Hi Danielle,

    We use Listen Equipment at the aquarium. It has worked well for us over the years. With all of the water and concrete that we have in the building it can be difficult for us to find equipment that will transmit, but this equipment has been successful.

    As Douglas mentioned, we clean the ear pieces off with alcohol between uses. Our sets include encrypted two-way communicators and over-the-head earpieces with built-in boom mics. We also have charging stations for these, so you just slip them into the slots and they are good to go. We have had both volunteers and staff prep or clean the equipment after tours experiences. 

    They also work well with some hearing aids. They're compatible with T-coil compatible hearing aids, which is the standard for this sort of equipment and uses Bluetooth tech. To do this, you cannot plug a headset into the receiver. There are other types of hearing aids that don't use Bluetooth, where the best bet is to just use the headset with the headphones attached and adjust volume so it transmits through your hearing aid(s) comfortably.

    Please let me know if you have any other questions.

    Best,
    Renee


    ------------------------------
    Renee Birk
    Assistant Director
    John G. Shedd Aquarium
    Chicago IL
    ------------------------------



  • 4.  RE: Portable assistive listening devices

    Posted 04-18-2019 10:25 AM
    Hi Danielle,
    The Art Institute uses ALD's for occasional public gallery tours and regularly for specific educational gallery programs.
    •         What brand do you use? Do you like it? Hate it?
    The Art Institute uses the Group Tour System (GTS) by Antenna Audio. Sound quality is great and they're built to last. Since they're charmingly analog (a big knob to turn on and control volume), operation is fairly easy for guests to learn. Our devices are a few years old and no longer in production, so I'm not sure how useful this info will be. Some comparable current technologies would include:
    As other respondents indicated, newer technologies permit two-way communication or party-line. One-way communication has served us well enough, since gallery guides typically repeat the questions and comments.

    •         How intuitive are they to charge in-between uses? Is charging/getting ALDs ready for use usually completed by docents/paid guides or sales/service staff? 
    We have a couple 36-unit suitcases. Units recharge when placed in the suitcase. The suitcases are stored in the education office. They are heavy, but have wheels. Most of the time we simply transfer the units to a tote bag. Each unit takes two AA rechargeable batteries and recharge when placed in the suitcase. After about 6 years of constant use and charging, I began replacing batteries. Now after about 8 years, I have needed to replace all batteries once. Education staff, interns, and volunteers typically manage the GTS deployment and maintenance, which adds a non-trivial layer of administration.

    •         How well do the ALDs interface with hearing aids?  
    Standard headphones that easily fit over hearing aids. The industry-standard 3.5mm stereo headphone jack is a blessing, because guests can use their own earbuds or "re-transmitter" for t-coil, if they have either.

    Our tour guides generally prefer lapel mics over headset mics. It's mostly a vanity thing. I've found sound quality of the headset mics to be superior, though.

    Cheers,
    Lucas


    ------------------------------
    Lucas Livingston
    Assistant Director, Accessibility and Lifelong Learning
    Art Institute of Chicago
    llivingston@artic.edu
    ------------------------------

    Original Message


  • 5.  RE: Portable assistive listening devices

    Posted 04-18-2019 10:44 AM
    As an occasional ALD user, my biggest complaint is when they are not charged, or not able to be found by staff. Thank you for incorporating staff training into your ALD process, it is heartening that you are making these plans!

    Regarding hearing aids - T-coil and Bluetooth are different technologies. Telecoils use magnetic induction fields generated by the ALD device; while most hearing aids have them, not all do. I've had T-coils in the past but my current hearing aids don't have them. Instead, mine use Bluetooth and no T-coil.

    Hearing aids that use Bluetooth and don't have a T-coil are generally NOT compatible with ALDs, which are designed for either earphones or T-coils. As I only have Bluetooth, I purchased an adapter that I can use with ALDs. It plugs in like regular earphones, with a 3.5mm jack. As a hearing aid user, I consider it incumbent on me to have that adapter - I'm the one who knows my hearing aids and their limitations.

    Again, though, most hearing aids will have T-coils, and their users will generally know how they work with the ALDs. Those who don't have T-coils will also be aware of that, and will know they need to use the earphones or have an adapter like I do. (Some may even bring their own earphones if they have particular needs in that area.)

    Hope that helps!

    ------------------------------
    Meredith Peruzzi
    Manager
    Gallaudet University Museum
    Washington DC
    ------------------------------

    Original Message


  • 6.  RE: Portable assistive listening devices

    Posted 04-18-2019 09:11 PM
    Hi Danielle, 

    Have you looked into ListenUp's Omniguide or Digibee? They last longer than most audio devices (15+ hours) so even if someone wasn't comfortable charging it, they'd be fine and working until someone who was more tech-proficient could help. And they're accessible. I think Naples Botanic Garden and Philadelphia Museum of Art are using it. 

    This information is second hand though, so I'd suggest you talk directly to Jared, the account director at ListenUp, (jared [at] listenupaudio [dot]com) who was telling me about them. 

    Good luck! 

    Blaire


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