Article
July 2003
UV Technology and Customer SatisfactionBeing
in the hearing aid equipment business, I get asked lots of questions about
techniques for hearing aid modification and repair. Usually the
conversation drifts toward what can be done in the office when a
customer has a problem with their hearing instrument. And of all these
queries, I can sum up the main topic in two precarious letters - UV.
Now I'm not going to bore you with statistics, but I am going to
simplify things a little. UV (ultraviolet) technology has
flat-out changed the way we think about hearing aid repair and
modification. It has taken what used to be time consuming
procedures - only to be attempted by a qualified repair technician, and
turned them into something easily performed in the office - by anyone
willing to try.
How it works
The UV process is really rather simple in theory. It works by introducing
photinitiators into common materials that we already use, such as adhesives,
lacquers, silicones or acrylics. When this mixed (UV) material is exposed
to a UV light source (typically 365nm peak wavelength) the photoinitiators react, causing the material to harden at a
rapid pace. The speed at which the material will harden depends on many
factors, such as light intensity, distance from the light source,
material thickness, and photoinitiator density. The resulting cured
material will have the same hardness as expected, in other words acrylics
and lacquers will be hard, silicones will be soft, etc. UV materials are
widely available, and vary in substance depending on application. We will
discuss specific applications in future articles.
The UV advantage
Imagine one of your newest customers comes into your office with a
complaint. He just bought a pair of hearing aids from you a few days ago. One of them
doesn't fit quite right and seems to be feeding back. Upon your
examination, you feel the canal should be built up a bit. Now I know you
probably have a solution for this already, but what if this could be taken
care of in just a few moments, maybe even seconds? Lets go a step further and say
his other hearing aid came apart (hey, it happens). What if this could
also be taken care of quickly, with little hassle? And what if it also had a hole in the
shell? We seem to be developing a theme here. What if almost any
modification could be done on the spot - with little or not
buffing?
Well, first of all you would be a hero for a few minutes, but most
importantly your customer would have instant gratification. He's going to
tell his family over the dinner table how he went to see you and how
quickly you helped him. He's going to tell his neighbors and friends what
you did for him and how fast you did it, and how he didn't have to
wait for his hearing aid to be fixed at some factory (nobody likes
waiting). And you are going to have the opportunity to help more
people because you can do this for your customers
practically on
demand.
It may sound too good, but if you already use UV in your office you
know what I mean. One UV system can be a versatile solution to a vast
range of issues, and will increase the level of service to your customers.
But maybe the biggest advantage is the short learning curve. UV materials
and light systems are easy to use and require little training. In fact, I
would be willing to bet most people who use this technology have never had
formal training. They just got the equipment and jumped right in, learning
as they did.
Something to think about
Lets go back to your customer who had a problem with the fit of his
hearing aid. He came to you in the first place because he believed you
could help him. He has confidence in you and he perceives (especially in
this day and age) you have the equipment and knowledge to fix his problem.
Now, you could have taken his hearing aid that didn't fit quite
right, made a mark on the canal with a magic marker and sent it back with
a note to
the manufacturer to be modified. But think of the advantage and
opportunity you have of
doing this type of repair yourself, with the patient sitting right in front
of you. You know exactly how much to build-up the shell, and your customer
won't be leaving the office until the fit is right. The repair lab at the
manufacturer will
only be guessing at how much build-up is enough, and if it is wrong you
will need to send it back again. And your customer will be
waiting. |
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Related Links:
UV Equipment
UV Materials
UV Safety Glasses
Have you checked out our Factory
2nds? These are brand new pieces of equipment which have a cosmetic
imperfection or two, but work perfectly fine. Check out our
Factory 2nd page to learn more.
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