Site testing, commissioning, checking and auditing are an integral part of achieving and maintaining a Standards compliant loop system that provides a genuine benefit to the user.
Site testing
Site testing for electromagnetic background noise and any metal used in a buildings construction should be performed prior to the specification of any hearing loop system. If present both these factors will have an effect on loop design, amplifier selection and very occasionally whether or not the project is actually feasible.
See our Site testing page for more information and testing procedures and required tools.
Commissioning
All hearing loops should be commissioned post installation to ensure that they comply with the IEC 60118-4 Standard for performance. This task is often performed by the installing engineer; however, consultants or even Ampetronic’s engineers may be required on very complex projects.
The commissioning procedure is designed to identify and rectify any faults in a system and provide the opportunity to address them. When the system is deemed to be operating to Standards the commissioning engineer should fill in and present a Certificate of Conformity to the facility owner/manager.
See our commissioning page for details and procedures.
Regular system checks
An induction loop is designed to be both invisible and inaudible to anyone without a hearing aid; therefore system faults can very easily go unnoticed if they are not reported by a hearing impaired user.
Many hearing impaired users may find communication too difficult to report a fault and will simply choose to leave, so it is essential that facility managers or colleagues perform regular simple checks to ensure that the system is turned on and operating properly.
A list of simple regular checks and how to perform them can be found on our system checks page.
Auditing and testing
Testing an hearing loop system may become necessary for a range of reasons such as damage to the loop cable, ‘janitorial’ adjustments to the amplifier settings,, amplifier malfunction or simply because a fault has been reported by a hearing impaired user.
Generic information about how to test and audit an induction loop (made by any manufacturer), along with information for hearing aid users, can be found on our auditing and testing page.
