What Is Sound Masking?
Sound masking systems are used in office environments to increase speech privacy and reduce audible distractions. These systems are basically noise generators designed to produce low-level background noise with a particular spectrum which should not be disturbing or irritating to workers. This sound mask is nevertheless loud enough to effectively blur conversations and reduce distracting noises.

What Is the Optimum Sound Masking?
The sound masking consists of generating a neutral sound in order to make conversations less audible. For maximum efficiency, the sound masking spectrum must have enough energy in the frequencies corresponding to human voice. However, the sound masking has to be less annoying and detectable as possible in order to be accepted by the workers in office environment. Recent studies allowed to determine this perfect sound masking level and spectrum.

The picture below, taken from the recent article Acoustical design of Conventional Open Plan Offices, Canadian Acousctics, vol 27, no. 3, 2003, presents the ideal sound masking established, i.e. the masking spectrum that allows more confidentiality and which are less irritating.



Benefits
A properly installed sound masking system can increase speech privacy between workers, reduce audible distractions, and in doing so, provide a better working environment with increased productivity.

Problems
The main problem is that each work space is unique in terms of acoustic room response and background noise. If a sound masking system is installed without proper attention, it can do more harm than good, producing a sound that is either too loud or too irritating. Also, calibrating a sound masking system with a simple sound-meter is not effective enough to obtain the desired sound masking curve.

Solutions
The Smart Sound Masking System developed by Soft dB is the best sound masking system on the market today. Derived from the latest noise control and signal processing technologies, it is extremely adaptable and precise, in addition to being the easiest system to install.


How Does the Smart SMS Works?

1. The Smart SMS self-tuning technique takes into account the specific acoustic characteristics of the room and the existing background noise.



2. Once the self-tuning process is done, the results are uploaded to the Smart SMS hardware to generate an ideal sound masking.



3. The validity of the resulting sound masking spectrum in the room can be verified with the frequency analyzer integrated within the Smart SMS software.



4. Once the desired sound masking is validated, the specific adjustment of the system can be permanently loaded into the Smart SMS and the PC can be unplugged and removed.