Planning and installing hearing loops for service points and buildings

What do we do?

• Planning according to the building: where people sit, where the sound comes from, where the cable runs, and what to do about metal in the floor.
• Installation: by G-Sound's installation team, which is trained in the field.
• A check after installation: a check with a measuring instrument and a listening check with a hearing aid in T mode.
• Checking an existing system: when there is already a loop in the place and it is not clear whether it is picked up. Checking an existing system (in Hebrew)
• Portable kits and Auracast: for events, and alongside the loop. A portable system for an event · Auracast for businesses (in Hebrew)

For which places?

• Service counters: a small loop next to the counter, for a one-to-one conversation: reception, a till, a bank, an information point.
• Synagogues and batei midrash: the prayer hall and, as needed, the women's section. A loop for a synagogue or hall
• Lecture halls, events halls and community centres.
• Clinics and offices: waiting areas and meeting rooms.

How it works from the user's side: Hearing loops: what they are, how they work and where they help.

A loop for a service point or counter

At a till, a reception desk, a bank counter or an information point, the customer and the staff member usually talk next to machines, queues and background music. For someone who wears a hearing aid, this conversation is especially hard. A counter loop carries the staff member's voice straight to the customer's hearing aid.

What do the regulations say about a service point?

At a service point, regulation 18(c) of the service accessibility regulations describes a hearing loop “that also includes an external microphone and an option to connect headphones”. In addition, according to the Equal Rights for Persons with Disabilities (Service Accessibility Adjustments) Regulations, 5773-2013:

• An open service point, or a closed one with a partial partition: at least one service point for each type of service given in the place will have such a hearing loop.
• A closed service point with a full partition: at least one in every ten closed service points giving the same service requires a two-way sound system with a microphone and a speaker on both sides of the partition, in addition to a hearing loop.
• Availability: the service is given during all service hours, at least at one service point where a hearing assistance system is installed.
• Exemption: a commercial service that is not a public authority and not a chain, when the area in which the service is given to the public is smaller than 150 square metres.

A sign: regulation 18(g) refers to the symbol and to the instruction “To use the hearing assistance system, switch your hearing aid to T mode” (our English rendering of the Hebrew wording). A full summary: When a hearing assistance system is required (in Hebrew).

What does planning for a service point include?

• Positioning the loop so that the field covers the place where the customer stands or sits, not only the staff side.
• An external microphone close to the staff member, and an option to connect headphones for a customer whose hearing aid has no telecoil, as described in regulation 18(c).
• A place for the sign that can easily be seen from every direction from which people approach the service point.
• A metal counter: according to a loop maker, a metal counter or panel can weaken a counter loop, so the position is planned accordingly.
• A final check: a check with a measuring instrument and a listening check with a hearing aid in T mode, at the point where the customer stands.

Chains and branches

In a chain with several branches, it is worth working from one list: which branches are already equipped, where the system does not work, and where there is no system at all. The installation team works across Israel, so the branches can be coordinated through one contact person. Installation dates are set by appointment.

What the staff at the service point need to know

• Where the amplifier is, and how to check that it is on. At some service points the amplifier is disconnected at the end of the day, and in the morning nobody switches it on.
• Not to move the microphone away from the staff member.
• To explain to every new staff member what the system does and what to tell a customer who asks to use it.
• To keep the sign visible, and not hide it behind a screen or leaflets.

Common mistakes at service points

• The loop is switched off. The amplifier is not plugged in, or it was switched off and not switched on again.
• The microphone is far from the staff member. The loop then carries mainly the noise in the space, not the speech.
• No sign. The customer does not know there is a loop, and does not switch the hearing aid to T mode.
• An unsuitable position. A loop under the counter, while the customer stands a metre away.
• Magnetic interference. Electrical equipment next to the service point can produce a hum in T mode. This is found in a listening check with a hearing aid.
• Nobody checked. The system was installed, and since then nobody has checked whether it is picked up. Checking an existing system (in Hebrew)

Why a hearing aid company?

G-Sound fits hearing aids. So we also know the device side: which models have a telecoil, and how a T program is set up. A good loop helps only when the hearing aids of the worshippers or customers can pick it up. See Hearing aids with a telecoil.

In institutions, such as assisted living and day centres, the loop can be combined with the services we provide on site: Services for institutions.

How do you get started?

1. Call us or write to us on WhatsApp: what place it is, how many service points or people, and whether there is a sound system or an existing loop.
2. We plan the loop according to the building.
3. We install, and at the end there is a check with a measuring instrument and a listening check with a hearing aid in T mode.

Even before you talk to us, you can go through the checklist before installing a loop.

What is important to know?

• Installing a loop is not confirmation that the place complies with the accessibility regulations. What applies to your place is checked with a service accessibility consultant (in Hebrew: morshe negishut ha-sherut) and against the full text of the regulations (Hebrew).
• The loop carries what goes into the microphone. The sound quality also depends on the sound system and on where the microphones are.
• To hear the loop, the user needs a hearing aid with a telecoil and an active T program.

Further reading

Hearing loops: what they are and how they work · Installation for service points, counters and buildings · Loops for synagogues and halls · Checking an existing system (in Hebrew) · When a hearing assistance system is required (in Hebrew) · Auracast for businesses (in Hebrew) · Services for institutions · Hearing aids with a telecoil · Hearing aids in synagogue, lectures and events

Sources

• HLAA — Hearing Loop Technology · checked 03.11.2026
• NIDCD — Assistive Devices for People with Hearing, Voice, Speech, or Language Disorders · checked 03.11.2026
• RNID — Providing a hearing loop in your venue or business · checked 03.11.2026
• Equal Rights for Persons with Disabilities (Service Accessibility Adjustments) Regulations, 5773-2013 (text on Nevo, in Hebrew) · checked 03.11.2026
• Ampetronic — Overspill loop (counter loop) · checked 03.11.2026

English version: 3 November 2026 · Written by the G-Sound editorial team. General information. The scope of work is set according to the building. An installation is not legal advice and is not the opinion of a service accessibility consultant.

More in English

Hearing loopsLoops for synagogues and hallsHearing aids with a telecoilServices for institutionsContact G-Sound