Sound Masking

You may recall that workers in open-style offices with only low-level noise experienced significantly higher levels of stress, made 40 percent fewer attempts to solve difficult problems, and made only half as many ergonomic adjustments to their workstations as did their colleagues in quiet offices. You also know how distracting an open office’s conversations are. As a result, the VoiceArrest™ was designed with acoustic comfort in mind. Gone are the distractions that make it so difficult to concentrate. Gone are the worries about who is overhearing your confidential conversations. And gone is an office environment that adds stress and stress-related injuries to its employees’ lives!

Through the use of true four-channel speech privacy technology, the VoiceArrest™ System simulates the gentle whooshing sound of a high-end HVAC system that covers conversations and other distractions. It’s like listening to quadraphonic surround sound – the sound is full, yet you can’t pinpoint exactly where it’s coming from. It uniformly blends into the office background virtually unnoticed – so natural that you won’t even realize it’s there.

The VoiceArrest™ System provides your workplace with a new, more effective level of privacy. Through the use of Direct Field Technology, the background masking that is distributed throughout your office is perfectly balanced in both volume as well as frequency content.

This improves your privacy in two important ways. You receive:

• Greater levels of privacy per decibel of sound.
• This higher level of privacy is consistent at all points within the treated area.

The spatial and spectral uniformity delivered by the VoiceArrest™ System permits its operation at substantially lower sound levels than competitive systems, while still maintaining masking effectiveness. To put it another way, it provides more privacy per decibel of sound produced. While other masking systems must be operated at 48-51 dB in order to provide acceptable privacy conditions for most occupants, the VoiceArrest™ Speech Privacy System is normally operated at 45 dB under the same conditions. The increased effectiveness in privacy provided by the VoiceArrest™ System allows you to have both equivalent privacy and quieter, less intrusive sound, or if your application is unusual and requires greater privacy than most, you can now use the higher settings to meet those privacy needs.

A common issue in most offices is that the above-ceiling air plenum is shared by both open and closed office areas. For reasons of economy, the separating walls often do not extend more than an inch or two above the suspended acoustical tile ceiling.

Therefore, when masking is delivered to the open area at an appropriate level, sound in a enclosed office typically builds up to excessive levels, even if there are no masking loudspeakers above it. Until now, the only solution was to “starve” the adjacent open areas.

Direct Field Technology used by the VoiceArrest™ System means the masking sound intended for the open office area is entirely restricted to the open area. There is no unwanted bleed over effect into enclosed offices or conference rooms. If masking is desired in the enclosed space, a separate zone can be provided, and its level is controlled independently.