Phone Bell / Amplifier

Lena11

Hi

My father is very hard of hearing. There is an external bell linked to his phone line (there since instalation - before my time). in 2019 Fiber Broadband came to the area and he signed up. His phone stayed on the old line/socket and the new router was connected to his new connection (new wire brought into the house). He changed broadband provider a few weeks ago but now the old phone connection no longer works and he has been told by the provider he needs to plug the phone into the router. This works but the external bell is no longer in use and he can not hear the phone ring. Is there any type of wifi linked bell that can be used in this set-up ?

Thanks!

Garlinge

Good question! I wish I could link my mobile phone into a central loud bell as I never hear that ringing either.

lowelife

https://www.amazon.com/AKOAK-Telephone-Amplifier-Answering-Accessories/dp/B01M3TP6U9

Pretty sure something like that can still be used on a phone connected to the router, as its still going to a RJ11 connector on the router.

Or maybe use the Google Live Transcribe app https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.google.audio.hearing.visualization.accessibility.scribe&hl=en_IE&gl=US this can use used on a smart phone to listen for sounds like door being knocked, phone, even your name being said etc and it will make your mobile phone vibrate, flash the light (from the camera)

lowelife

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118222059#Comment_118222059

Every tried a smart watch? you can link your phone to it and you will feel the watch vibrate on incoming calls, texts, whatsapp etc. Doesnt even need to be one of the expenisve bells and whistles type of watch.

Can you get a wire run to the bell device? It should still work.

Ideally, someone should be able to connect his old internal wiring to a phone socket and take a feed from the VoIP phone port on the router.

The likelihood is it should be able to simulate the electrical characteristics of a phone line, so it will probably be able to activate the bell, once it’s actually wired to it.

If it’s a old mechanical bell, with actual physical bells that are stuck with a striker, then it may not work as the VoIP device wouldn’t have the same degree of high power output to drive ringers as a phone line, which were designed to be able to ring old telephones with mechanical bells.

The phone network as we know it is being shut down anyway by 2025, and is already being cut over to VoIP, so ultimately he will need to resolve this anyway.

What you should be looking for is a DECT cordless phone set that is suitable for hard of hearing and has loud and visual ringers. They should work fine with the VoIP line, and require no wiring. That will just plug into the telephone port on the router.

Tbe phone port on the router still provides an analog line that mimics a normal phone line, so normal telephone devices generally work once connected to it. There’s no digital or internet aspects to worry about.

Lena11

Thanks for all the comments.

I was able to source an amplifier through IrishDeaf.com and get it set up. Unfortunately my father is almost completely deaf in higher ranges so he still can not hear it as the three ring tones are all too high pitch. On the plus side the other occupant of the house can now hear it and if he is near the phone (its in the entrance hallway) he can see the light on the amplifier flash and hear it vibrating off the wall.

He has only recently got his first smartphone so when he is a bit more comfortable with that I'll see if I can get the Google Live Transcribe working and I'll have a look for a Dect cordless phone too (again the tone of the ringer would be crutial)