Call center as an acoustical challenge

Abstract

Call centers differ from the standard open plan offices in that telephone calls using headsets lead to special types of activities at the working places. Phone calls with clients produce almost simultaneously an A-weighted speech-noise level of around 52–58 dB when, for instance, 12 or 18 neighboring working places are occupied. On the other hand, the background noise produced by all persons working is much lower at around 43–45 dB in well-known open plan offices when quiet work (such as paperwork) is being performed, or when employees are absent. In both cases, there are certain levels of privacy expected. Call centers belong to grade three privacy with a permitted signal-to-noise ratio of around 9 dB. Many room acoustical properties must be considered, such as the falling off of sound levels with increasing distances, avoidance of disturbing sound reflections, short reverberation times, and well-designed sound barriers which must have a soundproofing quality and a high sound absorption. Measurements in existing call centers can be related to the grades of privacy within a certain field of confidence. The same applies to other open plan offices. Artificial background noise such as sound conditioning must be introduced in order to reach the privacy accommodations.