Telephones for hearing aid users at home - FAQ

My mother has a Phoneflash and very occasionally, less than once a week, it flashes just once or twice otherwise it works fine. Is the unit faulty?

No, very unlikely.

The explanation from our technical team is.... BT periodically automatically test all telephone lines (you may have seen the BT advert on TV which includes a bit about how many lines they check each day), this is done by sending a short signal pulse down the line to your phone and testing the result - basically a short version of the same signal used to ring the telephone. This pulse can result in a very short gentle ting on a sensitive phone ringer - or in your case 1 or 2 flashes. A faulty unit would almost certainly not function correctly otherwise.

There are a number of factors which affect whether people actually notice a test pulse causing a spurious 'ring' or 'flash' - apart from whether they happen to be present at the time. The signal pulse is stronger the nearer you are to the exchange where cable losses are less. 'Old technology' telephones require more energy than newer phones to generate a ring. In the case of the Teleflash it is quite sensitive as there is minimal drain on the line because it takes its power from mains electricity.

I hope this explanation re-assures you that you do not have a faulty product.

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