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How much does soundmasking cost? Can Soundmasking and Paging be combined? |
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Soundmasking is an electronically generated, broadband, low-level, background sound precisely contoured to mask (cover up) conversational intelligibility and unwanted background noise. It sounds similar to that of HVAC supply air diffusers. The addition of soundmasking is acoustically equivalent to tripling the distance between people. Soundmasking can increase conversational privacy by as much as 100 percent. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ In open plan areas soundmasking works to increase speech privacy by slightly raising the building's background sound level so that it becomes more difficult to overhear and understand conversations. By properly and evenly raising the background sound of the environment, the acoustical dynamics of the space are compressed, thus minimizing the acoustical peaks that occur off in the distance (i.e. background conversation, office equipment, noise from building systems, exterior noise, etc...). Properly designed and installed, soundmasking is custom tailored to the unique characteristics of a space and tuned to compliment a space's unique acoustics. Soundmasking reduces conversational distraction in order to increase concentration, productivity, and accuracy. In private offices soundmasking increases speech privacy to retain the confidentiality of conversations. This is the main concern in Audio Security. ------------------------------------------------------------------------
What is a soundmasking system? Similar to a public address system but inconspicuously located above the ceiling or under a raised floor system, a soundmasking system introduces soundmasking into the office environment through a network of specialized hardware components. Soundmasking speakers are mounted in the space above the ceiling tiles or below raised access-floor tiles. The custom-tuned sound from these speakers resonates the ceiling or floor cavity and passes through into the work environment and the listener's ears. The soundmasking signal is fed to the speakers by soundmasking generators and amplifiers. Audio equalizers are used to shape the soundmasking to the specific acoustical signature of each facility. The system can be automatically controlled to provide the correct level of privacy dependant on the time of day and day of the week. A typical soundmasking system will consist of one or more of the following:
_Soundmasking generator (pink noise/white noise/super-white noise) _1/3 octave band equalizers (per ASTM standards) _Mixer/equalizer (for paging or music signals) _Zone amplifiers (to control volume and signals delivered to a specific area) _Programmable level controls (adjusts soundmasking levels to facility occupancy) _Soundmasking speakers (mounted above the ceiling or below the floor)
------------------------------------------------------------------------ How much does soundmasking cost? In general, a complete soundmasking system, properly designed, installed, and tuned, costs less than $1.00 per square foot. This figure is for treating an area of around 10,000 square-feet. The cost may be slightly higher or lower depending on the size and complexity of the system. Compared to the costs of other items on a commercial interior build-out, soundmasking budgets at under 1/2 % of building life cycle costs, adding no more than 3-4% to the furniture/ceilings budget. By increasing productivity and employee satisfaction, soundmasking offers impressive returns on investment. Typical ROI on soundmasking is between 300% - 500%. ------------------------------------------------------------------------
What are centralized and distributed soundmasking systems and which is better for you? While it is true that centralized systems are generally far more sophisticated than distributed systems both approaches have pros and cons. Centralized Systems incorporate a central control point for the soundmasking generator, equalizers, and amplifiers. All speaker zones are wired back to the "rack" or central location. This allows for volume controls and signals (such as soundmasking, paging and music) to be controlled and maintained at one location. This approach also allows for easy upgrades as new technology arrives. In Distributed Systems there is no central "rack" or location. Every individual speaker is its own self-contained soundmasking system. While this approach is well suited to small office environments with little or no expansion in office space, it has disadvantages for medium to large size projects. Distributed systems cannot be easily retuned or maintained on larger projects. Also distributed systems generally lack true 1/3 octave equalization, have limited soundmasking spectrums or capabilities. Many self-contained units do not meet ASTM standards for professional soundmasking systems. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Can Soundmasking and Paging be combined in one system? A properly designed system can be used to distribute almost any audio function such as soundmasking, paging, and/or background music. While soundmasking should never be introduced through downward facing paging speakers (see question below on why soundmasking speakers in ceiling applications are pointed upward), it works well to distribute paging or music through the soundmasking speaker system providing the system is properly designed. Not only is it economically advantageous to combine the functions of above-ceiling soundmasking, paging, and background music, uniform distribution of paging and background music will also improve. ------------------------------------------------------------------------
How can I find out if soundmasking will work for me? It is important to consider all the elements of the building acoustics before recommending solutions (see A,B,Cs of Soundmasking Tutorial). For example, if your office space consists of a hard tile or slab floors, large acoustically reflective areas of glass or mirror, building standard NRC-.55 mineral tile ceiling, an open ceiling plenum, with no partitions or walls between workers; then soundmasking should not be your first consideration. However, most offices have pre-conditions for privacy, where some or most criteria are met but still lack soundmasking. In many applications, soundmasking may be all that is needed to dramatically increase privacy levels and recapture lost productivity. ------------------------------------------------------------------------
What are the A,B,Cs of Soundmasking? In acoustically treating an office environment, distracting noise can either be (A) absorbed, (B) blocked, or (C) covered up. Ceilings treatments absorb, furniture panels block, leaving soundmasking to cover (or mask) distracting conversations. While every single element in an office environment contributes to the acoustical response of the space, ceiling systems, furniture systems, and soundmasking systems have the largest effect on treating privacy issues. It is the combination of these elements that can minimize the radius of distraction – the distance at which background noise will distract a worker from concentration. In a large majority of open office plans acceptable levels of speech privacy cannot be achieved without soundmasking. Open office plans tend to have Privacy Indexes (PI) between 47 and 53, which is considered poor speech privacy (see "What is Privacy Index?" in this section). This is the result of few factors of which the major ones are: _The modern open office work environment has less partition walls that would block some speech noise. _Technology is constantly creating more office equipment (ie, computer networks, phone & paging systems, video conferencing, fax & data transfers). More equipment generates more noise. _Higher worker density with less cubicle spaces per worker has compromised privacy. _Office teaming has become a modern practice, that in the open office distracts others. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ What is the Radius of Distraction? The distance required between employees to achieve acceptable speech privacy in a typical open plan office environment is commonly referred to as the radius of distraction. In an unfinished office space this distance can be greater than 50 feet. By adding acoustical ceiling and furniture panels, this distance is only reduced by two to four feet. Many office configurations do not include anything else to deal with acoustical issues. Only by the introduction of soundmasking is the radius of distraction reduced to as low as 11-feet. This translates to an environment that is conducive to accurate communication, either on the phone or among workers teaming in close proximity of each other. What is removed from the acoustical theatre is the background distractions occurring beyond that 11-foot radius. ------------------------------------------------------------------------
What is Eavesdropping Protection and Audio Security? The technique of protecting the intelligibility of sensitive conversations from detection, collection, and comprehension by inadvertent, deliberate, or electronic eavesdropping through the use of soundmasking is referred to as audio security. The scope of this application of soundmasking is different than soundmasking used in the typical open office environment. The goal in Audio Security is to protect intellectual property and sensitive information that is discussed by establishing a secured conferencing environment. While in the open plan environment, soundmasking is used to minimize distraction and improve concentration, in a secured environment soundmasking prevents information discussed from being interpreted by others outside the secured room (sometimes referred to as a SCIF, Sensitive Compartmentalized Information Facility). Since the goal is different then that of open plan soundmasking applications, the devices used are designed to secure breech points, such as doors, windows, walls, ceiling cavities, floor cavities, HVAC ducts, and utility penetrations. Rather than attempting to make conversations less distracting, the benchmark here is to achieve Confidential Speech Privacy (see "What is Confidential Speech Privacy?" in this section); when the context of what is detected by the naked ear, parabolic microphone, or laser beam outside the secured facility is unintelligible without further prohibitively costly processing of the message.
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What are the benefits of soundmasking underneath Raised Access Floor Systems? The result of several collaborative studies involving Dynasound and other industry office systems manufacturers have confirmed several benefits to locating soundmasking in the cavity of a raised access floor system. Matter of fact, in the open office plan environment, under-access floor soundmasking performed significantly superior to above-ceiling tile soundmasking and open-plenum soundmasking. The documented benefits of locating soundmasking underneath raised access floor systems are as follows: _Superior soundmasking performance – exceptionally uniform and predictable soundmasking distribution, +/- 2 decibels throughout. This removes potential problem areas that sometimes occur in overhead plenum soundmasking (large air ducts, return air grille openings, downward facing paging speakers, leaks around ceiling-mounted lighting fixtures etc.)
_Since ceiling plenums are becoming increasingly shallow, not only is under-floor soundmasking logistically better because it removes another component from already crowded ceiling plenums, in many cases under-floor soundmasking requires less speakers to be utilized - providing a "cleaner" layout and saving costs. This is because floor cavities are typically more reverberant and offer more efficient acoustics. _When compared to open structure soundmasking, under-floor soundmasking is much less expensive, in labor and hardware. _Delivers soundmasking coverage much closer to the sources of conversational distraction than overhead soundmasking. Under-floor soundmasking more effectively covers conversations that may pass through the supply air diffuser, the “worst case scenario”. Combined with the proper floor finish, under-floor soundmasking is significantly better in minimizing distracting foot-fall noise than any other method of introducing soundmasking. _Under-floor soundmasking speakers are individually secured to the raised access floor system and do not interfere with ongoing wire management. The speaker units are fastened to the floor system's support posts and will not be affected or repositioned by the running of additional cabling in the floor cavity. All soundmasking wires are shielded and are not prone to cross-talk issues. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ What is APS? APS is an acronym for Acoustical Programming Software, Dynasound's acoustical planning tool. APS allows for office environments to be acoustically programmed with accurate predictability. It illustrates how much speech privacy is gained by the addition of soundmasking. APS also takes the acoustical properties of an office space's ceilings, office furniture, floor, acoustical panels, partitions, and background sound, and value-engineers the best possible solution to achieve speech privacy. By determining where the "acoustic dollars" are best invested, results are maximized at the least cost possible. It also determines where is the best location to introduce soundmasking, be it above the ceiling, in open structure, or underneath the floor system. When used in the early space planning stage, expensive (and sometimes impossible) acoustical corrections after move-in are eliminated. -----------------------------------------------------------------------
What are the HIPAA Laws and how do they effect my business? The Health Insurance Portability & Accountability Act (HIPAA), was voted into Law August 14, 2002, with compliance requirements taking effect on April 14, 2003. It requires that healthcare providers must take reasonable safeguards to insure that protected patient information remains private. This includes protecting the discussion of patient information from intentional or unintentional eavesdropping in areas such as waiting rooms, reception areas, examination rooms, and private offices. The HIPPA Laws apply to healthcare providers, doctors offices, employers, vendors, service organizations, medical schools, and health insurance providers. The regulations respond with severe penalties if compliance is not met or an individuals rights are violated. Penalties may be assessed up to $50,000 in fines and one year in prison for obtaining or disclosing protected health information, up to $100,000 and five years in prison for obtaining protected information under "false pretenses", and up to $250,000 and ten years in prison for obtaining protected information with the intent to sell, transfer, or use the information for personal gain. click for more on HIPPA and sound masking. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ What is Confidential Speech Privacy? Defined as the point at which only muffled words can be overheard from outside private office, Confidential Speech Privacy begins at a Privacy Index (PI) of 95% or higher. This translates to at least 95 of every 100 words overheard outside a private office are unrecognizable, leaving the remaining 5 of every 100 words as too little information to comprehend the conversation occurring with the private office. Confidential Speech Privacy is sacrificed when the PI falls below 95%, allowing sufficient information outside the private office to be intelligible and the subject matter of the conversation to be grasped. It is important to note that based on present day building standards, private offices without soundmasking do not offer Confidential Speech Privacy.
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What is Privacy Index (PI)? The American Society Testing and Materials (ASTM) defines the Privacy Index (PI) as a rating index of the degree of speech intelligibility from “as built” private offices and conference rooms. It reflects the amount of speech that is on-average unintelligible from outside a closed private office. The higher the PI, the more difficult it is to understand the nature of the conversation occurring inside a private office. PI is not a direct percentage, but an exponential ratio, so PI = 50 is not 50% privacy. A PI of 50 is actually rather poor privacy. The average open office plan with acoustical ceiling tiles, industrial carpet, and partitions still has a PI typically lower than 50. Only by adding the correct amount of soundmasking can the PI improve to above 80, the point at which surrounding speech stops being a distraction. Yet, in the typical private office a PI in the lower 70s is common, making the "private" part of "private office" a fallacy. Confidential speech privacy is defined by ASTM as the point at which PI is 95 or greater, a number that can only be attained in current private office construction by the addition of soundmasking.
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Is soundmasking installed all throughout or just some parts of an office? When designing a soundmasking system the specific needs of a work environment must be considered. A well designed, installed, and tuned soundmasking system will not draw attention to itself. An office building can have soundmasking all throughout, or only on certain floors, portions of floors, or specific rooms. The system can be designed to work more heavily in some areas and less in others. It can be used to minimize distractions in one large open room located next to an executive conference room, where it is used to protect confidentiality. This multi-use configuration is referred to as "zoning". Zones allow for flexibility of use and is a major consideration in the design stage of a facility-specific soundmasking system. ------------------------------------------------------------------------
Why are soundmasking speakers in the ceiling pointed upward? While in some office applications, paging or music speakers might be visibly located in ceiling tiles pointing downward, soundmasking speakers are located hidden above the ceiling tiles pointing upward. The reason is to avoid variation between the "hot spots" of soundmasking, that would occur immediately under a downward facing speaker, and the "cold spots" between speaker spans. By pointing the speakers upward the soundmasking is reflected off the upper decking and resonates the entire ceiling cavity evenly, eliminating any harshness or inefficiencies that are characteristic of a downward facing ceiling speaker layouts. Since the same uniformity is preferable in paging and background music, incorporating these functions into an inconspicuous soundmasking system is ideal. |
