What Exactly Is Sound Masking?
You may have heard people use the term "sound masking," but few people know what it actually means. Sound masking is the technique of using white noise to mask unwanted sounds.
When you think of white noise, you may be imagining the sometimes-intrusive hissing sound of pure white noise blasting next to you. However, good sound masking systems, like VoiceArrest, produce an effective, almost "invisible" noise that is specifically focused on a small portion of sound spectrum. This focus creates a gentle sound similar to the “whooshing” of a fan or air conditioner that quickly fades unnoticed into the background. Sound masking helps you tune out distracting noise without itself becoming a distraction.
Effective sound masking also creates "speech privacy" in a workplace, where private conversations remain confidential without being heard by everyone in the area. Speech privacy is achieved by filling in the audible sound spectrum with low-level noise, so that even nearby speech or conversations cannot be understood.
An important note: sound masking is not the same as noise cancellation. Most noise cancellation technology can only be cost-effective when applied to small devices like headphones or microphones. True noise cancellation for office spaces is not currently available except in military-grade installations where the importance level of the conversations outweighs any budgetary constraints.
What Can Sound Masking Do For Your Office?
Did you know that the average worker loses up to two hours each day because of interruptions? If you want to increase the office productivity, try decreasing the conversational distractions in the area by using sound masking. It is one of the most cost-effective tools available. Here are some examples of how sound masking can help:
 Example 1: Consider an open cubicle office space where many workers struggle to maintain focus because of noise. More and more people are bringing headphones to work to cover up the conversations around them. In this example, the VoiceArrest system installed in the open office area would mask the unwanted noise and help cubic workers make the most of their day.
Example 2: In addition to the problem of conversational distractions, perhaps the head of HR has one of those voices that really carries. And like the rest of his department, he frequently discusses confidential topics in his office. Because of the paper-thin walls, these conversations easily and clearly travel between offices and out into the open office area. In this scenario, by adding sound masking to both the enclosed offices and the open areas, these confidential conversations would no longer be overheard. By using different sound settings in each of the two zones, or areas, the noise levels in the closed offices are prevented from building up.
With a good speech privacy system, white noise provides the most effective and least intrusive way to increase the speech privacy levels of your office space, improving confidentiality and concentration for all your employees.
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