August 06: A PHONE with an ear-splitting ringtone louder than a revving motorbike is on sale.

Aimed at the elderly or hearing-impaired, the Amplicom M6000 sells in the UK with a boost function to crank it up from 30 decibels to a rock concert-like 110dB. Experts said it was equivalent to a full-throated South African vuvuzela blasting next to your head.

Product manager David Youngs, who has hearing difficulties, said many people preferred to make calls without using their hearing aid.

"I can make a call and even if I haven't got my hearing aid on, I can just push the volume up and hear the conversation perfectly," he said. "The ring tone is also extremely loud ... If it went off in a restaurant on the highest setting, you'd probably get thrown out."


The Royal Victorian Eye and Ear Hospital's Prof Stephen O'Leary said he could see how the phone would be attractive to the hard of hearing at home alone.

"The issue is for everyone else, basically," he said. "I think it's self-evident that (ringtone) would be very noticeable."

While extremely loud, he said, "I don't think it's going to damage your hearing, but it would be a little difficult to live with."

Even though the phone, with overly large buttons, was aimed at the elderly and hearing-impaired, Prof O'Leary said listeners relying on a hearing aid might not like what they heard.

He said exceptionally loud sounds could sometimes be very distorted, uncomfortable and disturbing for hearing-impaired people.He suggested carrying a phone set to vibrate would be better than one in which the sound can be cranked up to 11.

"We don't shout at people at 110db, so it would seem to me that just appropriate pitching of the tone so that a hearing aid would pick it up would be probably a more socially acceptable solution," he said.


Source: http://www.heraldsun.com.au/