Campus Tours to Impress the Parents

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It’s that time of year again—crunchy leaves, clean and creased new clothes, empty notebooks and eager minds. College campuses seemingly light up come September with the bustling of new students and tours filled with next years’ freshmen.

ListenTALK is the right tool to impress everyone on a campus tour—including parents.

Often, parents will sit in the back on a campus tour so their children can hear the guide, best see the sights and get the information they need to make a decision. However, parents need those details too. After all, in most cases, they’re the ones footing the bill.

ListenTALK is a high-quality, high-tech group communication system that delivers crystal-clear audio to your audience. ListenTALK facilitates communication between parents and campus tour leaders, giving them the information they need to help their children choose a college.

All you need to do to get started is pair the units via the docking station or with a tap. Your group can attach the units to their belts or bags with a clip, or wear around their necks with a lanyard. Then parents (and their kids) can choose how they listen and communicate—with their own earbuds or a headset provided by you.

Here are more reasons you need it (and why parents will love it)

  • Ensures everyone on the tour can hear
  • ADA and IBC compliant
  • Excellent range, with 1.9 GHz to reduce interference
  • Encrypted to ensure privacy
  • Wireless and completely portable
  • Hands-free functionality
  • Simple push-to-talk communication between the tour leader and guests

ListenTALK provides seamless group communication that’s ideal for campus tour groups. It facilitates communication with high-quality audio so that parents and prospective students get the information they need to make a college decision.

Are you ready to impress parents? Call us today at (888) 296-1623, or check us out at ListenTALK.com.

man at an event struggling to hear

New Tech: Hearing Assistive Technology

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The hearing assistive technology industry has seen major advancements in recent years, both in the variety and quality of options. Entire venues are built with technology that improves the listening and communication experience for everyone, new hearing aids on the market can be charged by solar power or translate languages in real-time, and apps have the ability to transform your powerful smartphone into portable hearing assistive device. Read more

Customer Service in Action

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Nordstrom’s customer service is legendary.

You’ve probably heard stories about how well the company cares for customers, or have your own personal experience. From tales of sales associates pointing customers to competitors, accepting returns that obviously didn’t come from Nordstrom, and allowing customers to trade out used items for brand-new ones—Nordstrom has cornered the market on platinum-level customer service.

Why has the company decided that five-star customer service is its goal, and why does Listen Technologies share that mission? Read more

Is Your Tour Guide System Right For You?

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Are you using the right tour guide system? We understand you want to be the leisure tour of choice in your area. That means you need your guests to hear and engage throughout their visit because you don’t want them to feel like they’re missing out. How can you do that, though?

The answer is ListenTALK, an intuitive tour guide system from a company with decades of experience that will help you transform your business into a sought-after destination. Here are five ways ListenTALK will help you revolutionize your leisure tour business: Read more

InfoComm 2019: What to Expect from Listen Technologies

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We’re counting down the days to InfoComm! We’ll be showcasing our award-winning products in Booth 6153. There, we’ll have our experts ready to hear about your business needs. So whether you’re looking for an assistive listening system or tech to create superior listening experiences, come see how we can help you.

Here’s what you can expect from Listen Technologies at InfoComm 2019:

ListenTALK
Our award-winning ListenTALK system is the simplest, most reliable and flexible two-way wireless communication tool available. It ensures all guests can hear and engage, with hands-free functionality. It’s also wireless and completely portable, and your users can choose a headset or personal smartphone earbuds. In addition, it features simple push-to-talk communication, between the tour leader and guests, and guests and the tour leader.

Listen EVERYWHERE
Listen EVERYWHERE ensures none of your guests miss out because everyone deserves to hear the same great experience. It gives users high-quality audio delivered via free apps on iOS and Android devices. Listen EVERYWHERE features simple plug-and-play installation with no lip sync issues. It uses an existing Wi-Fi network and includes a customizable app experience, with custom channel labels, and links to events, the weekly program, hymnal, and more.

ListenLOOP
Using an electromagnetic field, ListenLOOP delivers clear sound to people with hearing loss, all without distracting background noise, distortions or vibrations. Because we’re the leader in hearing loop technology, our customers include CapitalOne to Bank of America, the National Institute on Deafness and other Communication Disorders to All Saints Church.

ListenIR
ListenIR delivers high-quality audio, with twice the power and coverage of other receivers. In this system, infrared light waves—like in TV remotes—transmit sound. This signal can’t pass through walls or be received outside of a specific area, so it’s ideal in spaces where a secure audio signal is necessary.

ListenRF
We offer two options for radio-frequency-based systems. With our 72 MHz system, you’ll get a range of up to 1,000 feet, so it’s ideal for churches, performing arts centers, theaters, and more. We also have a 216 MHz system, with high-quality transmitters and receivers. The 216 MHz system is ideal for places where a larger RF signal is necessary, like at convention centers and stadiums.

Our Marketing Director and Director of Global Sales sat down with Katye Bennett to talk about what to expect at InfoComm this year as well, so click here to hear the podcast!

So stop by Booth 6153 at InfoComm to see everything Listen Technologies has to offer your guests. We’d love to help you become a sought-after venue in your industry. In the meantime, if you have any questions, check out our website and contact us if you have any questions.

ListenTALK Abroad: A Trip Through London and Rome

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On a recent trip to London and Rome, I decided to take along Listen Technologies’ tour-guide product, ListenTALK (Full disclosure – I work at Listen Technologies). Although there would only be four of us in the group, it presented a great opportunity to use the product for long periods of time in outdoor and in crowded environments.

Our first adventure using ListenTALK was a boat cruise on River Medway in Maidstone, UK. The information, stories, and instructions given by our guide as he piloted the boat made the tour very enjoyable. We could hear clearly over the noise of the outboard motor and the occasional passing boats. Asking questions and having conversations with each other added fun to the cruise.

 

At one point we came to manual, do-it-yourself locks on the river. Since we had never operated locks, we thought it would be fun to try them out. At a landing before the locks, we jumped out of the boat and walked to the locks which were about 50 yards away. Our guide (still on the boat) gave instructions on what to do to operate the locks. The audio was clear, and we were able to hear and understand the instructions to operate the locks successfully. I was pleasantly surprised by how well we could hear each other at that distance.

In Rome, being able to communicate in crowded outdoor areas was enjoyable as we could wander off to see something of interest or be separated by crowds and still be able to talk to each other. The many other tour groups with their tour guide equipment did not interfere with static or talk-over on our equipment. We used ListenTALK the whole day and had plenty of battery life. I would recommend using a windscreen on the tour guides headset as occasional wind noise could be heard.

London and Rome are beautiful and there are so many things to see and experience. Make your experience even better by using ListenTALK, as our guides said, “We’re using Steve’s tour guide gear! It’s good fun!”

 

By Steve Olsen, Marketing Services Manager

Assistive Listening: What You Need to Know

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What do you know about assistive listening and hearing loss? Did you know that about 48 million people in the U.S. have some degree of hearing loss? Or that hearing loss is the third most common health problem in older Americans, with approximately 29 million people in the U.S. needing hearing aids?

So for those reasons and more, it’s critical that business owners, government officials, and others understand the Americans with Disabilities Act. Since 1990, the act has required accessibility accommodations for people with disabilities, including those with hearing loss.

Here’s what you need to know:

What’s an Assistive Listening System?

An assistive listening system isn’t a hearing aid. However, it’s not just an amplifier. It’s also not only for people who use hearing aids. An assistive listening system uses technology to deliver audio from the source to a provided assistive listening device, hearing aid or cochlear implant. It does amplify sound but also filters out ambient noise, so that anyone using the system can hear clearly.

Types of assistive listening systems include

  • Infrared, which uses infrared light to transmit sound
  • Radio Frequency, which delivers sound via radio frequency
  • Hearing loop, which uses an electromagnetic field to send audio. This system requires a flat copper tape loop or wire installed in the floor.

Who Must Comply?

Essentially, the ADA requires compliance in public facilities. These places include:

  • performing arts centers
  • courtrooms
  • movie theaters
  • auditoriums
  • classrooms
  • amphitheaters
  • stadiums
  • legislative chambers
  • convention centers.

These venues and facilities also must post signs advertising the assistive listening system.

Why Comply?

Millions of Americans experience hearing loss. So providing accommodations keeps these people—and their spending power—coming to your business or venue. Plus, the government offers tax benefits for compliance as well as penalties for violating the law.

Tax benefits: Small businesses may receive up to $5,000 in tax credits for an assistive listening system. Companies might also qualify for a tax deduction of up to $15,000. These tax benefits could cover most of the purchase of an assistive listening system, so the government makes compliance worth the cost.

Penalties: The ADA also makes non-compliance an expensive matter. A business that violates the law may be liable for a civil fine between $55,000 to $150,000.

What Do You Need?

The ADA doesn’t dictate what kind of assistive listening system a busAssistiev Listening: What You need to Knowiness or venue must provide. However, based on the capacity of the building or venue, it prescribes the number of receivers and hearing-aid compatible receivers. A hearing-aid compatible receiver works with t-coil hearing aids and cochlear implants. For example, in a venue with a seating capacity of 50 or less, it must provide two receivers plus one per 25 seats over 50 seats. It also must provide one hearing-aid compatible per four receivers. If you know you need to comply but don’t know what you need, we’d be happy to help. Go to our ADA calculator at https://www.listentech.com/support/ada-info/ada-tools-kits.

 

For nearly 30 years, the Americans With Disabilities Act has mandated necessary accessibility accommodations for people with all types of disabilities, including hearing loss. So it’s critical that business owners and government officials understand assistive listening systems, who must comply and why, and what equipment they must provide. If you’re interested in learning more about how Listen Technologies assists businesses in providing necessary accommodations, check out our website or call us at (800) 330-0891.

ListenTIPS: 7 Tips for Superior Wi-Fi Streaming

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Listen EVERYWHERE is the best-in-class, award-winning Wi-Fi streaming solution, allowing users to stream audio straight to their iOS or Android device. It’s also easy to set up—as simple as plug and play.

Here are seven tips to get the most from the Listen EVERYWHERE system.

1.    For cleaner sound, use 5 GHz with a 20 MHz wide channel.

The 5 GHz band is superior because it has more non-overlapping bands. It also doesn’t have as many devices using it as the 2.4 GHz band. The 2.4 GHz band is used by

  • wireless phones
  • microwaves
  • garage door openers

Setting the 5GHz band to 20 MHz means less interference.

2.    Consider dual-band access points.

Though 5 GHz is superior, older phones can only handle 2.4 GHz. Having dual access points allows people with those older devices to use the system.

3.    Set an access point.

Advanced Wi-Fi access points will jump from frequency to frequency to find the clearest channel. That’s fine for an hour or so, but after that, it can be a problem with Wi-Fi streaming. You can remedy that by using a Wi-Fi scanner for a manual scan to find the clearest band. Then set the access point to that channel.

4.    Use a Wi-Fi scanner.

A Wi-Fi scanner also will help increase performance by finding a signal at least 20 dB higher than any interferer.

5.    Watch data limiting.

Most public Wi-Fi systems limit data per phone. However, this can be a problem for Wi-Fi streaming. We can help in these situations by customizing the compression for clearer audio.

6.    Don’t use Wi-Fi accessories.

Range extenders, multi-hop Wi-Fi systems and mesh networks increase lip-sync issues, variance and cause audio hiccups with Listen EVERYWHERE.

7.    Let Listen EVERYWHERE do its job.

In most cases, it’s best to let Listen EVERYWHERE run. It adapts to the network traffic characteristics and learns from it—minimizing the clicks and pops in the Wi-Fi streaming.

It’s easy to get the best performance from Listen EVERYWHERE. To get started with this unparalleled Wi-Fi streaming system, go to listeneverywhere.com or call (877) 760-9270 now!

 

 

 

 

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