Updated March 30, 2017
DTI Group—an Australia-based company providing surveillance systems and fleet management for the mobile security market—announced they have secured an order from Bombardier Canada for the supply of hearing-aid loop communication systems for Bay Area Rapid Transit Commission (BART) in San Francisco. BART operates a public transportation system serving the San Francisco Bay Area and connects San Francisco with cities in the East Bay and suburbs in northern San Mateo County.
The proprietary communications system, designed and engineered by DTI, will deliver audio messages to passengers via their telecoil, according to the company; DTI’s hearing-aid loop communication systems will be installed in 775 train cars. Hearing aid loops are an assistive listening technology for individuals with reduced ranges of hearing and work by producing magnetic fields. These magnetic fields can be picked up by hearing aids, cochlear implant (CI) processors, and specialized hand-held hearing loop receivers.
The expected value of the Bombardier order is over US$500,000 and is the first order to be received by DTI from Bombardier Canada. The deliveries for the systems are expected to commence in the first half of calendar 2017 and will continue through to 2021.
Source: DTI Group
Image:Â Baz777 | Dreamstime.com
I hope someone tells Bart (before they pay 1/2 million that electro-magnetic interference in Bart with induction loop systems are likely to make so much interference no one will use it. Have the DTI demo a system / do a practical based study before all the money and failure.
I do not know if there is a difference in language between AU and the US in reference to the portion of the hearing aid that links with a hearing loop. In the US the second paragraph first sentence would read— will deliver audio messages to disabled passengers via their t-coil or telecoil. The hearing loop would be in the train and the t-coil in the hearing aid would link with it.
Thank you, Ann! I have updated this.