Audio Visual Solutions
Sound Masking Solutions
Engineered background sound that protects speech privacy, reduces distractions, and creates acoustically comfortable environments for your workforce.
What Is Sound Masking?
Sound masking introduces a gentle, uniform background sound into a workspace that is specifically engineered to match the frequency range of human speech. The result is simple but powerful: conversations become less intelligible at a distance, giving occupants both privacy and fewer distractions.
This is not about making a space silent. It is about raising the ambient floor so that nearby speech no longer pulls your attention away from the task at hand. The masking sound itself is unobtrusive — most people stop noticing it within minutes.
Sound masking is often called “white noise,” but that is technically inaccurate. True white noise contains all frequencies at equal intensity. Sound masking uses a carefully shaped spectrum tuned specifically to the human speech range, making it far more effective and comfortable than raw white or pink noise.
Key Benefits
- Reduces speech intelligibility by up to 50%, making overheard conversations unintelligible
- Increases workplace focus and productivity by minimizing auditory distractions
- Protects confidential conversations in HIPAA, legal, and financial environments
- Delivers a consistent acoustic environment across open floor plans and mixed-use spaces
- Complements acoustic panels, ceiling baffles, and architectural sound treatments
How Sound Masking Works
A three-component system that creates uniform acoustic privacy across your facility.
Emitters
Small speakers are installed above ceiling tiles or within open ceiling structures to generate a uniform sound field across the entire space. The emitters are invisible to occupants.
Sound Spectrum
The masking sound is tuned to the specific frequency range of human speech (200 Hz – 5 kHz). This targeted spectrum is what makes the system effective without being loud or noticeable.
Privacy Zone
Conversations become unintelligible beyond a short radius, creating natural privacy boundaries. Workers maintain focus without needing headphones, walls, or physical barriers.
Where Sound Masking Matters
Privacy and focus are not optional in these environments.
Open Plan Offices
Reduce distraction between workstations and focus zones without adding walls or restructuring floor plans.
Healthcare Facilities
HIPAA-compliant speech privacy for patient areas, nurse stations, consultation rooms, and pharmacies.
Law Firms
Attorney-client privilege protection in offices, conference rooms, and adjacent hallways.
Financial Services
Protect sensitive financial discussions and client meetings from unintended disclosure in open branches.
Call Centers
Reduce cross-talk between operators and improve call clarity so agents hear their callers, not their neighbors.
Executive Suites
Ensure confidentiality for C-suite offices and boardrooms where strategic decisions are discussed.
Minimally Invasive Installation
Sound masking emitters are installed above drop-ceiling tiles, making them completely invisible to building occupants. In open-ceiling environments, speakers can be painted to match exposed structures. All emitters are wired with low-voltage cabling back to a central controller — the same infrastructure our cabling teams install every day.
After physical installation, each zone is individually tuned using calibrated measurement equipment. Volume and spectral curve are adjusted to match the acoustic characteristics of each area, accounting for ceiling height, surface materials, and ambient noise. The result is a uniform sound field that feels natural rather than artificial.
Typical project timeline: 1–3 days for most office floors, with no disruption to daily operations.
Technical Specifications
The Business Case for Sound Masking
Measurable returns in productivity, compliance, and employee satisfaction.
Protect Privacy. Improve Focus.
Let us design a sound masking system tailored to your floor plan, ceiling type, and privacy requirements. One conversation is all it takes to get started.
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Contact Unió For Your Project
For more information, email [email protected] or call 520.762.6535