Why should I use sound masking in private offices?
Conversations that require speech privacy usually take place in closed rooms. But air transfer components, poor door seals, gaps between the wall and ceiling, and breaks in the plenum barriers provide clear paths for overhearing these conversations in neighboring offices.
Also, although the level of acoustic comfort experienced by employees in private offices is generally higher than those in cubicles, almost one third still feel workplace noise interferes with their ability to do their job. And many people keep the doors to their offices open. In this case, they can have less noise control than employees occupying cubicles.
Masking typically adds 5 to 12 dBA of ambient volume to private offices and meeting rooms, which is why one sometimes hears that it ‘adds 10 STC points to walls.’
It can be valuable to add a Programmable Keypad to each private office, allowing individuals to adjust the system’s output to suit their personal preferences or current needs. This component can simply offer control over masking volume, or include paging or music channel selection and control of their volume. An administrator can limit the functions provided by each keypad and the range of allowable adjustment. Also, the system can be programmed to restore these settings at a defined time each day.
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