CapTel phones have a variety of options you can change to suit your specific needs and preferences.
Hearing loss doesn’t impact everyone in the same way: everyone has different experiences and unique preferences. CapTel captioned telephones for hearing loss are designed to allow the user to customize their phone settings to suit their individual hearing needs.
In this guide, we’ll explore some of the personalization features you can use to make your CapTel phone customized for your use.
Let’s take a look at how to:
- Test & adjust tone/frequency
- Change caption size & color
- Set up dialing-by-picture (CapTel 2400i only)
- Manage the answering machine
- Screen unwanted calls
Read below to learn about personalizing a CapTel captioned phone for hearing loss!
Test & adjust tone/frequency
All CapTel models have tone control options to help you hear at the best sound frequency level for your needs. To make it easy, all you have to do is toggle the Tone button on your keypad (or in the Settings menu for the 2400i) to choose between three frequencies:
- Choose Low if it’s easier for you to hear deep voices
- Choose High if you have an easier time hearing high-pitched noises
- Choose Medium (the default setting) if you hear best in the middle of those ranges
If you have the 2400i model, you have even more control! Follow along with these instructions to test how the different tones will sound and customize the frequency to your exact needs. If you have access to your personal audiogram data, you can even adjust the custom tone setting to match it. As you make changes, you can play test sounds to see what sounds better to you.
Change caption size & color
Captions are the most important feature of a captioned phone for hearing loss. That’s why you should be able to customize the captions to look just how you want, so they’re easy for you to read! All CapTel models come with the ability to change caption size and color. Plus, the CapTel 880i model kicks things up a notch with an extra-large display screen and font size options.
If you want to change the font size on the CapTel 2400i model, all you have to do is hit the plus and minus buttons on your touchscreen during a call.
For the other models, follow these steps:
- Prior to making a call, press the YES button on your device to access the Options menu.
- Select “Settings,” highlight “Display Settings,” and press YES.
- Look for the “Conversation Font Size” option and press the YES button to choose it.
- Use the UP and DOWN arrow keys to navigate and select the desired font size.
- Press the YES button to accept the new font size.
- To exit the Options menu, press the NO button.
Consult your user manual to learn about changing your font color and style as well.
Set up dialing-by-picture (2400i only)
If you have the CapTel 2400i model, you can add photos to your contacts list! Once dial-by-picture is set up, all you do is tap the person’s picture on your touchscreen to make a call.
Follow these steps to add pictures to your contacts list:
- Using a web browser on your computer, access CapTel’s MyContacts website.
- Click the button to create a new contacts list.
- Click “Add Contact” and type in their name and phone number.
- Then, click the box that says “Add Photo.” Browse your computer files to locate the photo you want to add and select it.
- Crop the photo to fit in the box that appears.
- When you’re ready, click “Sync Contacts” to save the information to your CapTel phone. You’ll need to put in your phone’s Electronic Serial Number (ESN), which you can find by touching Contacts > Sync on your phone’s touchscreen.
- Tap Accept on your phone’s touchscreen to sync your contact information from the computer to your phone.
Once this process is complete, you’ll be able to see your new contacts and their photos right from your phone! If you’d prefer a video tutorial, you can view one on YouTube here.
Manage the answering machine
Want to customize how many times your phone rings before the answering machine picks up? You can choose any number of rings between three and 20. Find the instructions for your CapTel 2400i model here and instructions for the 840i and 880i models here.
After you customize your ring frequency, have someone make a test call to make sure the CapTel answering machine takes their message. If it doesn’t, it could mean your phone service has a built-in voicemail feature that picks up before the CapTel machine can. Consider adjusting your ring count to pick up before the voicemail service. You can also contact your telephone company directly to find out how to turn off the voicemail service on your line.
Screen unwanted calls
Spam calls and robocalls can be really annoying! If you want to make sure you’re only answering calls from people you know, CapTel phones make that easy. On each model, the screen will display the phone number or name (if saved), so you can pick up the call if you recognize it. You don’t have to do anything special to set this up other than adding people to your contacts so you can see their names when they call.
If you don’t recognize the caller, let it go to the answering machine. If the caller starts leaving a message, you can read along to see what it’s about. Then, if you decide you want to answer after all, just pick up the handset to talk!
You can find all these instructions and more in greater detail in your CapTel phone’s user manual. If you had a friend or family member assist you with initially setting up your captioned phone, they may be willing to help you customize these features as well!
For more help and guidance for using your CapTel captioned phone for hearing loss, visit our Support page for more how-to guides and videos for your specific phone model. If you have a question that isn’t answered in one of our guides, you can also reach out to our support team directly!
