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AudioFetch Blog Header_ADA Compliance

ADA Compliance and Hearing Impairments: Everything Your Business Needs to Know

By | airports, Auction, Business, Casinos, Churches, Education, Government, Hearing Assistance, Hearing Loss, Stadiums, Theater, Tour Guides, Wireless Audio | No Comments

Every public business, organization, or venue should be thinking about how to improve accessibility at their establishment. Not only does it create a more welcoming environment for any and every-one that visits, but it can also be a legal requirement. 

Read on to learn more about how your business can (and must) improve accessibility through ADA compliance and other accessibility-friendly solutions.

What is ADA compliance?

The Americans with Disabilities Act was signed into law in 1990. It prohibits discrimination and seeks to improve accessibility at public government entities and privately-owned “places of public accommodation,” and requires employers with 15+ employees to provide reasonable accommodations for those with disabilities.

What are ADA guidelines for hearing impairments?

The ADA requirements for hearing impairments vary by platform, business type, or entity. For example, all airlines within and into the United States must accommodate hearing loss, according to the Air Carriers Access Act (ACAA), which is typically accomplished by adding captions to airport TVs
 
Other public venues must provide assistive listening devices (ALDs) in each assembly area where audible communication is integral to the use of the space. These venues include movie theaters, concert and lecture halls, schools, museums, hospitals, stadiums and arenas, courtrooms, conference rooms, convention centers, nursing homes, community centers, and the list goes on and on. 
 
If your venue provides fixed seating (e.g., theater or stadium) for 50 or more people, ADA compliant receivers must be available for a percentage of seating capacity. Originally it was 4% of capacity, but that figure was updated in 2010 to give larger venues a bit of a break with a scaled quantity. Additionally, at least 25% or a minimum of two receivers must be hearing-aid compatible.

What is an ADA-compliant device?

ADA compliant products for hard-of-hearing individuals include assistive listening systems (ALS) or assistive listening devices (ALDs). An assistive listening system is defined as an amplification system utilizing transmitters, receivers, and coupling devices to bypass the acoustical space between a sound source and a listener by means of induction loop, radio frequency, infrared, direct-wired equipment or wireless connection.

Who enforces ADA compliance?

Several agencies play a role in enforcing or investigating ADA compliance claims, including The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Communications Commission (FCC), U.S. Department of Justice, U.S. Department of Education, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), U.S. Department of Labor, and the Architectural and Transportation Barriers Compliance Board (ATBCB).

What are the consequences of not following the ADA guidelines?

Failing to comply with ADA guidelines can result in both financial and reputation repercussions
 
On a purely financial basis, your business or organization can be fined by the federal government up to $75,000 for the first violation and $150,000 for additional ADA violations, and state or local governments may tack on additional fines. Additionally, you open yourself up to lawsuits, personal injury claims, and legal or civil penalties from disabled individuals with legitimate complaints or ambulance-chasing entities looking to make an easy buck. 
 
From a reputation perspective, your brand name can also be dragged through the mud for non-compliance, which can also severely affect your business financially in both the short and long term.

What businesses or organizations are exempt from ADA compliance?

The ADA does not apply to places of worship, religious organizations/schools, private clubs, or any other venue historically excluded from federal civil rights laws. However, many of these organizations decide to provide some type of assistive listening option to create a more welcoming and inclusive environment for all of their members and patrons. 
 
Learn more about our assistive listening solutions for churches and houses of worship.

Does AudioFetch work with ADA-compliant receivers?

Yes, AudioFetch is compatible with ADA-compliant receivers. AudioFetch can be used to broadcast the audio source live, and then businesses can use a regulation ADA-compliant device to receive that audio. 
 
AudioFetch also integrates seamlessly with hearing aids; listeners connect the hearing aid to their smartphone via Bluetooth and are able to listen in real-time.

AudioFetch works with businesses and organizations of all sizes to help you create a more accessible and welcoming environment for your guests, customers, and employees. If you’re ready to get started, contact us or schedule an appointment to learn more and request a free demo. 

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FAQs About Home Audio Streaming Devices

By | Home Audio | No Comments

It’s hard to believe that we released AudioFetch Home, our home audio solution, nearly one year ago! Time really flies when you’re making up for lost fun! 

We introduced AudioFetch Home in October 2020 to address a real need we saw in the market. With more people forced to stay home in quarantine, many families found it challenging to maintain a peaceful and enjoyable environment. Drawing on the same technology we’ve used for the last two decades for our commercial products, AudioFetch Home helps families, couples and seniors hear better in their house, reduces distractions and creates a more high-tech environment. 

There’s been some fantastic interest in AudioFetch Home over the past year. Customers have used it in their home gyms, for backyard movie nights and for hearing assistance. We’ve even had customers purchase our commercial wireless audio streaming solutions after having such a positive experience with Home. 

We’ve also fielded some fantastic questions about home audio solutions and audio over WiFi technology. We wanted to share answers to some of the most common questions we get asked, in case you’re wondering the same thing.

Top FAQs about Home Audio Streaming

How does home audio over WiFi work?

Audio over WiFi delivers high-quality audio content without requiring hard wiring. Audio over WiFi  systems include an audio transmitter, an audio receiver and an audio playback device. In the case of AudioFetch, the transmitter is the AudioFetch Home (or Express or Signature products for commercial use), and both the receiver and playback devices are a smartphone, making it a much simpler and more affordable solution. 

Can I hear my TV through my phone?

AudioFetch works by streaming TV audio to your smartphone or tablet through the free AudioFetch app. And it’s not just cable programs that you can hear; anything you watch on your TV, whether that’s through Netflix, Hulu, Roku, Apple TV, YouTube or DVDs, will work when using the AudioFetch Home device.

How can I watch TV without disturbing others?

AudioFetch Home allows you to listen to the TV audio via your smartphone, tablet or bluetooth connected hearing aid. The TV volume can be low or even zero for anyone else in the room, but you can hear the audio crystal clear through the AudioFetch app. You can adjust the volume as needed through the app or your device, and this won’t change the sound for others. 

Why would you want to watch TV without disturbing others? There are numerous reasons: 
– If you have a hearing impairment and need the volume much higher than others
– If you want to watch TV in bed without waking your partner
– If have an open-concept living space like a loft or warehouse, where any sound carries throughout 
– If you want to hear the TV while working out on a treadmill or other noisy machine

How can I improve the sound of my TV for the hard of hearing?

AudioFetch Home acts as a TV sound amplifier by streaming the TV audio to smartphones via the AudioFetch app. All you have to do is plug AudioFetch Home into your TV, connect your phone to the Home wireless network, and download the AudioFetch app. That’s it! You can start listening immediately using headphones or connecting to your hearing aid with bluetooth.

Read “AudioFetch Home: The Next-Gen TV Ears Alternative” for more information.

How can I hear better without using a hearing aid?

AudioFetch allows you to stream audio over WiFi to your smartphone or tablet. Instead of using a hearing aid, or another type of hearing device, you simply listen via the free AudioFetch app using headphones or earbuds. Whether you’re in your home or at a public venue like a theater, house of worship or fitness center, it’s the simplest, most efficient, most discreet (and most sanitary) way to hear better without using a hearing aid.

Read “How to Hear the TV Better Without Needing a Hearing Aid” blog post for more information.

Do hearing aids work with AudioFetch Home?

Yes! If you use a hearing aid, AudioFetch easily pairs with your device via bluetooth, a feature supported by most of the major hearing aid manufacturers, including Oticon, Phonak, GN ReSound, Widex, etc.

How to hear the TV when on the treadmill?

Many people complain that to hear the TV while using a treadmill requires the TV volume to be 100%, and sometimes they still can’t hear it. That’s not ideal for your TV speakers and for others living in the same house (maybe even for the neighbors, too!). A wireless audio streaming solution like AudioFetch Home allows you to hear the TV in your home gym without blasting the volume. 

Read “How to Set Up a Home Gym Sound System with AudioFetch Home” blog for more information.

Ready to order an audio streaming solution for your home? Purchase AudioFetch Home online today. Have more questions? Check out our full wireless audio streaming FAQ or contact us by calling 888-HI-FETCH or scheduling an appointment

AudioFetch Blog Header - New App Features

New AudioFetch App Features: Rapid ReFetch & New In-App Support

By | AudioFetch News | No Comments

We’re continually looking to improve the AudioFetch app to make it more useful for our customers and the AudioFetch App users. We are excited to announce two new features that help listeners to have a more efficient and seamless experience in those rare instances that something isn’t working properly: Rapid ReFetch and In-App Support.

Rapid ReFetch

AudioFetch Rapid ReFetch App Feature

Whether you’re using your own local WiFi network or AudioFetch Express’s built-in wireless network, you may on occasion experience a drop in WiFi signal. These things happen. Previously, the listener would have to close and relaunch the AudioFetch App.

With the new Rapid ReFetch feature, AudioFetch detects the loss of connection and provides a single button to ReFetch the audio stream. This feature takes the burden off the listener to take steps to reconnect.

In-App Support

AudioFetch In-App Support Feature

The second App update involves improved In-App Support to the user. Periodically, the AudioFetch app may run into an issue connecting besides wireless network issues. There are a variety of reasons this may happen, and in the rare case that it does, the listener is required to perform some action to get reconnected. 

With the new improved In-App Support feature, AudioFetch detects the rare situation of a failed connection and gives the user feedback to fix the issue. The app automatically detects the issue and provides simple step-by-step instructions directly within the app for resolving it. Regardless of the listener’s technical ability or knowledge of smartphones, they can easily follow the simple instructions to resolve the issue on their own, without requiring additional support. 

Both of these new features are now available in the latest Apple and Android AudioFetch apps. If you have any questions about these new features or other aspects of AudioFetch wireless audio streaming solutions, we’re here to help! Drop us a line, call us at 844-HI-FETCH, or schedule an appointment at your convenience.

AudioFetch Blog Header - Global Audio Over WiFi Solutions

AudioFetch Provides Better Hearing in 23 Countries

By | AudioFetch News, Hearing Assistance | No Comments

We started AudioFetch with one goal in mind–to help people hear better. 

Having worked in the fitness industry for several years through our sister companies Broadcastvision Entertainment and Waio, Inc., we saw an opportunity to build a platform that would empower anyone with a smartphone to hear what they were watching in real-time, no matter the location. 

And now, nearly two decades later, those locations can be found in 23 countries around the world!
In addition to the hundreds of businesses in the United States, we ship to and support businesses in Australia, Norway, Europe and the United Kingdom, South Africa, Brazil, Italy, Singapore, France and many more! Check out the map below to see where AudioFetch is being used.

We’ve been honored to provide hearing assistance and audio entertainment options to all different types of businesses and organizations. Fitness centers, houses of worship, museums, farms, drive-in movie theaters, amusement parks, warehouses, hospitals, airports, universities and K-12 schools, sports bars, railroad tours, casinos and resorts, apartment complexes, country clubs, retirement communities, local news stations, film festivals–we could write three more paragraphs listing the various types of businesses and organizations that are leveraging AudioFetch! That’s because our wireless audio streaming technology is so flexible, efficient and affordable, and because every venue wants their guests to have a better experience.

If you’d like to know if AudioFetch supports your type of business or location, well, the answer is almost always YES! Contact us today or schedule an appointment to discuss your application.

Please note: While many of our customers are public venues, we also work with private businesses to provide services for their internal staff. If you’d like to test our AudioFetch technology in the wild, please be sure to check that the business is a public venue before visiting.

AudioFetch On-Demand Product Overview Webinar

AudioFetch On-Demand Product Overview Webinar

By | Business | No Comments

Want to better understand the features and benefits of wireless audio streaming for your business? Unsure which AudioFetch solution is right for you? Then you need to check out our Product Overview webinar.

AudioFetch Webinar Thumbnail - AudioFetch Audio Over WiFi

In this brief webinar video, AudioFetch CEO Tim Depumpo walks you through the numerous features and benefits of our technology and discusses how various businesses are using AudioFetch to improve guest experience. Tim also talks about each of the AudioFetch wireless audio streaming solutions in detail, pointing out the unique capabilities and which businesses and organizations find them most useful.

Click the link below to access the video and learn more about our commercial wireless audio streaming solutions.

If you have specific questions or are ready to get started now, call us at 1-844-HI-FETCH (1-844-443-3824) or schedule an appointment with our team.

AudioFetch Blog Header - AudioFetch App Customizations

New App Customizations: Branding and Personalizing Your AudioFetch App

By | AudioFetch News | No Comments

We’re continually looking for ways to improve the AudioFetch app and make it more useful for you and your customers. Today, we’re excited to announce a number of new customization features, which allow you to brand and personalize the app, making it more useful for your business and your guests. 

AudioFetch App Customization

Following are the seven new customization features available now for your AudioFetch app:

Change the App Title

Specify an App Title, which will appear on the widget that displays when the device is on a lock-screen mode. This will remind your listeners that they’re connected and listening with your business, using a name they’re familiar with. 

Add Your Logo 

Replace the AudioFetch logo with your business’s logo in two spots: at the very top of the app, and in the center of the app screen. This helps you better connect with your guests by continuing to build brand recognition for your business, and making the app more familiar to your guests.

Add a Custom Background

You can now change the entire background of the app to display a custom image or customer color of your choosing. This feature is useful in further familiarizing guests with your brand and setting the right tone while they are at your facility. 

Add Custom Channel Icons

Previously if your facility was using more than one audio source, the channels were simply displayed “Channel 1,” “Channel 2,” etc. Now you can customize those icons to better represent what is streaming on each audio channel, making it easier for guests to find what they want to listen to.

For example, if you’re streaming audio from TVs playing CNN, ESPN and Comedy Central, you can upload the respective logos for each channel. 

Add Custom Splash Page

Display a custom banner or video before the app opens. Use this page to reinforce your brand message or promote events, deals or specials that are currently happening at your establishment.

Link to Your Website

To drive traffic to your business or organization’s website, you can now add a hyperlink under the hamburger menu dropdown, found in the top left corner of the app. 

Link to a Custom PDF Document 

Add a hyperlink to a PDF document under the hamburger menu dropdown, found in the top left corner of the app. You can use this PDF link in numerous ways:

  • Share important business information, such as event programs, fitness class schedules or menus. 
  • Announce specials, discounts, upcoming events or other promotions. 
  • Add a custom message or any other content that you’d like to share. 

All of these customizations are available through The Doghouse configuration management portal, which every customer has access to at no additional cost or monthly fees!

If you have any questions about customizing the AudioFetch app or using it to engage with your customers, we’re happy to help! Drop us a line, chat with us, or call us at 1-844-443-3824.

*Note: App customizations are only available for AudioFetch Signature Series products and AudioFetch Express. 

AudioFetch Blog Header - Coworking Spaces

How Coworking Spaces Can Take Advantage of Local Audio Over WiFi Streaming

By | Business, Coworking Spaces, Education, General, Hearing Assistance | No Comments

We’re constantly coming up with new and clever ways that businesses can benefit from our local audio over WiFi streaming solutions. Silent discos can use it to provide clandestine music to dancers. Real estate agents can use it to broadcast house details curbside to curious homebuyers driving by. Microbreweries can use it to provide information during tours of their brewing facilities (we are in Colorado, after all!). The products and their application are so versatile, the possibilities are nearly endless! 

Coworking spaces are one niche industry that has really sparked some ideas recently. The coworking industry has grown significantly in recent years. Freelancers, large corporations, and everyone in between are enjoying the flexibility, affordability, and other benefits of working in a shared office space. 

This focus on collaboration, innovation, and versatility really aligns with our ethos at AudioFetch, and we’re thrilled to be working with coworking spaces like EVO3 Workspace in Summit County, Colorado to provide additional benefits for their resident businesses and guests. 

Following are a few useful, unique and fun ways that coworking spaces can take advantage of local audio over WiFi streaming:

Provide Accessibility at Events

Coworking spots frequently host events, such as expert speaker series, coding workshops, maker fairs, and other things that help to promote and educate their members and the local community. These events can draw diverse crowds, with diverse audio and visual needs. 

AudioFetch provides hearing assistance capabilities without requiring the installation of an inductive hearing loop, or any separate hearing assistance devices. Listeners simply download the free AudioFetch app on their smartphone, and tune in to the live presentation. 

Provide Translation Services at Event

Within the diverse crowds that events draw, there may be some folks that would benefit from listening in a different language. This is especially important for educational events or training workshops. UNESCO research indicates that people learn best in their native tongues. 

AudioFetch solutions can be used to broadcast a live translation stream for anyone that needs it. You simply need someone available to translate the speaker or instructor’s message into the right language for your audience. Listeners then just launch the AudioFetch app on their smartphone, and select the channel with the translation feed. 

Allow Passive Listening of Events in Offices

Coworking members are often growing startups and zealous freelancers, eager to absorb as much knowledge and experience as possible, and limited only by hours in a day and days in a week. The members want to attend every event and workshop hosted by the coworking space, but they need to be at their desks working against deadlines and objectives.   

AudioFetch lets them have the best of both worlds! Members can tune in to the presentation or class that’s happening in the common area or conference room, while still heads-down at their computer working away in their office. It’s every founder’s dream–the ability to be in two places at once! (Now, if only that was possible for catching up on sleep and exercise!)

Curate Music Streaming Channels

Piping in a single music station or playlist throughout the entire coworking space is not ideal. It’s too loud. It’s too quiet. It doesn’t set the right tone. I hate that artist. With such a diverse membership base, there’s no doubt there will be opinions on the music selection. 

Rather than broadcasting a single music station for everyone to hear, AudioFetch can be used to provide options and eliminate distractions. You can create a custom channel for different music genres to appeal to various musical tastes. You could even allow members to play “DJ” for a week at a time, perhaps hosting a contest or raffle to bestow this honor each week. 

Curate Podcast Streaming Channels

In addition to designating select channels for music, you could also use a few channels to stream relevant podcasts throughout the day. Depending on what type of people and businesses make up your membership, you might consider Entrepreneurs on Fire, StartUp Podcast , The Gary Vee Audio Experience, The Growth Show, or So Money

Create a “Founders Podcast” Channel

Some of the biggest draws of coworking spaces are collaboration and networking opportunities. Let’s imagine that one of the members sells dog treats from spent grain from a local brewery down the street. They need some help updating their website and driving sales. There’s a freelance web developer two offices down, and a digital marketing firm two rows over. These folks could all be working together to make some doggos and the environment a little bit happier and healthier, they just need to know the others exist! 

A unique value-add for your members could be a “Founder’s Podcast” show. This podcast would allow each member to provide an overview of their business and service/product offering, any updates or announcements, and requests for help or current challenges they’re solving for. The recordings from each of the members would then be combined and played continuously for all members to hear, providing a unique way for members to promote their business and for all members to learn about and connect with others. 

Create a Unique Tour Experience

Providing a tour of the facility for prospective members is a key step in the sales process. Members need to see and experience the basic features–offices, desk spaces, conference rooms, kitchen, amenities, training centers, office supply, etc. But these things are table stakes–every coworking space has them. 

To set your space apart from others, showcase how you embrace and support innovation during the initial visit and tour. Utilizing AudioFetch’s advanced wireless tour guide technology, potential members can explore the coworking space while listening to details via the AudioFetch app. This also creates efficiencies for your reception or office management staff. Rather than being pulled away from their duties every time someone needs a tour, they can simply alert visitors to the app and resume their work.

Coworking spaces are just one of many, many applications for the AudioFetch local audio streaming solutions. If you have a unique application you’d like to chat about or have ideas for utilizing AudioFetch in creative ways, we’d love to discuss with you! Give us a buzz at 1-877-564-8845 or drop a line today!

duy pham 704498 unsplash scaled - AudioFetch Audio Over WiFi

Building Community Through Hearing Assistance

By | Hearing Assistance | No Comments

A new study at Cigna reveals that loneliness is at epic proportions in the United States. The UCLA Loneliness Scale indicated that nearly half of all Americans feel alone; older adults with hearing loss feel isolated, but Gen Z is the loneliest of all. The article suggests that getting enough sleep and exercise can help combat loneliness.

The best way of dealing with loneliness is to have a sense of community. Learning, work, and friendship are important aspects of living a full life and not understanding another person’s language or having trouble hearing them creates isolation. Without language translation or hearing assistance, people tend to congregate in their own groups and this creates exclusion. However, there are many locations for community building already in place: schools, churches, senior centers, sporting events and the workplace, to name a few. The key is to create social and cultural inclusion so that everyone feels welcome and understood.

Beyond addressing loneliness, there are benefits of cultural and language inclusion. It’s been proven that children who are taught in their own language learn faster and make better grades, and companies with inclusive policies have higher earnings.

A sporting event bypasses cultural and language barriers as well as hearing impairments, and sharing a game can bond a group. Audio streaming for bars and restaurants is a great way to include everyone, no matter which team they are rooting for. Not only that, many adults do not wish to admit that they have a hearing impairment as it implies disability, so offering an audio solution that helps groups to bond can make it easier for those with hearing disabilities to feel safe to ask for what they need.

To create stronger community at church and help to overcome language barriers, the congregation can use assisted listening devices for churches to translate the entire sermon into the non-dominant language so that parishioners understand what it’s like to hear in a language that they may not fully understand. Plus, those with hearing impairments can feel more included if they are able to use an audio streaming device with earbuds so that they don’t miss a word of the service no matter what language it’s in.

We hope that you will help to address the issue of loneliness by entering into a community or creating one that will show kindness to others. If you’d like to learn more about how our audio solutions could help, contact us.

AudioFetch Blog Header - API Integration

Why Integrate AudioFetch into Your Smartphone App

By | Fitness Centers, Food for thought, Restaurants, Sports Bars | No Comments

When you’ve invested the time, money and resources to develop a custom app for your business, you want your customers to use it as often as possible! But offering other services at your venue, like wireless audio streaming, require the use of a second app, which can pull guests away from your app, limiting options for continuing to engage them while on premises. So we’ve come up with a great solution for this situation–integrate AudioFetch into your own app via SDK or API!

It’s an extremely simple process, and we’ve put together some instructions with our AudioFetch API & SDK Kit. But if you’re still a little unsure if it’s worth the quick setup, here are the top four reasons you should integrate AudioFetch with your app:

  1. More App Downloads

When guests want to use AudioFetch at your venue, they’ll have to download your app to do so, which they may not have found a reason to do in the past. This increases your downloads and provides ongoing opportunities for you to continue engaging guests.

  1. More Efficient for Customers

Keeping your customers happy should be your number one priority. Because happy customers equal happy profits.

One way to keep them happy is by making their experience as pleasant and simple as possible. When you integrate AudioFetch into your own app, they won’t have to download a new app and learn how to use it (although, AudioFetch couldn’t be simpler to use–just download the free app, open it, connect to wifi, select the channel, and audio streams automatically–even the most technology-challenged figure it out). It’s a simple, seamless experience that will make their visit to your business more enjoyable.

  1. Keep Them Engaged with Your Business

Since your guests will be opening your app on every visit to use AudioFetch, you have a captive audience. Use this opportunity to send promotional messages (e.g., “20% off at the cafe today only”) or alert them to upcoming events (e.g., “Trivia night on Wednesdays with half price drafts”). You can drive supplemental revenue and increase loyalty with this captive audience.

  1. Control Guest’s Experience

Most businesses want to reinforce their brand in every way possible while customers are at their place of business. By integrating AudioFetch into your own app, which has your logo and other branding elements throughout, you are able to fortify your brand and create a stronger, more consistent connection with the customers.

With these important benefits coupled with the ease of integration, there’s no reason not to integrate AudioFetch into your app. Get the simple instructions here and don’t hesitate to contact us at 1-877-661-228 if you have questions.