When designers plan office spaces, they tend to expect they will be quiet once they are in use. They do not take into account the noise that will almost certainly ensue. This poses a very difficult problem for the workers who must function in those areas. The constant chattering of one’s colleagues carries through open-plan offices, resulting in disruption, distraction, stress, and loss of both creativity and productivity.

So, how are you supposed to deal with a noisy workplace? Many offices now use sound masking. While this method will not stop noise completely, it helps a great deal by employing verbal privacy. This method has been found to work very well by many companies. Because of the reduced noise, the workers increased their efficiency.

What makes sound masking work? It is in the physics of the situation. Given a subtle background noise in a given room, the other noises or conversations that may be taking place are more difficult to determine from each other. This is called white noise. With white noise you hear the sound but are not able to separate each sound sufficiently to be sure what actually you are hearing.

There are numerous methods of auditory management for sale today. The finest and latest are identified as “direct field” systems and are put into the ceiling of the workplace. An electronic mechanism creates a discreet sound that hinders employee’s ability to hear the private discussions of others.

For individual employees, a white noise machine is another alternative. This device will play a variety of soothing sounds, mainly nature based sounds like waterfalls, rain falling, or jungle animal noises, which can act to mask low level noise in an office. White noise has been shown to be beneficial, as offices that have these devices reportedly have higher productivity levels among their workers.

Any path you should choose to mask office noise will allow you to reap great benefits of lesser acoustic annoyance. You’ll desire employees to work in more harmoniously, to perform more optimally at their tasks and to be less stressed! Minimal investment in masking office noise now will save more money down the road.

It is important to use sound masking in order to increase worker productivity and reduce office stress. While there are several types of sound masking, the best way to mask office noise is to install a “direct field” system into the office ceiling. This way, an unobtrusive sound will be produced that will interfere with the ability of workers to overhear private conversations. Another effective option involves the use of a white noise machine, which will make a variety of relaxing natural sounds to mask harsher sounds found in the workplace. Ultimately, there are many benefits to lowering the level of acoustic annoyance in the office.

There’s a great article in the April edition of Building Operating Management discussing the benefits of demountable walls, especially as the tax code continues to get more green.  I recently visited AmerisourceBergen’s beautiful new Frisco, TX facility, which takes advantage of the aesthetic benefits of such flexible enclosed offices.

One of the traditional downsides of demountable walls has been that of acoustic privacy.  While such walls are usually very attractive and quite utilitarian, they don’t tend to do great at preserving the acoustic privacy of traditional construction.  As such, offices that take advantage of demountable walls are prime candidates for sound masking.

Unfortunately, traditional office sound masking systems aren’t nearly as flexible as the demountable walls.  In the 1960s when sound masking systems were developed, the speaker technology forced a design with the loudspeakers hidden above the suspended ceiling.  This presents some serious difficulties for offices that mix both enclosed and open office configurations.  Sound tends to build up in enclosed offices, bouncing off the walls and typically reaching volume levels far less comfortable than those in the open office areas outside.  This is a largely unavoidable for above-ceiling sound masking systems.

However, with newer direct-field systems, mixed-configuration office sound masking is not not a problem.