As a business owner, you no doubt care about productivity, and you should! Getting things done is what keeps your business afloat. However, you’re probably also concerned with worker comfort. For one, an uncomfortable team is unproductive, and it’s difficult for your workers to speak positively about your company if their working environment is dreadful.
As a human being, you also care about the welfare and productivity of your employees. You probably want their working environment to be as quiet and distraction-free as possible simply because it cuts down on stress. In today’s trying times, anyway that you, as a business, can minimize employee stress should be investigated!
We’ve talked previously about how sound masking can boost productivity, and now we’re here to explain how it can boost worker comfort.
Let’s dive into how proper sound management and the right sound masking systems can create a working environment where your employees feel at home.
How Sound Masking Works
To understand how sound masking improves employee comfort, you must first understand how sound masking works.
Sound masking is the muffling of distracting vocal noises – outside conversations and the like – via the projection of random sound that is engineered to do so. The sound emitted by devices must be a spectrum that is shaped around the frequencies of human speech and not transmit any audible information to the human ear.
Sound masking makes a space seem quieter by raising the ambient noise level and making speech noise less intelligible and less distracting.
It’s Not the Same as White Noise
Unlike white noise machines, sound management systems that use sound masking are specifically made to only damper human speech, making them useful for environments where a worker might need to hear other sound cues, such as alarms or cell phone notifications, to do their job.
What Is White Noise?
Since white noise differs from sound masking, you might wonder what white noise is. White noise is similar to AM static and is designed to muffle sounds by playing additional sound at a wide spectrum of frequencies. This means that white noise doesn’t specifically target human speech but all noise.
White noise doesn’t necessarily solve the issues of a loud working environment and may cause other distractions.
5 Ways Sound Masking Increases Worker Comfort
Sound masking can do wonders for productivity, as we’ve said, but it also helps ensure your workers’ comfort.
1. Protects Private Conversations
If, for whatever reason, privacy comes into play in your workplace, your employees can rest easy knowing their conversations are protected with sound masking. By stopping sound from being heard from a certain distance away, sound masking helps workers feel confident that confidential information is protected.
2. Provides a Space Where Everyone Can Feel Comfortable
Some people work best without noise, while others need background sounds. By providing an environment with relatively few outside noises, you give all workers the opportunity to do their jobs in a stress-free zone – those who require more noise can simply use headphones.
3. Gives Your Workers Relief After a Potentially Noisy Commute
Whether your workers use public transport or fight with traffic each morning, you, as an employer, can provide them with respite from their commute-related stress as soon as they step into your building.
4. Provides a Better Environment When the Office Isn’t Full
Some offices aren’t fully in-office five days a week yet, and a partially empty office does not mean that the office is quieter. Instead, without the addition of other voices and general office activity, the sound in a partially full office can be louder.
Sound masking can help the environment seem fuller and cause less echo throughout the space.
5. Reduces Overall Noise
Sound masking can help reduce the overall noise level affecting office workers. Instead of having to speak loudly to converse with another person over the general din of the office, conversations can be had in a normal speaking voice.
Workers can hear themselves think, which can help them produce their best work.
What Makes Good Sound Masking?
Several ways show a sound masking system is effective and well-thought-out. A good sound masking system should be specific to the frequencies of human speech yet be flexible enough to adjust when the noise levels in the space vary. An adaptive sound masking system will adjust its volume to the noise level.
Sound masking should also not be “heard” specifically, meaning you shouldn’t even notice that a sound masking system is in place, unlike a white noise system.
A good sound masking system could also protect speech privacy regulations if your office needs that kind of protection.
BSS Has the Tech You Need for Comfortable & Happy Workers
As a Blaine provider of sound masking systems, we’d be happy to help ensure the comfort and stability of your workforce. Check out our reviews or request a free quote.
Or feel free to give us a call now at 763-502-1515.