Applied Systems
Founded in 1983, the Applied Systems group of companies is recognized as a pioneer in insurance automation and data exchange between brokerages, insurers, and clients, servicing more than 14,000 clients in North America and Europe with over 1,300 staff members worldwide.
After relocating its European headquarters to a smart facility at Trafalgar Place, Brighton, that utilized an open plan office environment, Applied Systems immediately identified acoustical issues in the new space. Office Manager Rita Swaffield commented, “The new offices are larger and more open in design than our previous location. Applied Systems prides itself on customer service, meaning we must ensure colleagues are able to conduct telephone calls and conversations in a confidential setting and carry out work free from distraction. We decided to implement sound masking measures as part of our overall commitment to privacy and confidentiality, as well as the well-being of our staff.”
We decided to implement sound masking measures as part of our overall commitment to privacy.
RITA SWAFFIELD
Office Manager
Applied Systems
Brighton, UK
SOLUTION
Tasked with providing a solution, Gary Eke, IT Support Analyst for Applied Systems UK, called upon Briant Communications to design and install a multi-zone sound masking solution. Briant Communications contacted Sound Directions Ltd, UK importers for Biamp’s Cambridge products, to produce the system design for the sound masking system to be installed at Applied Systems.
A Qt® 600 Sound Masking System from Biamp was installed outside of office hours to avoid disrupting continuity, introducing additional layers of sound to the environment. A number of small, barely visible sound masking emitters were installed in the ceiling tiles throughout the open plan office areas, management offices, meeting rooms, and conference facilities, strategically positioned to provide optimum coverage. Cables from the emitters in each zone were daisy-chained and fed back to the Qt® 600 control module located in the office’s on-site server room.
Gary Eke adds, “The control element of the sound masking system from Biamp sits on our existing IT infrastructure, which allows us to access it via a PC on our internal network and set levels in each zone as required,” says Elke. “We regularly hold company meetings in the open-plan office areas and need to adjust the system to allow the presenter to be heard across the entire office. The network control of the system allows this to happen easily.”
Conclusion
Once sound masking had been installed, Applied Systems began experiencing benefits immediately, including reductions in conversation levels across the open-plan offices, a quieter work area for software development teams utilizing the open-plan office environment, and enhanced privacy and confidentiality for telephone conversations, conference calls, and meetings.
With the increased recognition of the correlation between employee well-being and workplace performance, the introduction of sound masking in the workplace is used as a solution more and more to enhance employee well-being and workplace performance.
“It also feels like privacy and confidentiality has improved, as it seems less likely for one to be distracted by other telephone conversations, and customers are less likely to hear background noise in the office. Consequently, the environment feels calmer and less frenetic,” concludes Sargent.