What Is Sound Masking?

Sound masking is based on the phenomenon that when low level background noise is added to an environment, intruding speech and noises are less intelligible. The term "white noise" is widely used when referring to speech privacy or sound masking systems, although these systems don't actually use white noise.

The technology behind sound masking came out of the realization by scientists and engineers that oral privacy is actually a simple matter of making speech unintelligible. That is, if each of us can't understand what the other is saying, we have effectively established oral privacy - even though we may still be able to see and, to some extent, hear each other.

Sound masking "fills in" the sound spectrum around you with barely perceptible low level noise, so that speech is rendered unintelligible. It's actually designed to sound like typical office air conditioning noise, so that you won't notice it. In other words, it's a gentle "whooshing" sound.

An important note: sound masking is not noise cancellation. Be wary of any salesman who blurs the lines between these two technologies. Noise cancellation is not currently available from any manufacturer for use in open office spaces.

What This Means For Your Office

If you want to increase the productivity of your workers by decreasing the conversational distractions in the area, sound masking is the tool that will give you the most bang for the buck. Since you're masking sound, you put the masking system in the area where the noise is heard, rather than the source.

Example 1: Open office workers struggle to maintain focus. That's why you see more and more cubicle workers bringing headphones to work - so they can cover up the conversations around them.

In this example, the VoiceArrest system would be installed in the open office area.

Example 2: In addition to the problem of conversational distractions in Example 1, Bob has a voice that carries. Unfortunately, Bob also is the head of HR, and like Mary and Jim and the rest of his department, he frequently discusses confidential topics in his office. However, because of the paper-thin walls, speech travels freely (and clearly) between offices and out into the open office area, as well. In this scenario, you'd add masking to the enclosed offices, as well as the open areas. Additionally, you'd also use two different zones to keep the sound in the enclosed offices from building up.

This example provides the most effective and the most "invisible" way to increase the speech privacy levels of this hypothetical office space, ensuring uniform sound masking for all your employees.

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Additional Questions

Is sound masking the same as sound cancellation?

Does it always work?