Speech Privacy

Better Sound Masking Affects your Bottom Line

Whether you’re a small business owner, an open office manager, or simply bound by law to safeguard confidential information, speech privacy has never been more important, and improving your office’s acoustics is relatively simple and cost-effective.

How Speech Privacy Affects Employee Engagement

The average worker is distracted more than 2 hours every day. These distractions cause loss of focus, increased errors and stress, not to mention fewer attempts to problem-solve. Given the high cost of distractions, it’s no surprise that workplace distractions cost businesses like yours an estimated $587 billion in 2008. You’re not alone if that number makes you blink.

According to an American Society of Interior Designers (ASID) study, workers in offices with even small acoustic treatments:

> Were 48% more focused on their work
> 51% less distracted, resulting in
> 10% fewer errors and a
> 27% decrease in worker stress

Cornell University found that workers in environments with high noise levels made 40% fewer attempts to solve difficult problems as a result of the difficulty in focusing on that problem.

And in 11 surveyed buildings, 80% of workers felt that the noise levels distracted them and hindered their ability to get their work done.

Businesses

Any business or organization handling sensitive, personal, or financial information must take deliberate measures to safeguard the print and electronic records of its clients. Financial, personal, and medical privacy are now considered fundamental rights protected by law or governed by regulation.

Doctors and Medical Facilities

In a 2005 study, researchers at JohnsHopkinsUniversityin Baltimorefound that average daytime hospital sound levels worldwide had risen from 57 decibels to 72, while night-time levels had gone up from 42 decibels to 60. These sound levels have continued to climb every year since then. Besides the obvious decrease in patient satisfaction, such noise levels often indicate that a facility or office has a HIPAA compliance problem, as well.

Trade secrets

The same care goes into protecting “trade secrets” or product information that provides the necessary edge in an increasingly competitive global marketplace. From financial institutions and manufacturers to medical facilities and social service agencies, most industries must protect records and information using all reasonable means available.

Law Enforcement, Military, and Government Officials

For law enforcement, military, and government officials who literally safeguard the security of our local communities and our nation, managing sensitive or classified information is essential to success in their daily operations. Information is power…if information gets into the hands of the wrong people, lives could be at stake. Yet, even as businesses and government agencies invest hundreds of thousands of dollars in physical security equipment and systems, they often overlook one of the most obvious threats that cannot be seen.

In today’s environment of collaborative office space, high tech gadgetry, and mass communications, information that can be picked up through intentional or unintentional voice eavesdropping threatens to undermine even the most sophisticated security systems. Faced with decreasing resources, managers must find cost-effective ways to safeguard sensitive conversations in the workplace.