Are online meetings noisier than conventional meetings?

Abstract

Design of sound insulation in office meeting rooms is typically based on 'normal' speech levels, but anecdotal evidence suggests that raised speech levels may be common where video/teleconferencing (VC/TC) is in use. If this is the case, then partitions in meeting rooms may be under-designed. In order to gain an understanding of the real-world occupational noise levels that exist in VC/TC enabled meeting rooms, long-term noise monitoring was conducted in multiple offices across the globe and matched to records of VC/TC use. Correlations uncovered include a link between VC/TC use and increased Lp, and higher speech Lw in larger meeting rooms.