Roger bridges the understanding gap for students with hearing loss

WARRENVILLE, Ill., April 3, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Phonak, the world-wide market leader in FM technology, introduces Roger, a new digital standard that bridges the understanding gap, in noise and over distance, by wirelessly transmitting the speaker's voice directly to the listener. Available for the education market beginning Summer 2013, Roger surpasses all of today's FM and equivalent digital systems. It offers a scientifically proven¹ breakthrough in signal-to-noise ratio and eliminates the hassle of frequency management.

Educational audiologists and teachers of the deaf have traditionally specified FM and equivalent digital systems for students with hearing loss. The result: Many thousands of children have been able to better hear and understand the teacher in class. However, despite FM technology having shown significant performance gains in recent years, (i.e., the introduction of Dynamic FM in 2007) Phonak engineers set a goal to develop a system that would result in even greater understanding at all noise levels. Additionally, they challenged themselves to create wireless systems significantly easier for healthcare professionals and teachers to set up and use.

A wireless revolution

Built upon a new proprietary Phonak microchip and speech-in-noise algorithm, Roger overcomes the challenges that FM and digital system users have faced until now. It is proven to help students hear and understand more of the teacher's words than ever before, and Roger systems are simple to use.

• Maximum performance
  Roger offers the industry's best ever speech-in-noise performance, with proven improvements of up to 54%¹ over FM, and 35%¹ over Dynamic FM technology.
• Zero hassle
  Unlike with FM systems, there are no frequencies for audiologists to program and manage (so no software is required), and teachers can quickly connect devices such as Roger receivers with a single click.
• Full compatibility
  Roger is the most compatible system of its kind. It works with virtually every behind-the-ear hearing instrument, cochlear implant and soundfield room amplification system. Roger inspiro is also the only teacher microphone capable of transmitting to Roger, FM and soundfield systems simultaneously.

Roger systems run on the 2.4 GHz band and employ adaptive algorithms to avoid interference and optimize operating range. Unique intelligent frequency-hopping technology selects only free frequencies, ensuring interference-free performance in every class. A virtually unlimited number of Roger networks can also be used in a single building. In addition, because the 2.4 GHz band is freely accessible worldwide, this means no license is necessary – allowing Roger users to enjoy improved speech understanding wherever they travel in the world.

"I was amazed by the performance of students who used Roger. They were able to hear and understand the speaker in noise levels that would not have been possible using previous FM system technology," says Dr. Linda Thibodeau, Professor at the University of Dallas and the Callier Center for Communication Disorders.

Maarten Barmentlo, Group Vice President Marketing for Phonak adds, "For students with hearing loss understanding the teacher can be a real challenge. Roger meets this challenge head on, bringing the cleanest ever speech signal directly into the student's hearing instruments or Cochlear Implants, and delighting educational audiologists by finally removing the need to manage frequencies."

For more information on Roger for Education, please visit: www.phonakpro.com/roger

¹ Comparison of speech recognition with adaptive digital and FM wireless technology by listeners who use hearing aids.
Professor Linda Thibodeau PhD.
Read more at www.phonakpro.com/com/b2b/en/evidence/topics/roger.html

About Phonak
Headquartered near Zurich, Switzerland, Phonak, a member of the Sonova Group, has developed, produced and globally distributed state-of-the-art hearing systems and wireless devices for more than 60 years. The combination of expertise in hearing technology, mastery in acoustics and strong cooperation with hearing care professionals allows Phonak to significantly improve people's hearing ability and speech understanding and therefore their quality of life.

Phonak offers a complete range of digital hearing instruments, along with complementary wireless communication systems. With a worldwide presence, Phonak drives innovation and sets new industry benchmarks regarding miniaturization and performance.

For more information, please visit www.phonakpro.com and www.phonak-us.com

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SOURCE Phonak