Interview with Tim Deshler Officer with National Association of Special Equipment Distributors (NASED)
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AO/Beck: Hi Tim, it's nice to finally catch up with you.
Deshler: Hi Doug, thanks for inviting me.
AO/Beck: My pleasure. Please tell me a little about your family business before we get into the NASED issues.
Deshler: Sure. Tele-Acoustics was started by my father back in 1970. My father became the first person in the state of Florida to provide on-site calibration services. He worked in labs, clinics, hospitals, whatever. I was brought into the business by my father and essentially learned the ropes
from him. I have a two year degree from a community college in electronics and worked in the family business for the last 25 years.
AO/Beck:Where is Tele-Acoustics located and how many employees do you have?
Deshler: We're here in Titusville, Florida, just down the road from the Kennedy Space Center and we currently have 12 employees.
AO/Beck: Very good. Tim, tell me about NASED please?
Deshler: NASED stands for the National Association of Special Equipment Distributors. We formed the group about 5 or 6 years ago. It was our goal to form an association to establish the highest level of standards for calibration. We wanted to make the consumers of our services aware of the standards to help assure the highest possible quality for the professionals and the public. As an association, we also wanted to establish our presence well enough so that customers looked for the NASED logo for their calibration needs.
AO/Beck: Tim, I am hopelessly lost already. What do you mean by 'minimal standards for calibration?' I am thinking along the lines of ANSI, ASA, ISO - is that what we're talking about?
Deshler: Yes, pretty much. The current ANSI standards are the 1996 standards for audiometers. But also, there are different grades of
equipment on the market which can be used for calibration, and we strive to promote the highest grade equipment. For example, the most precise equipment
is 'type one' equipment, which is traceable and again, those are the most accurate measuring devices available commercially.
AO/Beck: What do you mean by 'traceable?'
Deshler: Traceable, in this context, means traceable through the National Bureau of Standards. ANSI says that you must have the type one
equipment to provide precision calibration.
AO/Beck: Tim, when must you provide precision calibration and when must you provide standard calibration?
Deshler:ANSI dictates audiometer calibration. They specify certain couplers, like artificial mastoids for performing bone conductor calibrations. Maybe the best way to think of this in a clinical setting is an example based on the middle ear analyzer. There are tympanometry screeners and then again, there are middle ear diagnostic machines. There is a level of precision which is very different across the two pieces of equipment. They both measure similar things, but the diagnostic equipment is more precise and more meaningful. The same is true with the type one machine in sound level meters and with audiometer analyzers used for calibration, more precision and a higher degree of accuracy is obtained using type one equipment.
AO/Beck: What things do you actually measure with type one equipment?
Deshler:Type one equipment gives us measures beyond SPL, such as rise and fall time, total harmonic distortion, attenuator linearity and many other measures.
AO/Beck: Do all NASED members have type one equipment?
Deshler: Yes, they all have the equipment and they must have their equipment calibrated annually by the manufacturer, and they must show their
annual tracability certification to gain annual renewal with NASED.
AO/Beck: Tim, how many members do you have in NASED?
Deshler: We have just over 30 members all across the nation.
AO/Beck: How many groups are performing calibration across the nation?
Deshler: I think there are about 45 to 50.
AO/Beck: I read something about your group offering certification at the recent AAA?
What was that about please?
Deshler: Well, we offered our first certification opportunity at AAA in Sanb Diego. The service techs attending the AAA were able to take a written and a practicum test on site, to demonstrate to the chair of the committee that they were able to calibrate the equipment properly.
AO/Beck: What are the goals for NASED?
Deshler: We want to promote NASED as the highest standard for calibration techniques, meeting or exceeding all state and national standards and to set up minimal standards for the technicians doing the work.
AO/Beck: Does any government agency or regulation state that membership or the use of NASED guidelines is mandatory?
Deshler: No, NASED is optional, but we hope to eventually make it mandatory. In other words, we look at it as the 'Good-Housekeeping Seal of
Approval' for calibration personnel and techniques, and we hope to promote it as such.
AO/Beck: How do you go about making it mandatory?
Deshler: We're taking a grass roots level approach. We go county-by-county for now, but we hope to eventually go state-to-state. We have a presence at AAA and at ASHA and we hope to spread the word and demonstrate the need to help promote the organization and to demonstrate the need.
AO/Beck: I can only guess there must be people out there doing calibration who do not have type one equipment and they must be saying that you don't need expensive, type one equipment.
Deshler: That's a good guess, you're right! There are some who disagree with our equipment needs and they use inexpensive calibration equipment which would not meet the letter of the law per ANSI. It's important to understand that NASED does not interpret what ANSI says, we simply follow what they say. ANSI's role is to state the standard and NASED's role is to follow and promote the standard.
AO/Beck: How do you go about getting all the service techs to pull together?
Deshler: It's a little bit of a struggle. NASED is the first and only National Association of Calibration Technicians. Those who have the
equipment and the training are in favor of NASED, those who don't have it, are generally opposed. It'll take time and effort to build a consensus and
we're willing to put in the time and the effort to promote NASED.
AO/Beck: Very good. Tim, for those who want to learn more about NASED and to see who the members are, what is the website address please?
Deshler: We're on the Internet at www.nased.com. Additionally, they can contact me directly at phone number at 1-800-226-3277, or they can use my email address which is tdeshler@mpinet.
AO/Beck: Thanks Tim, I appreciate your time and knowledge and I wish you luck as you push forward NASED.
Deshler: Thank you too Doug. I've visited Audiology Online many times and I think you guys are providing a very valuable service and I'm happy to work with you.
Deshler: Hi Doug, thanks for inviting me.
AO/Beck: My pleasure. Please tell me a little about your family business before we get into the NASED issues.
Deshler: Sure. Tele-Acoustics was started by my father back in 1970. My father became the first person in the state of Florida to provide on-site calibration services. He worked in labs, clinics, hospitals, whatever. I was brought into the business by my father and essentially learned the ropes
from him. I have a two year degree from a community college in electronics and worked in the family business for the last 25 years.
AO/Beck:Where is Tele-Acoustics located and how many employees do you have?
Deshler: We're here in Titusville, Florida, just down the road from the Kennedy Space Center and we currently have 12 employees.
AO/Beck: Very good. Tim, tell me about NASED please?
Deshler: NASED stands for the National Association of Special Equipment Distributors. We formed the group about 5 or 6 years ago. It was our goal to form an association to establish the highest level of standards for calibration. We wanted to make the consumers of our services aware of the standards to help assure the highest possible quality for the professionals and the public. As an association, we also wanted to establish our presence well enough so that customers looked for the NASED logo for their calibration needs.
AO/Beck: Tim, I am hopelessly lost already. What do you mean by 'minimal standards for calibration?' I am thinking along the lines of ANSI, ASA, ISO - is that what we're talking about?
Deshler: Yes, pretty much. The current ANSI standards are the 1996 standards for audiometers. But also, there are different grades of
equipment on the market which can be used for calibration, and we strive to promote the highest grade equipment. For example, the most precise equipment
is 'type one' equipment, which is traceable and again, those are the most accurate measuring devices available commercially.
AO/Beck: What do you mean by 'traceable?'
Deshler: Traceable, in this context, means traceable through the National Bureau of Standards. ANSI says that you must have the type one
equipment to provide precision calibration.
AO/Beck: Tim, when must you provide precision calibration and when must you provide standard calibration?
Deshler:ANSI dictates audiometer calibration. They specify certain couplers, like artificial mastoids for performing bone conductor calibrations. Maybe the best way to think of this in a clinical setting is an example based on the middle ear analyzer. There are tympanometry screeners and then again, there are middle ear diagnostic machines. There is a level of precision which is very different across the two pieces of equipment. They both measure similar things, but the diagnostic equipment is more precise and more meaningful. The same is true with the type one machine in sound level meters and with audiometer analyzers used for calibration, more precision and a higher degree of accuracy is obtained using type one equipment.
AO/Beck: What things do you actually measure with type one equipment?
Deshler:Type one equipment gives us measures beyond SPL, such as rise and fall time, total harmonic distortion, attenuator linearity and many other measures.
AO/Beck: Do all NASED members have type one equipment?
Deshler: Yes, they all have the equipment and they must have their equipment calibrated annually by the manufacturer, and they must show their
annual tracability certification to gain annual renewal with NASED.
AO/Beck: Tim, how many members do you have in NASED?
Deshler: We have just over 30 members all across the nation.
AO/Beck: How many groups are performing calibration across the nation?
Deshler: I think there are about 45 to 50.
AO/Beck: I read something about your group offering certification at the recent AAA?
What was that about please?
Deshler: Well, we offered our first certification opportunity at AAA in Sanb Diego. The service techs attending the AAA were able to take a written and a practicum test on site, to demonstrate to the chair of the committee that they were able to calibrate the equipment properly.
AO/Beck: What are the goals for NASED?
Deshler: We want to promote NASED as the highest standard for calibration techniques, meeting or exceeding all state and national standards and to set up minimal standards for the technicians doing the work.
AO/Beck: Does any government agency or regulation state that membership or the use of NASED guidelines is mandatory?
Deshler: No, NASED is optional, but we hope to eventually make it mandatory. In other words, we look at it as the 'Good-Housekeeping Seal of
Approval' for calibration personnel and techniques, and we hope to promote it as such.
AO/Beck: How do you go about making it mandatory?
Deshler: We're taking a grass roots level approach. We go county-by-county for now, but we hope to eventually go state-to-state. We have a presence at AAA and at ASHA and we hope to spread the word and demonstrate the need to help promote the organization and to demonstrate the need.
AO/Beck: I can only guess there must be people out there doing calibration who do not have type one equipment and they must be saying that you don't need expensive, type one equipment.
Deshler: That's a good guess, you're right! There are some who disagree with our equipment needs and they use inexpensive calibration equipment which would not meet the letter of the law per ANSI. It's important to understand that NASED does not interpret what ANSI says, we simply follow what they say. ANSI's role is to state the standard and NASED's role is to follow and promote the standard.
AO/Beck: How do you go about getting all the service techs to pull together?
Deshler: It's a little bit of a struggle. NASED is the first and only National Association of Calibration Technicians. Those who have the
equipment and the training are in favor of NASED, those who don't have it, are generally opposed. It'll take time and effort to build a consensus and
we're willing to put in the time and the effort to promote NASED.
AO/Beck: Very good. Tim, for those who want to learn more about NASED and to see who the members are, what is the website address please?
Deshler: We're on the Internet at www.nased.com. Additionally, they can contact me directly at phone number at 1-800-226-3277, or they can use my email address which is tdeshler@mpinet.
AO/Beck: Thanks Tim, I appreciate your time and knowledge and I wish you luck as you push forward NASED.
Deshler: Thank you too Doug. I've visited Audiology Online many times and I think you guys are providing a very valuable service and I'm happy to work with you.
