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 as little annoying and detectable as possible, in order to be accepted by the workers in office environments. Recent studies
allowed this perfect sound masking level and spectrum to be determined.
The picture below, taken from the recent article
Acoustical Design of Conventional Open Plan Offices, Canadian Acoustics,
vol. 27, no. 3, 2003, presents the ideal sound masking established, i.e. a masking spectrum that allows more confidentiality
while being 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 Work?
- The Smart SMS self-tuning technique takes into account the specific acoustic characteristics
of the room and the existing background noise.
- Once the self-tuning process is completed, the results are uploaded to the Smart SMS
hardware to generate an ideal sound masking.
- The validity of the resulting sound masking spectrum in the
room can be verified with the frequency analyzer integrated within
the Smart SMS software.
- 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.
