Open work spaces come with many distractions: conversations amongco-workers, phones ringing, printers, even outdoor noises.
Our ability to perform at top level is directly tied to our ability to focus and distractions take our focus from our work and direct it elsewhere. In addition to productivity concerns there may also be confidentially issues.
Think in terms of the ABCs of sound when dealing with these acoustic-related issues:
A = Absorption
Sound waves are absorbed into the carpet, soft cubical wall or the acoustical ceiling tile. This is your first line of defense against distracting work place noises.
B = Block
Just as the word implies,we’re talking about blocking the sound wave with a wall or a panel to keep it from continuing on its path.
C = Cover
To cover means to overlay a new sound over the existing sound to make it less distracting, even pleasant.
A properly designed, installed and tuned speech privacy system is undetectable because it floods the space with this low level background noise.
There are some things it can’t do, though:
- Sound masking doesn’t take any sound away
- It doesn’t stop echoes
- Sound masking can’t eliminate a loud co-worker’s voice
