The Mishnah (Berakhot 34a) states that when a new shaliach tzibbur replaces one who has erred, he must restart the berakhah that is in progress. A similar ruling appears in Tosafot (46a) where it is stated that when fulfilling birkat hamazon through a zimun, one berakhah may not be split between two people. These statements imply that shomea k’onehis not effective on part of a berakhah. This would be significant, because this is a disputed point.

Rav Soloveitchik (as cited in Eretz HaTzvi, 5:13) explained that in actuality shomea k’oneh is not being addressed in this case. In the context of both chazarat ha-shatz and birkat hamazon through a zimun, the mechanism in place, allowing those present to fulfill their obligations through listening, is not shomea k’oneh. Rather, the concept is that the entire congregation or zimun is offering one united prayer, enunciated by the leader. A distinction must be made between tefilah b’tzibur, prayer with the congregation, and tefilat ha-tzibur, the prayer of the congregation. The former refers to ten or more praying together, each to himself; the latter is the unified prayer of the congregation as one. Thus, while shomea k’oneh indeed may work on a partial berakhah, the prayer of the congregation must be expressed by a single individual.