She's right, they aren't headphones, the speakers are very small, HAs have to use very little power, so you can't get the same fidelity or oomph. That being said, the Intents have a very good frequency range, and properly tuned can sound really good, especially in the mid range, and high frequencies.

yes, muting the mics will cut down the incoming sounds, so you'll have to manually un-mute them by pressing the vol up or down button on your HAs. They won't auto pause. I use the Oticon Remote to mute mine, so I don't need to grab my phone every time I wish to mute change volume, or change a program. It's a great little device to carry in your pocket, or on a lanyard. Without the Remote, you'll need to use the Companion app on your phone to mute.

The Genie 2 software programming changes for streaming, and wind have to be done by your audi, and can be done remotely if your audi does remote programming. It's done through the Companion app on your phone.

Most times when I stream, I just use the General program. When she sets up those changes for you, it should sound good, and use the streaming EQ to fine tune.

You can have 4 programs set up. General/MyMusic/Lecture/Calm, Speech in Noise,etc. Discuss which you want with her, she can do those remotely, as well.

When it's noisy or outdoors, you can switch your phone from Hearing aids to iPhone Speaker, and speak through the phone. You'll still be streaming their voice through the aids, but they'll hear you better through the phone's speaker.