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My 5 Favorite Ways to Use My Roger Pen

I have been the proud owner of a Phonak Roger Pen for a good few years now, so the handy little device has been in nearly every possible scenario in my day-to-day life.

If you’re not familiar with the Roger Pen, it is essentially a wireless microphone that connects to your hearing aids. It allows for better speech understanding in noise and over distance, plus Bluetooth connectivity. Whether you’re new or old to the system, there will always be uses for the Roger Pen that you may not have come across.

Here are my Top 5 favorite ways to use my Roger Pen:

5. In a restaurant or café

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While this is a pretty standard use for the Roger Pen, the level of clarity that it brings to allow me to understand friends in restaurants and cafes never fails to astound me. Restaurants are pretty noisy places meaning that, more often than not, I struggle to follow conversation. Placing my Roger Pen in the middle of the table solves this issue instantaneously, as the mic seamlessly switches to ‘conference mode’, picking voices up from around the table and sending them straight to my hearing aids. When using the Roger Pen, I become less fatigued and more included in conversation, meaning I can easily enjoy a night out with friends or family.

4. At university

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My three years at university were made much easier with the help of my Roger Pen. Whether it was hanging around the neck of a lecturer, placed on a table during group tutorials, or hooked up to a computer, the Roger Pen was always in good use during my studies.

3. Electric Piano

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As a musician, you’d think I would have tried this years ago; however, linking my Roger Pen with my friend’s electric piano only occured to me very recently. I was even sceptical that it would work, but to my surprise (and delight!), it did. No more faffing with bulky headphones and hearing aid feedback!

2. In the car

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As I’m a frequent traveller and spend many hours alone in the car, it was important for me to be able to keep in contact with those closest to me. Despite having a hands-free system, the engine and road noise is too overwhelming to maintain a phonecall, which is where my trusty Roger Pen comes into play! Connecting my Roger Pen and mobile phone via bluetooth is incredibly easy, giving me and my family peace of mind that I will be able to answer calls quickly and safely. When my phone rings, I just press the green ‘answer button’ on the Pen and start the conversation – the person’s voice will stream directly through my hearing aids, cutting out all that engine and road noise that used to ruin it for me.

1. Commuting into the cityscreenshot-www.instagram.com 2016-08-11 12-56-12

Perhaps my favourite use of the Roger Pen is for something far more discreet. Whilst on my daily commute into London, I love to connect my Roger Pen and iPod, pop both devices in my bag, and listen to music directly through my hearing aids. I feel like some sort of superhero-spy knowing that nobody else knows that I am listening to music! And of course, the best thing about it is that the quality of the music is crystal clear that way!

 

Author Details
Eloise is a 22-year-old musician, teacher, and Deaf Awareness Campaigner based in London. She is a proud wearer of two brightly-decorated Phonak hearing aids. Her hobbies include cooking, singing, reading, and photography.