Microphone Receiver which doesn't broadcast?

[csdaly]

Hello

I work in an office environment where meetings involve sensitive information. People in the meeting will not want me to use an FM system which, in effect, broadcasts the conversation for a certain distance beyond the meeting room and can be picked up by anyone listenting to the right frequency.

Is anyone aware of a system, either microphone to receiver or microphone straight into the hearing aid, which does not 'broadcast' the conversation?

Many thanks

Craig
Canberra

[RoseRodent]

Infra-red springs to mind. I am only really familiar with it via Soundfields, but I know that in situations such as theatres you can get an IR receiver that you wear in a pocket and pick up via neckloop. The beauty of IR in this situation is that it cannot pass through walls, so anyone outside the physical boundary of your meeting cannot receive anything, hence it's often used in places sensitive to sound leakage (who wants to transmit the cinema soundtrack out for free?) or schools with soundfields in every room so that there is no overlap zone or interference calculation. I'm not sure how best to follow this up in terms of finding a product, though.

[BlueSumos]

If you have t-coils/telecoils in you HAs, then a portable loop may be the answer. You can search the Internet for "portable loop" and find different ones.

[csdaly]

If you have t-coils/telecoils in you HAs, then a portable loop may be the answer. You can search the Internet for "portable loop" and find different ones.

However, these seem to use radio (presumably without encryption) and, hence, would broadcast the conversation?

[RoseRodent]

There is some leakage of Tcoil outside the intended field. If you loop a room you can usually hear the conversation outside that room, but if you have a very small loop the field is very small and would be unlikely to leak outside the room, and you can at least test this with a field strength indicator, but if you are looking for a guarantee then IR is easier.

[BlueSumos]

But wouldn't only people with t-coils be able to hear the leakage...which, I'm guessing, this scenerio would be very unlikely.

[csdaly]

I found a product (transmitter / receiver) for the hearing impaired which encrypts its radio (UHF) signal, the Bellman Audio Domino (http://www.bellman.se/web/news.php?newskey=423). Haven't found an equivalent infrared product yet. I'll start a seperate theme on the Domino as I'm interested in comparing it to similar products.

[csdaly]

But wouldn't only people with t-coils be able to hear the leakage...which, I'm guessing, this scenerio would be very unlikely.

I'm not a techie, but would think if the radio signal was not encrypted it could be picked up by anyone with a receiver and within a certain distance.

[RoseRodent]

But wouldn't only people with t-coils be able to hear the leakage...which, I'm guessing, this scenerio would be very unlikely.

Problem is that if you have a legal duty to protect confidentiality then it's not reality that matters. If there is potential for someone to stand outside with a hearing aid, T-clip, listening set or Contego and listen in then you are failing in your legal duty to provide that confidentiality. It doesn't actually matter that it's phenomenally unlikely, unfortunately.

[BlueSumos]

I believe a portable loop (such as SoundShuttle) would work as it has a very short range of transmission. I just got one and have been testing it out a bit, though have not "used" it in a "real life" situation.

[BlueSumos]

csdaly, check out these sites to find out what an induction loop is/does.

http://www.hearingloop.org/
http://www.tecear.com/About_Induction_Loops.htm

I'm sure there's plenty more sites that can explain it.

[mamajoy]

I use a Comfort Contego FM system with neckloop. The Contego is different from other FM systems in that the transmitter and receiver are paired to one another - the transmission is sent to the receiver over a secure coded channel. The downside is that I can't use my Contego receiver to pick up FM transmissions in public facitilities. But it sounds like it might be just the thing to suit your needs on the job. Downside is its pretty pricey. You can find out more here: http://www.tecear.com/Comfort_Contego.htm