What is sound masking?

Sound masking seeks to “mask” unnecessary sounds with the use of white noise. White noise is sound, or noise, created from all the frequencies in the audible spectrum; it is named after white light which is created from all the colors in the visible spectrum. With today’s technology, white noise is specifically focused on the specifically on the frequency range of human speech.

The first question that comes to mind is how adding noise helps people concentrate better. A great illustration is a flash light in a dark room. Imagine you are in a dark room and someone across the room is randomly blinking a flashlight at you. The flashlight is very distracting and even irritating. But what happens if you turn on the overhead lights? Now you hardly notice the flashlight; the overhead lights have covered, or masked, the smaller light of the flashlight.

Sound masking works on a similar principle. By adding general white noise, similar to the gentle “whooshing” sound of a fan or an AC unit, you hardly notice the distracting sounds around you.

Why use sound masking?

This technology is used all over the U.S. to improve privacy and productivity – at government agencies, medical facilities and standard office buildings. Sound masking has incredible advantages for any office setting, and especially in open floor plans with cubicles. Here are some of the top benefits:

• Less distraction at work: By masking conversations and excess noise, the average worker can be up to 25% more productive with their work hours. Sound masking installed in the entire office space will benefit the entire office.
• Improved privacy and confidentiality: Many office situations need confidentiality – human resources, government services, medical facilities, counseling, and many more. Sound masking significantly improves privacy and confidentiality throughout an entire office. It uses white noise to make human speech unintelligible to those beyond the immediate conversation.
• Decreased stress for workers: Most of us are not aware of the stress we experience from trying to block excess noise around us. Think about trying to write an important email, or work through a complicated problem, all the while there is a noise, maybe a conversation or a horn honking, that is trying to gain your attention.  According to a study by the American Society of Interior Designers (ASID), even a small acoustic treatment can reduce worker stress by more than 25%.

The appropriate use of white noise in a work place, even on an individual scale, can lower stress and increase concentration by masking background conversations and noise. Quality office-wide, sound masking provides effective privacy and confidentiality, while decreasing office distractions.

It can similarly be applied in an office setting. Distractions from coworkers, phone calls, and  unnecessary or extraneous paperwork  could all be examples of ways that urgent things crowd out important things, i.e. actually getting some work done. It can make your workers feel frustrated because they feel like they are constantly busy, but not actually getting much accomplished.  If you, as a manager, can find a way to cut down on some of the urgent things that your employees encounter then you free them up to do the important work.  Not all urgent matters can be cut out–you still have to take phone calls and paperwork still has to be done. However, one way you can cut down on urgent crowding out the important is through the use of sound masking to decrease conversational distraction. According to an American Society of Interior Designers (ASID) study, workers in offices with even small acoustic treatments:

• Were 48% more focused on their work
• 51% less distracted, resulting in
• 10% fewer errors and a
• 27% decrease in worker stress

By using sound masking effectively, you can filter out the urgent things that are taking away from the important task of working and finishing projects. Fight the tyranny of the urgent with sound masking!

Here are some of the things sound masking can’t do.

• Sound masking  does not mean sound cancellation.You will still be able to hear noises, especially loud noises. You will still be able to hear that a nearby conversation is going on, but you probably won’t be able to distinguish what is actually being said.

• Sound masking does not absorb noise. For that you would need special ceiling tiles or acoustic wall panels.
• Sound masking does not block noise. That is done by physical structures, i.e. walls, partitions, windows, etc.
• Sound masking will not make all your employees get along. They may however, get along better, since they (hopefully) will not be interacting as much due to not being so distracted by each other.
• Sound masking will not stop ALL distractions. The internet and cell phones will still exist after your sound masking system has been installed.
• Sound masking will not do your paperwork for you. However, it will make it easier for you to do it, as you will not have as many conversational distractions to keep you from focusing.
• Sound masking will not make your coffee for you. You’re on your own for that one.

What sound masking will do for you

Sound masking is used to cover noise. It “fills in” the sound spectrum around you with barely noticeable “unstructured” noise (“structured” noise would be noiese such as someone speaking or music that have patterns and convey information). Your brain will tune out unstructured noise as it searches for the structured variety. Studies have shown that offices with even small acoustical treatments (i.e. sound masking)

• Were 48% more focused on their work
• 51% less distracted, resulting in
• 10% fewer errors and a
• 27% decrease in worker stress

So while there are some things that sound masking can’t do (like make your coffee) that is a LOT that it can do. What could sound masking do for your company and its employees?

Office Noise- it's a love/hate relationship for most.

Have you ever really listened to all the noise that takes place in your office?

Some of your employees can work through that no problem, like your sales guys, for instance- they were born to multitask, God love ‘em. However, your writers and editors cannot- each clickety-clack, ring, and new conversation distracts them from their detailed work. It’s not their fault- certain types of work require intense concentration.

The above example was actually pretty low-level background noise- you and I both know that most offices can and do escalate more than that. The problem here was that it was inconsistent- it lacked uniformity. Each different, distinct noise presented a new distraction. Surprisingly, though, low-level background noise is not such a bad thing if used correctly. In fact, many workers use white noise to provide a consistent, uniform hum to cover all the little inconsistent, irritating sounds so prevalent in an open office (like above). Similarly, a good number of companies and entities have employed sound masking units to provide uniform coverage for entire offices. The result has been increased productivity and less distracted (read that happier and less stressed) workers.

In one study of 11 surveyed buildings, 80% of workers felt that the noise levels distracted them to the point of not being able to get their work done.  Thus, it comes as no surprise that the average worker is distracted more than 2 hours every day, thus making him a disengaged employee.  A study by the Towers-Perrin Group found a 52% gap in one-year operating income, when comparing companies with highly engaged employees versus companies with disengaged employees. High engagement companies improved 19.2% while low engagement companies declined 32.7% in operating income over the study period.  Furthermore, according to an American Society of Interior Designers (ASID) study, workers in offices with even small acoustic treatments:

• Were 48% more focused on their work
• 51% less distracted, resulting in
• 10% fewer errors and a
• 27% decrease in worker stress

While it’s understandable that office distractions drastically reduce a worker’s ability to concentrate and work attentively, it’s your job to find a way around them.  By implementing sound masking technology, you have the ability to override those noisy distractions in order to enable each worker to realize his or her potential every hour of every day.