ANSI S3.22-1996 The ANSI '96 standard is now available on the FONIX 6500-CX. This revision of the 1987 standard takes into consideration new technologies available in the hearing aid market. The changes in the standard create a test sequence that more accurately reflects the performance of today's aids. Here are some of the changes. The New Telecoil  The telecoil tests in the ANSI '96 standard have been greatly expanded from those of the '87 standard. The new procedure is designed to give you a more true-to-life picture of how the telecoil is working for the client. Instead of a single test at a single frequency, the new standard requires a complete curve. The new telecoil test determines how much your client would need to change the aid's volume control to effectively use the telecoil. Instead of telling you only if the telecoil is working, as the previous standard did, the '96 standard also tells you how well it is working. As an innovation on the FONIX 6500-CX, Frye Electronics is offering a telewand. The telewand is a handheld device that uses a magnetic field of 31.6 mA/m, in compliance with the ANSI '96 standard. New Methods for AGC Aids Previously, AGC aids have been tested with their gain set full-on throughout the sequence. Since some AGC aids show artificially high levels of distortion and battery current drain at their full-on gain setting, the ANSI '96 standard calls for AGC aids to be tested at a reference test gain, just like other non-AGC instruments. This new method for testing AGC aids will give you a more realistic picture of their responses as experienced by the user. It may also reduce the number of aids you need to return to the manufacturer. Improved Equivalent Input Noise (EIN) Testing The ANSI '96 standard includes a method for determining if the environment is suitable for taking an EIN measurement. Such a method provides you with a guideline for deciding if an EIN measurement is valid, again potentially reducing the number of aids you return to the manufacturer. Compared with the ANSI '87 standard, the new ANSI '96 standard gives you a more realistic, more accurate method of determining how well a hearing aid is working in a real world environment. It is a more thorough test that will benefit both you and your client. 3/27/00