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Sometimes people with hearing loss just don't appear to be with it. That's not because they're looped - it's because where they are is not looped, and they can't hear.

For the hard of hearing, "looped" means a place with an induction loop system that transmits a silent, electromagnetic signal to the telecoil in their hearing aids. It's a technology widely used in Great Britain and elsewhere in Europe.

Loop technology is now taking hold in America, including here in Albuquerque. At many local places, hard-of-hearing people can hear church services or meeting proceedings - or a TV with the volume turned down low. They can even talk hands-free on their cell phones.

How does a church, business or a TV room at home get looped? Install a sound system that consists of a thin wire strung around the perimeter of an area to send a silent signal to telecoil-equipped hearing aids.

The wire can be placed under the baseboard, under carpet, in the attic or in the basement, encircling the room. The wire is connected to an amplifier and microphone, a TV set or some other electronic sound source. The sound is turned into a silent signal and sent through the loop, resulting in a magnetic energy field that is detected and amplified by the telecoil circuit common to most hearing aids and cochlear implants - or to special headsets for people without telecoils in their hearing devices.

Because the telecoil is only picking up the signal coming from the amplifier and through the loop intelligibility of the spoken word is greatly enhanced, and background noise is almost eliminated. While going through the circuitry of digital hearing aids or cochlear implants, the sound is also being adjusted to an individual's particular hearing loss.

Prompted by the Hearing Loss Association of Albuquerque, induction-loop systems have been installed in a number of Albuquerque churches, and several more are investigating loops.

Another version of the technology, neck loops, is in use at Popejoy Hall and the Journal Theater at the Hispanic Cultural Center. There, you can borrow a neck loop that picks up the signal from another technology - infrared - and converts it to an electromagnetic signal emitted by a thin wire loop worn around the neck. Again, the telecoil in hearing aids and implants picks up this signal, adjusts it to the wearer's hearing loss and transmits it as sound.

Neck loops, with a microphone added, are available to plug into cell phones to make them hands-free and transmit the incoming caller's voice to both ears. That neck loop, when plugged into the earphone jack of a TV set in the home, transmits the sound from the broadcast to the hearing aids, while allowing the volume of the TV's speakers to be low enough that others are not driven from the room.

Some members of the Hearing Loss Association of Albuquerque have looped their entire living rooms or even their whole homes. Others loop the area under the chair they use for watching TV, and some have even looped their cars.

Loop systems are relatively inexpensive to purchase and install and require little or no maintenance. If you're at all handy, you can install a home system yourself.

A local devices retailer - Sally Schwartz at the ADA Depot - 238-0210 or handlinks@yahoo.com - carries various types of loop equipment. The equipment is also available from such catalog retailers as Harris Communications - 1-800-825-6758 or www.harriscomm.com - or Weitbrecht Communications - 1-800-233-9130 or www.weitbrecht.com. Wireless Hearing Solutions of Santa Rosa, Calif. - 707-539-3897 or info@wirelesshearingsolutions.com - will provide information on its loop systems to the public, but they must be purchased through participating hearing-care providers.

The Hearing Loss Association of Albuquerque began a "Loop New Mexico" initiative hoping to raise awareness of audio loop technology among religious leaders, government decision-makers and others.

In England, almost all public facilities are looped, including train stations, airports and other places where it is important for people to hear announcements or proceedings, and they have signage to alert the hard of hearing to the presence of loops.

Readers of this piece - whether hard of hearing, close to someone who is or just concerned - can help in this effort. Tell your church leaders you want the church to get looped. Tell the mayor you want community and senior centers looped. Tell your city councilor to loop the council chamber. Tell your state senator and governor you want the Roundhouse looped.

Join the effort to Loop New Mexico.

For more information on the effort, on looping or on the Hearing Loss Association, visit the association's Web site at hlaabq.com; e-mail us at hlaabqjuno.com; phone 505-881-8824; or write the association at O.O. Box 36792, Albuquerque, N.M. 87176.

Frazier is vice president for the Hearing Loss Association of Albuquerque.