Ameriphone Walker Clarity Phone
The number buttons are large and light up, they glow in the dark at night making them easy to find. It also has the ability to become a speaker phone, put someone on hold, and plug in a head set for hands free chatting.
For the hard of hearing the phone has several very useful features. The phone has a nice big flashy red light across the top that blinks when it rings. You can change the tone and warble rate of the ringer, making it perfect for those who are “frequency deaf”. Those who are no longer able to hear “criket chirps”, which are often in the high frequencies, (and often the first to go) can set the ringer to a low rumbling tone, that they may be able to feel rather than hear. You can also set the volume so loud that your neighbors will be able to hear it, or turn ringer sounds off completely.
The phone is compatible with most hearing aides and won’t make a hearing aide user go “sqeee” from the feedback often caused by using a non hearing aide compatible phone, an important consideration for those who need to use hearing aides, and can’t take them out every time they make a phone call.
Perhaps the coolest thing about this phone is that everyone in the house can use it. It has a slider bar, for it’s unique “clarity system” enabling you to change the amount of “clarity” for each conversation. The Clarity system works well enough that many people who normally need hearing aide to use phones may be able to hear without them on the Walker phone. This can make a bed difference when your phone rings in the middle of the night ! The clarity can be turned on or off, and while it is occasionally annoying to have to reset it, there seems to be a law that requires that.
The phone also has a redial feature, a light in the corner that tells you when it has a signal, a hold button, and three large buttons on top with pictures , (for quickly dialing the fire, police or ambulance), as well as several speed dial buttons for those numbers you may have to dial quickly.
It can set on a desk or hang on the wall, making it very versatile.
The clarity phone is not cheap, I paid around 74 USD for mine, but worth every penny. It can be bought online or at Radio Shack where I got mine. It’s worth it weight in gold, and makes communicating by phone much easier, for those who need it most.
