Help and advice

The precise capabilities of these systems varies between models but they all have the capability to notify you of at least two different sound sources. For example, one model may notify you if your doorbell or telephone rings, another model may notify you if your smoke alarm or alarm clock is triggered. The systems may notify you by flashing a light or vibrating a pad or pager.

Depending on the model some of the connections may be wireless, but other connections may require a wire. For example; most systems connecting to an alarm clock or the telephone require a cable to be plugged into the alarm clock or phone socket. Most systems connecting to a doorbell or smoke alarm do this wirelessly. Some wireless systems use a pager or a portable receiver to alert you to the range of sounds via vibration, indicator lights on the pager let you know which source has triggered the pager. A few systems connect to the mains lighting and flash it, e.g if the doorbell or phone rings.

Alternative single use devices you may wish to consider include:

• Doorbells which flash, vibrate or have a loud ring
• Vibrating alarm clocks
• Amplified ringers for telephones
• Smoke alarms and kits

For further information refer to Action for Hearing Loss's Factsheet on Multi Alerting Systems