According to a recent survey conducted by Poly and Future Workplace, 40% of workers in open plan offices say they are always or very often distracted at work, with one in three open plan office workers reporting a loss of at least one hour of productivity per day due to distractions.
The study found that the top three office distractions were loud co-workers talking on the phone, office celebrations, and co-workers talking nearby. Which is all to say that workers are most impacted by distractions of the aural variety. This probably won't surprise you, but it turns out open offices can be really noisy!
With over 50% of workers in open plan offices saying that noise makes a significant impact on their job satisfaction and productivity, it’s clear that the open office revolution is in need of some considerable tweaking. What can be done? The folks at Poly have the answer.
“Getting the technology right can reduce noisy distractions and ensure smooth, consistent, and productive transitions across all work areas—remote, at a dedicated workspace, and in rooms around campus,” says Poly CIO Paul Johnson. “Today’s workforce expects a great technology experience at work. And we need to deliver it.”
To that end, Poly pioneered Acoustic Fence technology, which keeps unwanted noise from interfering with your telephone conversations and video conferences. It is included with the following innovative conferencing and collaboration solutions: Polycom VVX IP phones, RealPresence Trio, and RealPresence Group Series video systems.
A Wainhouse Research evaluation found that Acoustic Fence technology “can mean the difference between a successful or failed conference call.” But how, exactly, does it work?
Acoustic Fence is constantly monitoring your microphone array and identifying the differences in sound between those microphones. Using this information to determine who is the main speaker, Acoustic Fence selects, combines and mutes the input from the other microphones, thereby delivering the main speaker’s voice to the listener.
Any background noise is heard by the person on the other end of the conversation as a series of disconnected snippets rendered incomprehensible by your listener. This technology basically harnesses your own perceptual filter. Since you won’t be able to hear entire phrases, you won’t be distracted by them. The background noise thus becomes borderline imperceptible.
Learn more about Poly’s conferencing and collaboration solutions and contact us with any questions. We will have one of our experts get back to you shortly. If there’s anything else you’re looking for, please use our Advanced Search tool to find it.
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