Its hard to avoid noise pollution in the workplace. Unwanted noise makes it hard to focus during phone conversations leading to decreased productivity and increased anxiety. Noise pollution has become a critical issue unexpectedly brought about by the open concept office space design – it’s great for collaboration but hard on the ears and its becoming more and more difficult to escape from the noise.
Background noises are very unpredictable. The lack of soundproofing materials in an open space design causes unnecessary distractions and finding solitude becomes even more difficult when one can’t control their respective surroundings such as working in a coffee shop, airport lounge or at client’s site. The same goes for home office environments. Unless there’s adequate soundproofing measures, uncontrollable noises from barking dogs, leaf blowers, snow blowers, sirens, noises from neighbours and constructions crews, make it so difficult to concentrate.
A study by the University of California Berkeley Center for the Built environment discovered that noise and lack of (call) privacy are the top concerns among office workers. According to the University of British Columbia Risk Management Services website, although it does not cause hearing loss, nuisance noise may have a psychological effect and negative impact on workplace performance.
Using headsets can significantly help with cleaning up noise pollution in your workplace. For example, stationed workers can benefit from using stereo (dual speaker) to effectively cancel out ambient noise during inbound and outbound calls. Headsets equipped with a noise cancelling microphone eliminates background noises for crystal clear conversation.
Wireless headsets give workers the ability to walk away from their desk to locate a much quieter place to have productive and meaningful phone conversations. Mobile workers using headsets with Bluetooth connectivity can simply take their Bluetooth enabled laptops or smartphones with them to locate a quieter place to work, such as private call booths or an empty boardroom.
Optimized for Unified Communications, the Voyager Focus UC stereo Bluetooth headset (model B825) offer easy toggling between PC and Bluetooth-enabled desk phones, mobile phones, tablets, smartphones, smart watch and features an on-demand Active Noise Cancelling (ANC) to block out distracting ambient noises and keep your concentration on the phone conversation. Additional features include:
- Dynamic Mute Alert – senses and prompts users when they try to talk when muted
- Adaptive Controls – automatically adjusts pause/play, forward/back orientation depending on how the headset is worn.
- Smart Sensor Technology – answer calls by simply putting on the headset or mute by taking the headset off.
- Bluetooth mini-adapter – for PC/laptop connectivity
- OpenMic/Mute – allows users to listen to their surroundings while listening to music without removing the headset
- Online Indicator Lights – informs colleagues that you are on an active call
Plantronics create headsets, both corded and wireless, designed to reduce noise distractions to help workers focus on work, not the chaos. For more information, how Plantronics headsets can help increase office productivity by cutting out background noises, speak to a friendly and knowledgeable headset specialist at headset.com(www.headset.com).