The Benefits of Sound Masking: More Productivity, More Privacy
I frequently talk about the benefits of sound masking in general, namely that this practice blocks distractions and provides speech privacy. These are extremely important benefits for open offices, hospitals, government offices, and military bases because workers and staff can be more productive {ie less distracted} and enjoy more confidentiality. It is a well-studies fact that office noise contributes to workers’ levels of stress, error rates, and even levels of absenteeism. These workers are more stressed, more prone to making mistake,s less likely to problem-solve, less likely to make ergonomic adjustments to their work stations, and turn over more quickly than workers in quieter offices. Additionally, loud offices or headquarters or bases are not private. Conversations can be easily overheard, leading to an economic or safety disadvantage. All of this revolves around noise and noise leaks in the work place. That is were sound masking comes in to play. The introduction of low-level white noise into a treated area or several zones allows workers’ conversations and noisiness in general to be covered, or masked, so that fewer people are bothered by it or privy to it. However, what kind of white noise should be used? How loud should it be? Isn’t adding noise to noise counter-productive? Do I need a sound machine or a sound masking system? How can I mask sound without making too much noise? Can I have paging, too?
In the next few posts, I am going to answer these questions with regard to the superior sound masking capabilities of the VoiceArrest System.
White Noise: What Is It & How Does It Work?
First, a quick definition: white noise is a term to describe sound combined from all points on the sound spectrum. The idea is that this range of sound, even at a relatively low volume, is effective in covering unwanted sounds because its very nature of containing so many different sounds doesn’t allow the brain to process or tune into in any one specific sound.
Next, as touched upon briefly, the sound masking system does not need to be cranked up to be effective. In fact, the VoiceArrest System can operate at lower volume levels than competitive systems and still provide effective voice masking and privacy. In practical terms, most masking systems must operate at 48 to 51 decibels of sound in order to provide acceptable privacy for most of the office space. The VoiceArrest™ system, however, is normally operated at 45 decibels under the same conditions. The increased effectiveness of the VoiceArrest™ Sound Masking System provides for equivalent privacy and quieter, background sound. Or if you require even higher levels of privacy than most offices, you can utilize the higher settings without increasing the noise to an intrusive level.
Sound masking systems like the VoiceArrest™ deliver spacial and spectral uniformity of sound, operating at lower levels than competitive systems and still providing effective sound masking and privacy.
