With the progression of offices, medical facilities, and other workplaces moving towards a more open work environment with a higher worker density, the lack of privacy and noise distractions increase. In addition, many of these newer floorplans do not offer the simplicity of shutting a door to a private room. Therefore, privacy and even security can be compromised or deferred to spaces away from the work environment itself. With some institutions, the lack of privacy causes a breach of federal laws!

This is where the concept of sound masking helps reduce the distractions and increase privacy. While one might think that making the work space quieter will solve the problem, the actual solution is opposite, to fill the space with sound. The concept is simple. A series of precisely spaced micro speakers arranged in zones in the work environment emits a low level series of sounds similar to the sound of air blowing through an AC vent. The sound is soft enough not to be distracting itself, but high enough to where people a distance away from you do not have clarity of what you are saying. Those next to you hear you just fine. In addition, after the system is in place and running, a person eventually tunes out the sound to where it is not even noticeable, but is noticeable if the system was turned off.

In the medical and healthcare industry, privacy was such a concern that the United States Congress passed a law in 1996 called Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) that regulates the use and disclosure of protected health information (PHI). Areas like reception, nurse stations, patient rooms, and exam rooms often lack privacy, even with closed doors. Sound masking helps a medical facility comply with that law’s requirements as well as give patients the peace to know that their privacy is important.

The sound masking system is scalable to any building, no matter how open or how compartmentalized. This system is appropriate for, but by no means limited to, offices, hospitals, restaurants, design firms, attorney offices, administration buildings, and any facility where bouncing sound and privacy are concerns. Contact us about how we can make your business more private and more productive.