Wherever there are low background sound levels, sound masking can help. Further, guaranteed success comes with acoustic ceiling tiles and carpet where there is low background sound. This is especially true in the ubiquitous open plan office. Noise carries easily between desks, especially conversations, creating an uncomfortable acoustic environment.

Open plan offices

An open plan office space furnished with pop in ceiling tiles and carpet is the perfect candidate for a sound masking system. There is low reverberation due to the ceiling tiles and carpet, and the ceiling heights are standard. Generally, the low background sound levels are causing the problem, so introducing a comfortable background sound will solve the problem. 

Examples above demonstrate a small range of these scenarios. Figure 1 shows a regular office space, Figure 2 shows open plan office with ceiling-height meeting pods (ie, sound leakage), Figure 3 shows a small call centre where workers talk on the phone in close proximity all day. For something a little different, Figure 4 shows a yoga studio with heavy traffic noise outside.

In each scenario, sound masking offered a solution by increasing the background sound levels, which worked well to reduce intrusive noise and reduce speech intelligibility. This improved concentration and privacy. With the correct design, these kinds of spaces will always find a solution in a sound masking system. 

Medical suites and meeting rooms

Similarly, medical suites, meeting rooms, and boardrooms in standard office fitouts benefit from a sound masking system when speech privacy is required. The problem, again, is usually low background sound.

Introducing a masking system will reduce speech intelligibility and create speech privacy. The pictures below provide some examples of such scenarios, including a medical suite waiting area adjacent to consulting rooms in Figure 5, a private meeting room adjacent to the open plan area in Figure 6, and a boardroom adjacent to the waiting and reception area in Figure 7.

In each of these cases, speech was intelligible prior to the introduction of sound masking, and unintelligible after the introduction of sound masking. 

Conclusion

Wherever acoustic or pop in ceiling tiles are paired with carpet, acoustic design will benefit from a Soundmask system. This arrangement solves both problems of speech privacy and intrusive noise.