198 Section 4A: Important Safety InformationUsing Your Phone With a Hearing Aid DeviceYour phone has been tested for hearing aid device compatibility. When some wirelessphones are used near some hearing devices (hearing aids and cochlear implants), usersmay detect a buzzing, humming, or whining noise. Some hearing devices are more immunethan others to this interference noise and phones also vary in the amount of interferencethey generate.The wireless telephone industry has developed ratings for some of their mobile phones, toassist hearing device users in finding phones that may be compatible with their hearingdevices. Not all phones have been rated. Phones that have been rated have a label locatedon the box.Your M300 phone by Samsung has an M4 rating and a T4 rating.These ratings are not guarantees. Results will vary depending on the level of immunity ofyour hearing device and degree of your hearing loss. If your hearing device happens to bevulnerable to interference, you may not be able to use a rated phone successfully. Tryingout the phone with your hearing device is the best way to evaluate it for your personalneeds.M-Ratings: Phones rated M3 or M4 meet FCC requirements and are likely to generate lessinterference to hearing devices than phones that are not labeled. M4 is the better/higher ofthe two ratings.T-Ratings: Phones rated T3 or T4 meet FCC requirements and are likely to be more usablewith a hearing device's telecoil ("T Switch" or "Telephone Switch") than unrated phones. T4is the better/higher of the two ratings. (Note that not all hearing devices have telecoils inthem.)The more immune your hearing aid device is, the less likely you are to experienceinterference noise from your wireless phone. Hearing aid devices should have ratingssimilar to phones. Ask your hearing healthcare professional for the rating of your hearingaid. Add the rating of your hearing aid and your phone to determine probable usability: Any combined rating equal to or greater than six offers best use. Any combined rating equal to five is considered normal use. Any combined rating equal to four is considered usable.Thus, if you pair an M3 hearing aid with an M3 phone, you will have a combined rating ofsix for "best use." This is synonymous for T ratings.It is suggested you experiment with multiple phones (even those not labeled M3/T3 or M4/T4) while in the store to find the one that works best with your hearing aid device.More information about hearing aid compatibility may be found at: www.fcc.gov,www.fda.gov, and www.accesswireless.org.
