Acoustical modeling software as a tool to evaluate speech privacy in open plan office environments.

Abstract

A productive work environment requires enough privacy to conduct confidential business on the telephone while maintaining background noise levels that allow others to concentrate on their work. However, many businesses also rely on the collaborative work environment that can be created in an open plan office. This study concentrates on using EASE computer models as a tool to demonstrate to clients and end‐users what type of acoustic environment to expect when selecting different types of workstations. The degree of speech privacy afforded was tested by determining the opposite effect: the level of speech intelligibility between workstations. A typical open office layout was modeled using EASE acoustical modeling software. The speech intelligibility between workstations was modeled in several potential configurations to demonstrate the effects of the changes in speech privacy within the office. The configurations tested include varying the heights of workstation partitions and using either reflective or ab...