Oticon Epoq’s Wireless Connectivity Allows a More Natural Stereophonic Sound Experience with Hearing Devices
And hands-free connection to cell phones

Hear For Life in Anaheim California is one of the first hearing care centers to offer patients a new hearing instrument that enables them to connect to their cell phone – hands free. Designed with wireless connectivity at its core, the new Oticon Epoq is the first hearing system to address the two most common listening challenges for people with hearing loss. A proprietary binaural high speed wireless technology enables a pair of Epoq hearing devices to communicate with each other at data transfer speeds 100 times faster than hearing instruments now on the market. Enhanced broadband speed enables a pair of hearing aids to work together to process sounds similar to the way the brain receives input from two ears to deliver the most accurate sound picture. This real-time connectivity with voices and other sounds in the immediate listening environment provides accurate, stereophonic auditory information that is in synch with a user’s visual experience. The same wireless connectivity also enables easy, hands-free access to the world of electronically transmitted sounds from Bluetooth-enabled cell phones and other popular electronic devices such as MP3 players, GPS systems and computers.

“Epoq finally allows hearing care professionals to address two distinct needs in one unified hearing solution - the ability to communicate efficiently and effectively with the world of ‘near’ sounds such as human voice and environmental sounds and with the ‘far away’ world of electronic communication through devices such as cell phones and MP3 players,” said Peer Lauritsen, President of Oticon, Inc. “We finally have a hearing instrument that goes beyond compensation for hearing loss to become a true high tech communications device.”

Real-Time Synchronicity -- in Stereo
Epoq is the first hearing device powered by Oticon’s newly developed wireless digital platform, RISE. Using innovative EarStream™ broadband technology, the hearing instrument creates a wireless sphere around users. This enables a pair of Epoq hearing aids to manage auditory information via a central processor, eliminating the uncoordinated shifts in settings between instruments that occur with ordinary bilateral fittings, in which the right and left aids operate independently. Epoq’s unique dual-path processing takes into account the way in which the brain receives and proacesses simultaneous input from two ears (binaural hearing) to deliver the best integrated performance on a variety of sound paramaters. Binaurally fitted Epoq hearing instruments are synchronized in the core processing to best preserve the cues for localization and speech segregation. The result is a much more accurate - stereophonic – sound picture.

Wireless Connectivity to Cell Phones and More
Epoq also provides a new and previously unavailable hearing solution for using cell phones. Earlier choices such as removing one hearing aid or using a T-coil with distracting background noise often made cell phone use impossible for people with hearing loss.

Now, with the addition of the small, smart-looking Streamer, Epoq becomes the equivalent of a hands-free Bluetooth intelligent headset without having to attach bulky add-on components or wires to the hearing instruments. Similar to a Bluetooth wireless headset, Epoq and the Streamer stream sounds directly from the cell phone to the hearing instruments. The difference is that before delivering those sounds to the user’s ears, Epoq has processed them to suit the unique needs of the patient’s individual hearing loss. The additional clarity provided by the option of listening to a cell phone simultaneously in both ears is significant! It’s the way the brain wants to hear!

The Streamer, a small, sleek, wearable device similar to an MP3 player, facilitates effortless audio streaming from cell phones, personal computers, GPS systems and other popular electronic devices. The Streamer converts Bluetooth signals into an electromagnetic bit stream that is received directly by the hearing instruments. This seamless connectivity is fully digital and uninterrupted from the Bluetooth source device to the hearing instruments, providing comfortable and noise-free sound quality. Once the Streamer is paired to a Bluetooth compatible cell phone, the user simply presses a button on the Streamer to receive phone calls in both ears, if desired, through the hearing instruments.

Variety of Styles and Performance Levels
Epoq is available in a variety of discrete and comfortable styles and performance levels to suit a range of hearing needs. The wearable EpoqStreamer is an optional companion device for most styles which allows Bluetooth capability.

For more information about the new Epoq, visit www.oticonusa.com or watch the video.
To schedule a listening demonstration call Anaheim Hearing Center, Hear For Life (714 535-7508)