Other assistive listening systems

Summary

A UK charity's consumer page on the assistive listening systems people may meet in public places besides hearing loops: infrared, audio over Wi-Fi and Auracast.

Key findings

• Describes audio over Wi-Fi as sound streamed over the venue's public Wi-Fi or a dedicated network to an app, provided by the venue or the system's maker, on the listener's smartphone, found in places such as gyms, sports bars and churches, especially where listeners can choose between audio channels.
• Says clear signs and helpful staff should be available to explain how to connect, and that relying on listeners' own phones may not suit everyone, especially people without a smartphone or without confidence in using apps; some venues offer pre-set phones with the app installed.
• Names as a benefit that listeners use a device they already know, which it calls easier and more private than borrowing equipment, and as a downside latency, which can be confusing in small rooms or when lipreading and may get worse when the sound is streamed to hearing aids over Bluetooth.
• Describes infrared receivers borrowed from the venue and used with headphones or a neckloop set to the hearing aid's T or loop setting, and advises asking to move seat if reception is poor.
• Says most people do not yet have Auracast devices, so venues may offer receivers and headphones, and that choosing a stream on a phone, perhaps with a password or QR code, is more complex than switching a hearing aid to T; it reports that experts recommend offering both Auracast and hearing loops during the transition.

Limits

A short consumer page with no data or references. Written with help from a maker whose parent company also owns a Wi-Fi system maker. The page carries no date. The old Hearing Link address for the Wi-Fi section redirects to this page.

Read the original

www.hearingdogs.org.uk/support/living/assistive-technology/systems

Link checked 9 October 2026. We link to the original and do not host copies.

Cited in

• How much delay does Wi-Fi streaming add, and when does it matter?Not reliable yet
• What does Wi-Fi streaming need from the venue's network and from listeners' phones?Partly answered
• How do listeners learn that a venue has assistive listening, and which signs and symbols do the rules ask for?Partly answered
• What works in places of worship, and what do the rules ask of them?Partly answered
• What does a listener have to do to use each system, and where do people get stuck?Partly answered

Cite this source

The original gives no date, so the citation says “n.d.”. The accessed date is when this library last checked the link; use the date you read it. To point readers to this summary instead, link to https://assistivelisteningknowledgebase.org/evidence/hearing-dogs-other-systems/

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