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HLAA Meeting
Saturday, June 18, 2016
Char: Okay. Time. Time. Can everyone here me? Can everyone see me?
Okay. Because sometimes the sun comes in and it is hard to see. So let's,
we are going to wait. Let's get everybody to sit down.
We are going to have a really interesting meeting. I hope we didn't scare
people away because we said it was going to be warm because it is nice.
Isn't it? Not bad at all.
Because we are going to get going because Tom Kaufmann and his assistant
Megan is here to just give us an amazing summary of what is happening with
looping. And you are probably wondering, how many if you have experienced
looping, we have had this looped before.
He is so busy, they are so busy, everybody is looping. So he is going to
tell you what is looped lately. What is going on and he has amazing new
technology he is going to talk about. So come on up. Let's give him a hand.
( Applause ).
Tom Kaufmann: Thank you very much. My name is Tom Kaufmann and I am the
founder of Otojoy. And we make ears smile. And I would like to start with a
song so you never forget the name of the company.
(music playing).
Audience Member: Oh, joyful. Joyful.
Tom Kaufmann: That was Beethoven's Ode to Joy.
So we install hearing loops. And we started in Santa Barbara four years
ago. Most of them are in the Santa Barbara area. We have done in the Los
Angeles area and some in San Francisco Bay area. And we are now tapping into
San Diego. We installed a system in a Catholic church. And at the city
council chambers here in San Diego at the civic center yesterday. We still
have a couple of things to finish up there because of the wiring. And we
have some challenges there. But it will be resolved in the next couple of
months. And then you can all use the hearing loops for the council meetings.
Yesterday we had a meeting with the Balboa Theater. And they are ready to
move forward with us. If they are happy with the installation, they will do
one for the civic center.
And last night, on top of the symphony towers, they are considering it.
And the director of the university club wants to introduce me to the director
of the symphony, to loop the symphony. So lots of things are happening. And
if you guys would like to see more loops in the San Diego area, come and talk
to us, and let us know where you would like to see them and we can help you
make that happen.
The overall goal of my company is to make hearing more accessible and more
affordable. A lot of people can't hear because they can't afford it. And
one step in that direction is having more hearing loops in buildings so that
you don't need highest level of hearing aids but you can get away with a
basic model that has a T-coil. And then you don't have to spend $6000 on
hearing aids.
Another step is a product that I invented. And that is called loop buds.
And that is earphones with a T-coil in the cable. Take them and plug them
into your iPhone and download an app and you can listen to a hearing loop
without a hearing aid. And this product is going to sell for $70 anybody who
has an iPhone can use it. We were hoping to make it work with android too,
but it has software problems. So we decided to only go with iPhone for now
until Google fixes the android operating system to make that possible.
So this product is available on loop buds.com and the app is on the app
store and you can use it at any venue that has a hearing loop.
And you can download loop finder and it is a yelp for hearing loops. You
can see all of the loops in the area and you can say whether the loop was
working well or not, and we can follow up with the venues and make sure that
we fix the ones that are not working well.
And this is a project that we are doing in partnership with HLAA
international. And in addition to that we want to make sure that all of you
have activated T-coil in your hearing devices. And we need to educate
hearing aid dispensers and audiologists. And in Santa Barbara, they have
hearing aid loops in their offices. They can demonstrate this to their
customers.
You know the benefit of a T-coil in the device. And hearing aid dispensers
and audiologists in Santa Barbara tell us they can't sell a device without a
T-coil anymore. Because everybody expects it. All of the performing arts
and lecture halls at universities and we are moving across the field. And we
want to make the same thing happen down here in San Diego.
And in terms was affordability, we want to make other components more
affordable. And one of them is hearing aid batteries. Who has not gotten a
pack of hearing batteries from us yet?
Audience Member: I don't have hearing aid.
Tom Kaufmann: So we just gave you free batteries for hearing aids. We are
creating a new model. That is a hearing aid battery club. You sign up and
you pay $5 a month and we send you two packs of batteries to your door every
month. And we are going to start that next week. So you are going to hear
about that. And we are also coming out with our own line of hearing aids in
the next few months probably before the end of the year. And there is going
to be a larger model looking like this. And there is going to be a smaller
model looking like this. And they are going to be $1200, $1800 a pair
respectively.
And on top of that, we are going to be offering a financing option where
you can get them on a loan for $60.90 a month. No qualification needed. We
want everybody to have access on hearing. We don't want people to miss out
on sound because they can't afford it or because they don't have a social
security number. We need to fix that.
What else do we have? We have the home loops right here. They come from
Sweden. And they are our premium partner. This is a new model. And you
look at this image on the side, and you see there are no controls on there.
This loop works completely automatic. You just plug it in and set it up once
and it works. And you see a blue light under the unit and you know it is
working. Simple as that.
And this is the unit we are putting into peoples's offices. And the price
point on that unit is going to be somewhere between $250, $350. We are going
to have on the website next week.
Char: So if there is no wires?
Tom Kaufmann: There are wires. A wire around the room or a chair pad.
But there is no controls on the unit. So you don't need to make adjustments.
Char: So you can plug it into your TV?
Tom Kaufmann: Yes. And you have the chair pads on a cushion.
Char: How about your iPhone.
Tom Kaufmann: You can connect your iPhone with a 3.5-millimeter cable.
And then we also have a neck loop that Bluetooth connects to your cell phone
so it doesn't drain your hearing aid batteries. It has a good microphone in
there too. So you don't have to hold your phone up.
So we have a number of products. And on our online store, the product that
we list will be few, but every product that you purchase from us will be
excellent quality and will work.
Audience Member: Do you have your website?
Tom Kaufmann: It is the Otojoy.com. And the online store is going to be
at Otojoyshop.com.
Audience Member: How is it different than TV ears?
Tom Kaufmann: The difference is that you have a stand alone device. You
put the ear buds into the ears. But with the loop, we are using your hearing
aids. You press a button on your hearing aid, and you are tuned into your
TV sound. And then if you have a setting where you can use a microphone and
a T-coil at the same time you can still talk to your other family members
while you are listening to the TV. And they don't hear it.
And one more product is called the bean. And it is a little piece amp. It
is an over the counter hearing aid. And they are going to be $300 a units.
And it has a microphone setting and a T-coil setting. So you can have a
hearing aid, and you want to use a hearing loop and you don't have a
SmartPhone, this product and it sits in your ear and that is all it takes.
And it has a size ten battery and you are good to go.
And then if you don't want to hear, if you want it quiet, we have ear plugs
as well. And they don't muffle the sound, they just turn down the volume and
you can listen to music and go to a concert without damaging your ears. We
want to make sure that people in our generation don't end up with hearing
aids. So we want to cover the whole spectrum.
Audience Member: For that bean, how hard is it to put in a battery?
Because that is where my mother-in-law has trouble. She has trouble putting
in the battery.
Tom Kaufmann: So putting in the battery is something that I struggle with
sometimes and I don't have dexterity issues. We are working with a company
out of Camarillo called Z Power and they are working on rechargeable
batteries for hearing aids. So they can modify your existing hearing aid and
put a battery in and they have a cradle that you put them into and recharge
them overnight.
And we are going to have that integrated into our devices as well. And
there is also a device that we are going to be coming out with towards the
end of this year which is an in the canal hearing aid, a custom fit hearing
aid and it will be rechargeable. So there will be a box you close the
hearing aid in it and you close the door and the next morning you will have a
full charge again. And that is a product that I can see in pretty much every
retirement facility. Because most of these people have custom hearing aids
and they don't want to fiddle with the battery. And now you have a
rechargeable battery for that. All of this is happening this year.
Audience Member: How will they work with the implants?
Tom Kaufmann: So Cochlear implant you usually have a T-coil as well so you
usually tap into the hearing loop. Which product are you asking about? What
is question the hearing loop?
Tom Kaufmann: So essentially all Cochlear implants have a T-coil and you
can tap into the hearing loop.
Audience Member: Okay. Thank you.
Char: So some of you have Cochlear implants and may not have the telecoil
activated. You get so many programs and depending on what your audiologists
has discussed with you, if you don't have a telecoil, you have to ask her to
make one of the programs to be telecoil.
Tom Kaufmann: I just saw that I have another product that I haven't shown
you yet which is this one right here. And this is an iBeacon. And it is a
Bluetooth unit that we are including with all of our hearing loop
integrations. And if you have the loop finder app and you walk into a
building that has a hearing loop, you get an alert. And you can set it up in
a way for example if you are within 500 feet of a building that has a hearing
loop, you can get a notification. Hey, the Balboa theater now has a hearing
loop. So this is something that we are rolling out in the next few months as
well. So lots of exciting news around here.
( Applause ).
Char: And then did you talk about if you don't have a hearing aid, you can
wear --
Tom Kaufmann: If you don't have a hearing aid, you can get the little
bean -- the personal sound amplifier or you can get the loop buds with your
smart phones. So all venues have these stand alone receivers with headphones
that you can borrow. And then most people don't want to wear the bulky
earphones, so with this you have a discrete product and you carry around with
you. You use it to listen to music on your phone and to make phone calls.
And so this is basically, your solution for everything and it also comes with
a nice carrying case so you can put it in your purse.
Char: Awesome. Tom and Meg need to catch a plane. We are so happy you
turned up. And I am amazed what you have done.
Tom Kaufmann: We have been busy.
Char: Hearing aids and everything. So how many people are in your
company.
Tom Kaufmann: We have seven people on staff right now.
Char: So are you contracting with a hearing aid company to make the
hearing aid? How are they different than other hearing aids. Cheaper?
Tom Kaufmann: Well they are cheaper. And the company we are partnering
with is called Hansaton. It is a German company. I was born in Germany. So
this company from Hamburg was recently bought by Sonova which is a holding
that has Phonak, Unitron, Advanced Bionic and Connect Hearing. And now they
have this product. And even though this is still in the same holding, they
are competing against Phonak and Unitron. And they see potential in
partnerships with us. And they thinker this is a great idea. And we will be
selling those hearing aids through existing audiologists and hearing aid
dispensers.
And we think that the face to face interaction is important and critical.
And you need to get a proper hearing test.
Char: I think I am going to go invest in some stock with this company when
you go public.
Tom Kaufmann: We are not going to go public. I'm sorry.
Char: Famous last words. Questions? Then we have to move on. They have
to catch a plane.
Audience Member: Okay. You said it is about $1800 for the pair. But does
that include ( Inaudible ) and just check it for, because from what I gather,
that is the reason why most of the hearing aids are so expensive is because
of the services that the audiologists provides.
Tom Kaufmann: That is a very good question. So the reason the hearing
aids are so expensive today is primarily because of the service that is
included.
Okay. So the reason hearing aids are so expensive is because of the
services that bundled with the hearing aids. And your audiologists says we
are going to give you four years of service and you come in at any time for
adjustments. But how many times do people come in for an adjustments. So
what consumers have been asking for is an unbundling of the product and the
service. And so the model we are going to pursue is that you purchase the
device with the hearing tests and the comprehensive explanation and you buy
the product. You have a follow-up visit 30 days later. If you want to make
adjustments and see how you are doing with it and maybe another follow-up
visit two weeks later. And that is it. And if you want to come in for
adjustments you pay for the additional visits. And that is where we get the
cost down. You don't pay for services you may or may not use.
Audience Member: Will your product be available through Costco.
Tom Kaufmann: I don't know that yet. Getting a contract with Costco is a
big endeavor. But I think we will have our own retail stores eventually.
Char: Okay. We are going to let you run.
Tom Kaufmann: Okay. Off to San Francisco. Thank you very much. Have a
wonderful weekend.
And who does not have a hearing aid? I know you don't have one. We have
two people without hearing aids. Anybody else? We are going to leave you
those four sets of loop buds right here for people who don't have hearing
aids and you can use them and try them out.
Char: With a loop.
Larry: Okay. So we are going to move on to technology presentations. We
have got a couple of people who have fairly extensive presentations and then
anybody else who has something they would like to show us. We would like to
hear your input as well.