Do portable and counter loops work, and how should they be set up and used?

Why it matters

A loop can carry a staff member's speech to a listener's telecoil when background noise or a protective screen makes conversation difficult. IEC 60118-4 includes small loops for nearby listeners, including ticket-counter and self-contained portable systems. This question covers their setup and everyday use; service counters covers building rules and Auracast at desks.¹

What the evidence shows

• Counter, desk and portable systems cover a local listening position. Manufacturer Univox's counter kits combine a driver, a separate microphone and a loop pad containing the loop wires. Its installation diagrams put the pad under the counter. Manufacturer Contacta's portable IL-PL20 combines a rechargeable desktop unit and an internal microphone, and can move between rooms for two-person conversations. Neither example establishes coverage throughout a room.^2,3
• Position both the loop and the microphone. Univox places its pad in the angle between the counter's underside and front panel, to shape the field for a listener who may lean forward to write. It positions the microphone so staff can sit or stand and talk normally. For its own CLD1 coil, manufacturer Ampetronic gives a different, specific geometry: approximately 250 mm behind the front edge, with the coil top 900-1000 mm above the floor, upright or partly folded away from the customer. These are product installation instructions; the resulting listening field still needs checking.^2,4
• Portable units have orientation and power limits. Contacta's March 2017 guide places the IL-PL20 between the two people, with the rear microphone facing staff and the T-symbol facing the listener, no more than 1.2 m away. It states about four hours of battery operation, allows charging during use and instructs staff to leave it switched off on charge when unused. These are manufacturer figures for that model. For more than two participants, it recommends a large-area loop or, if unavailable, an external boundary microphone towards the speakers; connecting an external device disables the internal microphone.³
• A powered unit can still deliver poor sound. Ampetronic says metal framing or cladding can weaken or dull its counter loop's field and may require another design. Its handbook also describes a lit loop-current indicator with no received field because the coil is misplaced or the feed is shorted. UnivoxAudio, a manufacturer distributor, describes failures caused by covered, moved or disconnected microphones, altered controls, disconnected loops and power being turned off.^4,5
• Small-area standards need care. IEC 60118-4 covers field strength, frequency response and measurement methods. The standards-body report ETSI TR 103 614 gives a frequency response within ±3 dB of 1 kHz from 100 Hz to 5 kHz, but secondary accounts give different small-area field tolerances. Seidler's independent 2014 conference summary gives ±6 dB in the defined zone, with no point above +8 dB; ETSI's 2022 report gives ±8 dB; manufacturer distributor UnivoxAudio's summary of the older 2006 edition gives 9 dB total variation. Seidler wrote before publication of the 2014 edition, and ETSI cites that base edition without the 2017 amendment. These figures should not be treated as competing readings of the same amended text. The public previews read do not include the amended field-tolerance clause, so this review cannot establish its limits.^1,6,7,5,8
• Check spill at neighbouring counters. The 2017 amendment's counter clause says limiting spill can require a compromise in field evenness. Its note describes a difference greater than 20 dB between equivalent positions at adjacent counters as normally enough, relating it to acoustic spill. This is a relative difference; Seidler's older summary gives a maximum of −20 dB where other customers wait, without stating the reference level. Neither statement establishes that a conversation cannot be overheard.^8,6
• Field visits found functioning loops and correctable failures. In Healthwatch Southampton's hospital audit, two volunteers with hearing loss checked loops by listening in January 2017. Main reception worked after an earlier reinstallation, and a shared outpatient reception worked after staff had been shown how to use it. Two other clinical reception loops needed investigation and training; at another reception, staff thought a loop existed but no unit could be found. This was a small local audit without field-strength measurements; the report does not state its funding.⁹
• Availability is different from performance. An independent volunteer audit by Lets Loop Southampton with Healthwatch Southampton visited 295 shops and restaurants in 2017; audit funding was not stated. Its 2018 report found loops at 39 locations (13%), including one listed as faulty. It describes repairs following problems with three loops at John Lewis and a non-working loop at Body Shop. The 13% is an availability figure, not a rate of successful listening, and the report does not separate fixed from portable systems.¹⁰
• Users value loops but encounter operational barriers. Healthwatch Bucks' 2023 survey and focus groups involved 90 people; the report does not state its funding. It reports that those whose hearing aids could use loops preferred them to relying on lip reading alone, but described absent equipment and staff who could not find or use it. Only one of 85 answers named a loop as the main communication method inside the surgery. These are local user reports, without equipment tests; they do not establish a preference between portable and fixed loops.¹¹

Where sources disagree

Manufacturer Ampetronic recommends fixed loops for retail and reception desks, while accepting portable units for some planned, short conversations where everyone knows how to position, power and use them. Contacta's manufacturer guide explicitly describes portable use on a desk or counter, and Healthwatch Southampton's hospital audit recommends portable loops as an interim measure before fixed counter installations. The sources differ in their advice about routine service use; none supplies a controlled comparison of fixed and portable systems. The field-tolerance summaries also differ, as set out above.^12,3,9,6,7,5

What would settle it

Independent comparisons at working desks could combine speech-understanding results from telecoil users with field measurements at seated, standing and leaning positions, microphone pickup in normal counter noise, battery availability and spill at the next counter. The audits show operational problems, while the manuals describe intended setup; neither gives that combined evidence. The complete amended standard is needed to check which field-tolerance and measurement provisions apply to each small-area configuration.^{10,11,3,2,4,8}

Planning while it is open

• Define the listener's position and the counter geometry before fitting the pad or coil. Follow the system's installation instructions, account for nearby metal, and measure the field at the intended listening positions. Use the applicable IEC 60118-4 provisions, checking the edition and amendment instead of substituting one of the differing summaries.^4,2,1,8
• Put the microphone where it captures the staff member speaking normally and protect it from being moved or covered. For portable units, orient the microphone and loop towards the correct people and check the listener's T setting.^2,5,3
• Keep reception loops on while reception is open. Assign responsibility for checking them and training staff; for battery units, follow the model's charging and storage instructions so the unit is ready for the next conversation.^9,3
• Listen at the user's head position while someone speaks into the actual microphone. RNID's advocacy guidance starts the loop receiver at low volume and checks power, cables, gain and receiver batteries if sound is absent. It states that RNID receives donations from linked equipment sales and installation referrals. A listening check complements field-strength and frequency-response testing.^13,5
• Include neighbouring counters and waiting positions in the installation check. Record the coverage and spill together, because improving one can compromise the other; do not treat the adjacent-counter level difference as proof of confidentiality.^8,6,7
• Keep a record of loop locations, staff familiar with them and regular tests; name a contact for failures and make signs easy to see. Healthwatch Southampton recommends these steps after finding loops that staff could not use or locate.⁹

Sources

1. IEC 60118-4:2014 Electroacoustics - Hearing aids - Part 4: Induction-loop systems for hearing aid purposes - System performance requirements. IEC TC 29 (Electroacoustics). International Electrotechnical Commission, 11 December 2014. Standards body (International Electrotechnical Commission; the full text is sold, and only the abstract is public) ↩︎ https://webstore.iec.ch/en/publication/798
2. CTC-systems: Loop driver for cross-the-counter systems - Installation Guide. Bo Edin AB. Bo Edin AB (Univox; copy hosted by UK distributor UnivoxAudio), 6 September 2013. Manufacturer (Bo Edin AB, maker of the Univox counter-loop systems described) ↩︎ https://www.univoxaudio.co.uk/catalogue/products/pdfs/ctc-systems-ig-gb.pdf
3. Portable Loop IL-PL20: Installation & User Guide. Contacta Systems Ltd, March 2017. Manufacturer (Contacta Systems Ltd, maker of the portable loop described) ↩︎ https://www.contacta.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/IL-PL20-Portable-Loop-Installation-User-Guide.pdf
4. CLD1 Installation Handbook. Ampetronic Ltd, undated (read 13 October 2026). Manufacturer (Ampetronic Ltd, maker of the CLD1 loop driver described) ↩︎ https://www.ampetronic.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/UP15701-18-CLD-Handbook.pdf
5. Loop Performance Standard IEC 60118-4:2006. UnivoxAudio Ltd. UnivoxAudio (knowledge centre wiki), undated (read 13 October 2026). Manufacturer (UnivoxAudio Ltd, the UK and Ireland distributor of the Swedish loop maker Bo Edin's Univox loop amplifiers) ↩︎ https://www.univoxaudio.co.uk/knowledge-centre-wiki/standards-legislation-and-best-practice/standard-iec-60118-4-2006
6. Induktive Höranlagen – internationale Trends und aktuelle Normung (Induction loop systems: international trends and current standards). Seidler H. Fortschritte der Akustik – DAGA 2014 (annual conference of the German Acoustical Society, Oldenburg), pages 294-295, March 2014. Independent (Hannes Seidler, ENT clinic of the medical faculty, TU Dresden; funding not stated) ↩︎ https://pub.dega-akustik.de/DAGA_2014/data/articles/000138.pdf
7. ETSI TR 103 614 V1.1.1: Electromagnetic compatibility and Radio spectrum Matters (ERM); Hearing Loop System (HLS) intended to assist the hearing impaired in the frequency range 0 Hz to 9 kHz; System Reference Document. ETSI Technical Committee ERM. European Telecommunications Standards Institute, January 2022. Standards body (ETSI, the European telecommunications standards organisation, whose members include manufacturers; a system reference document that asks European spectrum regulators to keep 10 Hz to 9 kHz available for hearing loops, and that supports a radio-equipment standard it says the International Hearing Loop Manufacturers Association is drafting) ↩︎ https://www.etsi.org/deliver/etsi_tr/103600_103699/103614/01.01.01_60/tr_103614v010101p.pdf
8. IEC 60118-4:2014/AMD1:2017: Amendment 1 - Electroacoustics - Hearing aids - Part 4: Induction-loop systems for hearing aid purposes - System performance requirements. IEC TC 29 (Electroacoustics). International Electrotechnical Commission, 9 November 2017. Standards body (International Electrotechnical Commission; public preview of the unchanged European adoption supplied by standards reseller iTeh, plus IEC catalogue metadata) ↩︎ https://webstore.iec.ch/en/publication/59636
9. Hearing Loops at UHS FT: Audit of Hearing Loops. Dymond HF, for the sensory loss group and Healthwatch Southampton. Healthwatch Southampton (reports library of Healthwatch England), May 2017. Government (Healthwatch Southampton, the city's statutory health and social care watchdog, funded through the local authority; the audit was done by two of its volunteers with hearing loss, as members of University Hospital Southampton's sensory loss group) ↩︎ https://nds.healthwatch.co.uk/sites/default/files/reports_library/20170502_Southampton__Hearing-Loops-at-UHS-FT-Report.pdf
10. Hearing Loops in Central Southampton: Auditing hearing loops in shops and restaurants across central Southampton. Lets Loop Southampton and Healthwatch Southampton. Lets Loop Southampton, 2018. Independent (Lets Loop Southampton and Healthwatch Southampton volunteer audit; separate audit funding is not specified; the report describes a £4,000 GoSouthampton contribution for businesses to obtain loops) ↩︎ https://letsloopsouthampton.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/Hearing-Loops-in-Central-Southampton-Report.pdf
11. GP surgery care when you're Deaf, deaf or hard of hearing. Healthwatch Bucks. Healthwatch Bucks (reports library of Healthwatch England), May 2023. Government (Healthwatch Bucks, Buckinghamshire's statutory health and social care watchdog) ↩︎ https://nds.healthwatch.co.uk/sites/default/files/reports_library/20230712_Bucks_Accessing%20GP%20Care%20with%20Hearing%20Loss%20Report.pdf
12. Counter loop systems. Ampetronic Ltd, undated (read 13 October 2026). Manufacturer (Ampetronic Ltd, seller of fixed counter-loop systems) ↩︎ https://www.ampetronic.com/product-categories/systems/counter-systems/
13. How to check a hearing loop is working. RNID. RNID (Royal National Institute for Deaf People), 26 May 2026. Nonprofit advocacy (RNID, UK charity; the page states that RNID receives 10% of loop-listener purchases through its Connevans links and 5% of referred hearing-loop installations by Contacta) ↩︎ https://rnid.org.uk/employers-and-professionals/providing-communication-support/check-hearing-loop/

Change log

• 13 October 2026Published with 13 sources.
• 13 October 2026Citation audit clarified standard editions, spill limits, study funding and operational advice; added supporting record passages.
• 13 October 2026Consolidated the Southampton retail audit under the library’s existing source record; 13 distinct sources retained.

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