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Interview with 2003 Jessica Kelley Worldwide Marketing Manager, Starkey Labs, Minneapolis, Minnesota

March 24, 2003
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Editor's Note - Although this is not an article in the traditional sense, this is an interview we recorded recently. I believe this information is extremely important for professionals and the patients they serve in communication disorders and sciences. I hope you find this useful and I 'll look for
Editor's Note - Although this is not an article in the traditional sense, this is an interview we recorded recently. I believe this information is extremely important for professionals and the patients they serve in communication disorders and sciences. I hope you find this useful and I 'll look forward to your comments. Next week, we'll go back to traditional articles! Best Regards, ---Dr. Douglas L. Beck, Editor-In-Chief.


Topic: New FM system - Lexis.

SPO/Beck: Good Morning Jessica. Thanks for joining me today. Before we address the new Lexis system, perhaps you could tell us a little about your professional history and education?

Kelley: Sure Doug. I joined Starkey Laboratories two years ago as worldwide marketing manager. My background is in marketing, business, and finance and I have a Masters' of Business Administration from the University of St. Thomas and a Bachelors' of Science in Business Finance from the University of Minnesota. I have 15 years experience in marketing directly to consumers, all of which was with Fortune 500 companies. Although I'm relatively new to the hearing aid industry, I'm honored to help audiologists and hearing instrument specialists improve their marketing and business strategies while enabling them to continue delivering quality health care to patients.

SPO/Beck: Thanks Jessica. Let's go ahead with the new Lexis system. I understand nine companies have created and are marketing a new FM wireless product including Starkey, Audibel, Bernafon, Micro-Tech, NuEar, Oticon, Omni, Phonic Ear, and Qualitone. Can you please tell us about this joint effort?

Kelley: Yes, nine hearing health care companies have developed and will market the new Lexis wireless communication system. Paired with BTE hearing instruments, Lexis helps overcome listening obstacles such as noise, distance, and reverberation and enables the wearer to better participate in challenging communication activities. As improved speech understanding is our goal, we chose the name "Lexis," from the Greek word for "speech." The development effort involved many people in engineering, audiology, marketing and sales teams in Europe, the USA and Canada. We're very proud of the achievements of this collaboration.

SPO/Beck: Has there ever been a hearing healthcare product introduced simultaneously by nine companies before?

Kelley: To our knowledge, this is a unique collaboration in the history of hearing healthcare.

SPO/Beck: Why did these nine companies come together at this time?

Kelley: As assistive listening device technology moves beyond the classroom, it''s increasingly important to build a common wireless platform for the hearing impaired community. The nine companies that are jointly developing and marketing the Lexis system seek a world in which professionals and hard-of-hearing people enjoy "seamless" operation with hearing instruments and assistive listening devices. Establishing much-needed standardization of frequency bands and channels is also part of this vision. For these reasons, the companies partnered together for development of the Lexis product and future wireless products.

SPO/Beck: Which hearing aids are compatible with the Lexis system?

Kelley: Surprisingly, there are quite a few! The Lexis system is compatible with FM manufacturers operating on the same frequency. The BTE manufacturers that have compatible hearing aids are: Audibel, Argosy, Audifon, Beltone, Bernafon, Danavox, GN Resound, Hansaton, Interton, Micro-Tech, NuEar, Oticon, Phillips, Phonak, Qualitone, Rexton, Siemens, Starkey, Sonic Innovations, Unitron, and Widex.

SPO/Beck: What do you envision are the specific applications for this technology?

Kelley: The benefits of FM technology are enormous. FM systems bring substantial benefits to hearing impaired people in a multitude of applications. The biggest benefit of FM technology is improving speech intelligibility in situations where noise, distance or reverberation is the problem. In a sense, FM brings the speaker's voice directly to the ear. Additionally, the versatility of the Lexis microphone/transmitter also offers listeners' enhanced enjoyment of music, radio, television etc. The applications are almost endless, with typical situations including classrooms, aural rehabilitation therapy, professional meetings, restaurants, sports activities, driving, listening to television or stereo, etc. The microphone and digital signal processing technology used in the Lexis system provide excellent directionality over and above the benefit of FM communication alone. Users with all degrees of hearing impairment can benefit from adding Lexis to their current amplification.

SPO/Beck: Very good. Can you please give me an overview of the Lexis system?

Kelley: The Lexis system consists of a wireless beam-forming microphone array and a small receiver that attaches to a BTE hearing aid. Lexis has many features that make it appropriate for adults and children, at home, at school, at work and at social events.

For example, the superb directionality of the handheld microphone combines 8.5dB AI-DI plus advanced digital signal processing to help enhance speech understanding in noise. In addition, we've produced a very quiet, simple, and flexible receiver design that's easy to fit using standard protocols.

SPO/Beck: Jessica, what is the transmission distance? For example, if the classroom teacher or the speech-language pathologist is speaking into the microphone, how far away can the child be while wearing the FM receiver?

Kelley: Using only the internal antenna, the transmission range is 15 feet. With the external antenna patched in, you can extend the range to 100 ft.

SPO/Beck: Please explain the 4 microphones and the digital beam forming, with particular emphasis on how these features impact directionality?

Kelley: The Lexis transmitter is a digital beam-forming microphone array with a wireless transmitter. Sophisticated digital signal processing enables the 4 directional microphones and 1 omni microphone to filter desired sounds, such as speech, from undesirable sounds, such as background noises. The highly directional microphones with a three mode switch allow the user to maintain possession and control while effectively improving the signal to noise ratio and enhancing speech understanding in noise. In fact, in the Superfocus mode, the Lexis microphone delivers an Articulation Index-Weighted Directivity Index (AI-DI) of 8.5 dB, which is 2.5 dB greater than the nearest competitor.

SPO/Beck: Is the Lexis only available as a ''boot'' or ''snap-on'' component to BTEs or is it available as a ''built-in'' component on specific units?

Kelley: At the product launch, Lexis will be available as a standard system consisting of a transmitter/microphone and a compact ear level FM receiver that is intended to be attached to a hearing instrument via an audio-shoe (using the normalized Euro-plug). The receiver orientation can be changed depending on to which manufacturer's audio shoe it is connected to.

SPO/Beck: What about frequencies and channels? Can you tell me the frequency range of the Lexis?

Kelley: The Lexis will be available in three different frequency bands - 173MHz, 183MHz, and 216MHz - to comply with the regulations of the various countries where the system will be used. Within each frequency band, a number of different channels will be available. For example, in the US, the multi-channel transmitter can be programmed with all of the 17 different channels that will be initially available in the 216MHz band. The transmitter and receiver have to be on the same channel to communicate with each other.

SPO/Beck: So in essence, the users can use the Lexis system worldwide when traveling?

Kelley: A number of countries have set aside the same frequency band, and some of the same channels, for use by wireless hearing devices. It's possible that a user's Lexis system channels are perfectly acceptable for use in a foreign country; however, it's also possible that they are not, and travelers should observe the local regulations. We recommend that travelers check in advance that use of their system's band and channel is permitted in the destination country.

SPO/Beck: I believe the price structure of this product will be pivotally important to gaining market share and perhaps more importantly, increasing the market size! If a customer buys the device through any of the manufacturers, Starkey, Oticon, Bernafon or Phonic Ear etc, will the price be essentially the same?

Kelley: While individual companies set their own retail prices, in reality any difference is likely to be quite small. I believe the manufactured cost will influence wholesale and retail pricing in the same way for all companies.

SPO/Beck: When will the Lexis be available?

Kelley: We will launch the product at AAA and plan to start shipping by mid-May 2003 in North America. Hopefully by mid-summer it will be available in Europe, Asia, and Latin America too.

SPO/Beck: Jessica, can you recommend specific contact people for the readers who would like to get more information on the Lexis?

Kelley: Sure, for more details from the individual companies please contact:

Bernafon, Inc.
+ 1-888-947-4200
www.bernafon.com

Oticon, Inc.
+ 1-800-526-3921
www.oticon.com

Phonic Ear
Johnnie Sexton
jes@phonicear.com
+1 800 227 0735 ext. 280
www.phonicear.com

Starkey
Jason Hombach
jason_hombach@starkey.com
+ 1 800 328 8602
www.starkey.com

Audibel
Jason Hombach
jason_hombach@starkey.com
+ 1 800 328 8602
www.audibel.com

Micro-Tech
Gordon Bye
gbye@mthearing.com
+ 1 800 745 4327
www.hearing-aid.com

NuEar
Jason Hombach
jason_hombach@starkey.com
+ 1 800 328 3897
www.nuear.com

Omni
Zach Hammock
zach_hammock@starkey.com
+ 1 800 527 0872
www.omnihearing.com

Qualitone
Mike Eckert
mike_eckert@qualitonehearing.com
+ 1 800 328 8602
www.qualitonehearing.com

SPO/Beck: Thanks Jessica. As always, it''s a pleasure to spend time with you and I would like to thank you for explaining this new collaborative effort to me.

Kelley: Thank you too, Doug. It's always great to work with you and Audiology Online, and I thank you for your time and for helping get the word out about Lexis!



For more information, please contact the corporations listed above, or contact STARKEY (www.starkey.com)



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