Back in your school days, did you ever have to slog through your required reading while there was a party going on at a neighbor’s place? If you did, then you know what it’s like to work distracting surroundings. And it also applies to the office environment. Some studies show that noise levels in an office can result in lower levels of productivity in workers. The Data Entry Management Association has found that bad acoustics in the office can result in up to a 27 percent increase in data entry errors. In recent years, noise levels have gone up in the average office. Cubicles and offices are getting smaller and placed closer together, so that it’s hard to tune out the sound of your colleague making a call, or just tapping on his keyboard. Phones and faxes are everywhere, adding to the din of of the workplace. All this has triggered dramatic improvements in sound masking.
Now, this practice isn’t new. The ancient Romans used indoor fountains in homes to mask the noise outside. You’re probably familiar with this phenomenon yourself: have you tried to have a conversation with someone in another room while you’re in the bathroom with the water running? This, in principle, is how sound masking works. Every noise (a conversation, for example) travels at a certain frequency. The human voice is travels at a high frequency. To make it inaudible, you need another sound to offset it: not necessarily a louder sound (which will just drown it out), but another sound with a low frequency that "cancels out" the other sound at the listener’s ear. Specialists use this principle to apply masking to your office. With a series of speakers usually mounted in the ceiling tiles themselves, a barely-noticeable sound is generated throughout the workplace. This sound is soft and non-distracting, and it will mask much of the noise in a busy work environment.
Not all offices are alike. Sound masking technicians will need to asses how to mask your office noise based on the size and shape of the room, which has an effect on acoustics, and on the usual activity that goes on in the work area, as certain offices are naturally more noisy than others. So try and consult a specialist. There are several companies out there that offer sound masking services. They can help you design your office in such a way as to ensure optimum acoustics, which will lead to greater productivity. They can also set up active masking systems for you, and make sure that your environment can help you work harder and focus better.
Today’s average office has gotten much noisier. Sound masking technology is now available to employers who want to help their workers focus and increase their productivity. With effective masking systems, a soft, unobtrusive low-frequency sound is generated by speakers throughout the office, which reduces much of the noise generated in a workplace. Specialists can also consider factors like the size and shape of the room and the usual office noises that can affect productivity.