Interview with Barbara VanSomeren, VP of Marketing and John Cariola, Director of Product Management, Beltone Electronics

Paul Dybala: Hello everyone, this is Dr. Paul Dybala with Audiology Online. From time to time we like to meet with our corporate partners and get to know more about some of the new technology that they have coming out, as technology is always changing.

Today, I'm visiting with some good folks from Beltone Electronics. I have both Barb VanSomeren, who's the Vice President of Marketing, and John Cariola, who's the Director of Product Management. Thank you two for taking time to visit with me today.

Barbara VanSomeren: Thanks for having us.

John Cariola: Thank you.

Dybala: Now, before we actually get in to the technology, what I typically like to do is let the two of you give a short introduction about who you are and what you do. So if we could start off with Barb; could you give us a little background on yourself?

VanSomeren: Yes. I'm, as you said, the Vice President of Marketing for Beltone. I oversee marketing for our network of Beltone providers, customer care for our organization, and something called commercial business systems, which includes our proprietary web based patient and practice management systems. I've been with Beltone for 11 years, and prior to that I worked in the advertising industry, handling consumer brands such as Coca-Cola, Anheuser Busch and Pizza Hut.

Dybala: Excellent. John, could you tell us a little bit about yourself?

Cariola: I've been with Beltone for over 15 years. I've been an audiologist for about 25 years. At Beltone, as the Director of Product Management, I'm responsible for working with our Research & Development group on new products and what features those products should have. I'm also the liaison between the marketing side of things and the R&D group.

Dybala: Excellent. As I mentioned earlier, we're not only talking about Beltone today, but we're talking about the technology that's coming out. Beltone has recently released a receiver-in-the-ear instrument that has been deemed the industry's smallest receiver-in-the-ear instrument, the Marq. One of the things I wanted to touch on that I was reading about it is that the Marq is a "powerful, out-of-sight, out-of-mind hearing solution;" the literature also mentions that it is both a "visually and acoustically transparent hearing instrument." Just to start, could you explain what is meant by saying it's "visually transparent", and also, "acoustically transparent." I'll just leave it up to the two of you to fight over that question. [laughs]

Cariola: [laughs] Barb pointed to me, so I'll start talking. Visual transparency really has to do with how small the instrument is, and truly, as we've physically measured it, it is the smallest receiver-in-the-ear product in the industry. It's also the lightest of the receiver-in-the-ear products. Since it's so small, it hides well behind the ear of anybody wearing it. We have twelve colors to choose from, if you want to match hair color, or if you want to match skin color, or if you want to just be on the wilder side and express yourself with a different color.

It's designed to ergonomically rest on the ear. We have two points where the instrument touches the ear to make sure it rests securely. The receiver tubing is very thin and holds the wiring that connects the instrument to the receiver. The nice thing about the wiring going through the tubing is that it does give it a little bit of a pinkish hue, which actually helps in matching some of the skin tone colors. The entire purpose of the receiver-in-the-ear is to get the receiver closer to the eardrum to provide more useable gain. The receiver is tucked into the canal so you really don't see that at all. It's visually transparent.

VanSomeren: John alluded to the design of this product and I think it really is an innovation in that, again, it's smallest, lightest, and thinnest of its kind. The colors are a little bit different than what you'll see in the general market. In the general market we've see some bold colors and while we think that's an interesting movement, we've moved in the direction of fine design: matted colors that go with not only hair color, but things that you wear. The colors complement, rather than stand out. The design for this product, like all our products is patient-driven. We looked at what colors patients really want us to provide.

Dybala: I think you make some great points there. People want to express themselves, and it's nice that you are giving them options for that. Still, I remember when I dispensed hearing aids, these devices blending in was an important aspect of satisfaction, too.

Tell us a bit about the fitting range of the Marq and some of the technologies you are using to achieve that.

Cariola: We partner with a vendor for a special receiver that we're using on this product. It has a different frequency response than most other RIE products. It has more mid-frequency gain in the speech range. It does give you the capability of fitting more of a flat loss. We have several options on the domes that are used for handling occlusion. If you needed to fit a flatter loss, you can use a more occluding ear tip, such as the tulip dome or what we call a double-dome.

As the receiver is in the canal, we don't have acoustic resonance issues to deal with as seen with traditional behind the ear hearing aids. There's no acoustic signal going through the tubing so you're getting a pretty good smooth response from the receiver. The receiver is located at the end of the canal and directed straight to the eardrum. In the same manner as a CIC instrument.

Dybala: On top of that this looks like a fully-featured instrument. You've got adaptive directionality, noise-reduction, and all of those great features as well, correct?

Cariola: Right. The Marq 17, which is a 17-channel instrument, has all the features of our latest high-end product circuit, which we call the One. It has adaptive directionality with auto-switching, so if you get into a situation where there's more noise, it will switch from omni to directional. It also has the ability for the audiologist to change the directional microphone beam width depending on the patient's needs. When it changes into directional mode it can be set to a 180-degree, a 120 degree, or a 60-degree beam depending on how much focus you want on the person speaking in front of you.

There are no programming buttons or extra memories on this aid. The fact that it will switch automatically to directional when needed, and will switch back to omni when not needed is therefore an important feature. There are limitations to having a programming button because it is so small, but the Marq 17 takes care of that with the auto switching.

Dybala: Great. There was one last thing I wanted to touch on as far as technology features. I am aware that there is double-receiver protection, double-microphone protection, a locking system, and a double wax guard that are built-in. Could you go into exactly what those features are?

Cariola: Sure. When you start talking about receiver-in-the-ear products, there are still numerous questions about them, even though they're more and more common now. People who are going to fit them are asking, "They're so small, is the receiver more susceptible to damage? Are they going to be durable? Are things going to happen to this?" You want to address those concerns.

One key issue was protecting the delicate electrical components within the ear canal. With this product, because the receiver is in the ear canal, you have some of the same concerns as with a CIC instrument in terms of wax in the canal clogging the receiver. We addressed that aspect by having a double-receiver protection system. The product has a built-in wax guard in the dome, with an additional wax guard on the receiver. The receiver waxguard is called the "HF3." So for any wax to get to that receiver, it actually has to make it through two barriers.

Another issue was to protect the receiver and the tubing as much as possible, because it is kind of sitting out there, vulnerable. We encased it a plastic that is stronger than any plastic we've had, which has been termed "Space Age Plastic." Which is obviously a marketing term. The bottom line is, it's very strong, and the receiver is actually better protected than in a CIC instrument. The material is stronger; it won't discolor. It doesn't harden after wear so it will not have a tendency to break.

We know from history that there have been problems with the receiver tubes potentially pulling out of the base of RIE units. The Marq has a double-locking system to prevent that from happening. First, the receiver tube pushes into a two-pin connector which holds it in place. Then the cover that goes over the microphones to protect them, locks the tube in place. When you put the microphone cover on to the instrument, the pins of the mic cover actually slot into the end of the receiver tube to have additional protection for holding it into the instrument.

The microphone cover helps to keep debris, as well as any kind of perspiration, out of the ports. As an additional protection, an acoustically transparent film covers the microphones to propel away any dirt or moisture that may find its way into the casing from daily wear.

Dybala: I think you could say that this is a well thought-out system, as far as the small details that make a big difference.

Cariola: Right. And I'm prejudiced here, but, in terms of being able to change the colors on this instrument, it is extremely easy. There are three main pieces: the housing, the battery door, and the mic cover. They can all easily be changed, and we feel we've got the best design.

Dybala: What's been the general response from your dispensing network? Have you been conducting some research through them?

VanSomeren: You know, there have been a couple of things. We launched this not too long ago. I've actually been attending some exchange meetings out in the marketplace, and the acceptance of this product is immediate. Patients really love it. We got to thinking about the weight of this product and thought, "This product is so light weight will it remain stable for active patients?"

I was just in Dallas this past week, and we fit the Marq on a cardiologist who wore glasses. He was concerned about the movement of his stethoscope. We put the Marq on him, and he used his stethoscope normally, and he absolutely loved it. There was no dislodging of the instrument. It sat fine on his ear, both with his glasses and use of the stethoscope. He just absolutely loved the product.

We have a whole protocol for obtaining some aided versus unaided measures with the patient. What we're doing is sending out the protocol to our network, and inviting patients to come in. If their loss is such that they can try the product, we have a protocol where we patient feedback on Marq. So that's something we can do as part of the network, which is nice.

Dybala: What's nice about these kinds of aids is that they can be an instant fit device, given the appropriate amount of loss. You have the capability to immediately let the patient sample what the hearing aid would sound like. So often it can be difficult when you're trying to advise someone on getting a custom instrument. I can see some definite advantages all the way around, for the patient, for the audiologist, and in terms of improving patient care. Are you getting that type of feedback from your network?

VanSomeren: Absolutely. Things have not really changed, even though our BTE mix in the industry has changed. Patients still want great cosmetics. And today our BTEs offer wonderful cosmetics, just as discreet as CICs. That was why they these instruments are so popular. Now, you combine that with an instant, open fit. Patients have always wanted to try a product before they buy it.

With high technology costing in the $2,000 range for an instrument, everybody can understand the desire to want to try that product out, and see the value and benefit before purchasing it. So, that's what these instant-fit products allow us to do now.

Dybala: Well that's great. Well, I think we've reached the end of our interview today. I will go ahead and mention that if anyone wants additional information on Beltone Electronics and the Beltone Marq, you can go to www.beltone.com, or you can also check them out on the Audiology Online web channel at www.audiologyonline.com/channels/beltone.asp, where we put together everything we have on Beltone for your information.

Last but not least, John and Barb, thanks for visiting with me today and sharing this information. I really appreciate your time.

VanSomeren: Thanks, Paul.

Cariola: Thank you.

About Beltone

Founded in 1940, Chicago-based Beltone Electronics is part of the GN Hearing Care Group, utilizing advanced technology to produce hearing instruments sold in the United States, Canada and over 40 countries worldwide. In addition to providing outstanding service and support for its U.S. hearing care network operating in over 1,300 offices in North America, Beltone remains the most trusted brand for quality products and care among its patients and adults aged 50 and older.