One of the advantages of telecommuting, is the worker has nearly complete control of his or her work environment. Sans personal quirks and distractions, everything is under control from the layout of the workspace to the ambient sounds and levels thereof.
In an office however, that control is fairly nonexistent. Co-workers all speak and conduct phone business at all volume levels from inaudible to downright whiney and loud. Conversations around the office can be heard everywhere, workers take personal and business calls over speaker phones, some hum and sing aloud, coughing and sneezing, and, of course, there’s the odd employee or two who can’t work without what he or she defines as music and is more than willing to share their love of Justin Bieber with the entire office.
For several months at a publication that shall go nameless, I inhabited a cubicle next to a cubicle inhabited by a person who would take a nap for a half hour every day in his cubicle. And yes, you guess right, he did snore quite intensely. The first time it happened, I thought old Leatherface was chain sawing his way through my cubicle wall.
There’s been little progress in solving the office noise pollution situation. Rules, regulations, bad coffee, and low air conditioning have done little. But now there may be a cure; enter Lencore’s sound-masking and emergency-notification solutions for modern workplaces. The company’s sound masking solutions are used in medical offices and other facilities where privacy and confidentiality are important.
Lencore is integrating Sierra Monitor’s FieldPoP device cloud and connectivity technologies to enable facility managers, installers, and support professionals to remotely set up, maintain and control the systems in offices, buildings, and facilities worldwide. The secure remote connectivity provided by Sierra Monitor makes it easier for facility managers to set up and manage these private audio spaces.
The sound masking technology uses white noise and pink noise to cancel out unwanted sound from the surrounding environment, ensuring privacy and enabling the worker to concentrate better and become more productive. In addition, the system also enables security personnel and management to securely send critical messages as needed.
Sound masking involves the strategic placement of sound sources and unobtrusive pink noise to reduce distracting noises and increase privacy within a space. Currently, it is estimated that the healthcare segment makes up between 20% and 25% of the sound-masking industry. And that sound masking can help to reduce noise distractions by as much as 35% to 40% in any given space. Furthermore, sound masking technology has evolved to allow the integration and zoning of paging and background music. Through proper design, a healthcare facility is able to get three systems in one. For more details CLICK HERE.
To learn more about how OEMs use the FieldServer IIoT gateway and the FieldPoP device cloud, CLICK HERE. ~MD