The Scott Thompson Show
Two weeks ago, I was interviewed on The Scott Thompson Show on AM900 CHML, Hamilton Ontario’s News Talk Leader. The opportunity came up because they read an article about our company in The Hamilton Spectator.
Much as with the newspaper article, I really appreciated the chance to talk directly to a more general audience about acoustics and our technology. Many people who work in commercial offices and other workplaces (e.g. banks, call centers, hospitals) where sound masking can be of great benefit aren't aware of this solution’s existence. Of course, they’re more than aware of the noise and speech privacy problems they experience if they’re working in poorly performing environments...hence the interest from The Scott Thompson Show.
Bringing Peace to Workstations
Last week, I had the pleasure of being interviewed by Meredith Macleod, a business reporter/editor at The Hamilton Spectator, which is a major newspaper in our region. This week, I was pleasantly surprised to see that the resulting article made the front page!
This was a fantastic opportunity to introduce our sound masking technology to the public. Despite the fact that we’re currently celebrating our 35th anniversary in business, sound masking isn’t well known outside of the architectural, design and engineering communities. I’m sure many readers were glad to hear there’s a retrofit solution available for one of their primary ‘workstation woes.’
Getting the Message
Though ‘collaboration’ is today’s buzzword, the reality is that most people still spend the majority of their time on individual tasks that require concentration. Both the office design – and the behavior of the people in it – should support this kind of work.
I’ve recently shared ten office etiquette tips in an article in the Business section of The Globe & Mail called “Loudmouth in the next cubicle? Send him this.”
It’s Not Too Late
Once again, I’m referring you to one of my recent articles – this time in the January issue of Construction Canada magazine. It’s called “Better Late Than Never: Retrofitting Sound Masking to Improve Acoustics.”
The type of ‘facility malfunction’ I describe at the beginning of this article really does happen far too frequently. As sound masking suppliers, we often find ourselves being asked in after a client has moved into their new space and come to the conclusion that its acoustical performance just isn’t good enough. One of the great advantages of our technology is that it’s easy to implement, even ‘after the fact.’ But, as you’ll read in the article, to reap all of its potential rewards, it’s really best to include sound masking in your initial design.
Cheers,
Niklas
Great Expectations, Part II
To continue from last week: A sound masking system will always perform as it should, as long as its spectrum and volume are adjusted correctly to meet the desired masking curve.
But the overall performance of two spaces – even with identical masking implementations – may vary significantly due to the impact of other elements.
One of the main differences you may notice is the distance required for the masking system to achieve certain levels of effect. And that brings me to my final point. Masking does, in fact, require some distance to work. And you want this to be the case. After all, work is stressful enough without everyone shouting to be heard!