Six Ways Sound Masking Can Change Your Workplace
Adding sound to your call center or workplace might seem counterintuitive, but it actually makes the space seem quieter. Sound masking distorts noise much like the way frosted glass only allows you to see a blur of colors if you are looking at a playground through your window–the noise is so dull that you continue to focus on the important task at hand.
1. Increased privacy for workers and their clients.
When speaking with customers about their physical, mental or financial health, confidentiality is not only critical, it’s required by law. But step into any bank, medical office or pharmacy, and you can often hear private information discussed right in the open. According to one study, 53 percent of support staff workers admitted to overhearing confidential conversations in the office.
Because sound masking distorts human-made sounds, workers no longer have to whisper at their desk, try to talk over their neighbors, or sneak into a staircase with their smartphone to have a private conversation. Plus, once a call or conversation is done, workers can easily transition back to other tasks.
2. Heightened productivity and creativity.
Seventy-five percent of workers say they are more productive and 57 percent report an increased motivation to work as noise distractions in the office are muted. Optimal noise levels set by sound masking also fuel workers’ creativity by providing the perfect distraction sweet spot—a subconscious disruption that breaks down any mental blocks so that the brain is able to think more abstractly without straying off task.
3. More effective hiring and better retention rates.
Many businesses created communal offices to attract the Millennial workforce. But the generation that has mastered multi-tasking says what they want most in a workspace is less noise and the ability to focus without interruption. Those companies that control background noise have an advantage in attracting and retaining desirable workers.
In addition, stress caused by noise pollution has become so rampant that affected workers of all ages admit they are likely to leave their jobs within six months. With the average cost of hiring and training each new employee to replace them running around $8,000, companies may find installing a sound masking system can keep their HR budget in check.
4. Improved employee mental and physical health.
A Cornell University study found that spending just three hours in a noisy workspace office can trigger higher levels of adrenaline, the “fight or flight” hormone. In turn, this stress workers experience causes their risk for hypertension, digestive problems, high blood pressure, and anxiety to spike. Making sound masking part of your overall company wellness plan can reduce the number of employee sick days, lower insurance costs and build worker morale.
5. Superior customer service.
No customer wants to be accosted with cringe-worthy noise when they’re waiting in the lobby for an appointment or applying for a mortgage in a crowded bank. And trying to hear a customer service rep over the phone as other conversations bounce around them? Forget about it.
Sound masking drowns out unwanted sound in call centers and communal spaces to reduce distractions so workers can give clients their full attention, ensure important conversations stay private, and speed up interactions for busy customers.
6. Greater collaboration between workers.
As tech businesses tore down cubicle walls to facilitate greater teamwork, they actually built boundaries that blocked collaboration. In an open office or co- working space, face-to-face interactions drop up to 70 percent, and electronic communication surges 50 percent.
Strategic sound masking allows coworkers to talk one-on-one in a noisy work setting without endless distractions, the need to shout or the worry that someone else will overhear their conversation. This open communication keeps teams on task and projects on schedule.
Want the best sound masking system?
Facility managers have tried everything from acoustical panels to absorb sound to white noise solutions to dilute it. But only a neuroscience-based electronic sound masking system like the IQ Acoustics delivers the ideal sound level in a communal space, empowering the brain to filter out unstructured, distracting noise while preserving the ambient noise that aids concentration and creativity.
To improve your worker’s productivity, enhance their privacy and lower their stress levels, contact the experts at IQ Acoustics. Their sound masking experts can perform an analysis of your communal space to recommend a Sound eRaser solution that provides the sound barrier everyone wants in their workday.