Current Location ：
Open Office Acoustics and Voice Quality
Open plan offices are good for collaboration and difficult for phone calls. The same design that makes it easy to talk to a colleague makes it hard to hear a caller, and it also makes every call audible to everyone nearby. Most complaints about voice quality in these environments are not network problems and not platform problems; they are acoustic ones, and they are routinely misdiagnosed because the symptom, 'the call sounds terrible', is identical. This article covers what is actually happening acoustically, what can be fixed at the desk or on the device, and which problems genuinely require a change to the space.
Two Acoustic Problems, Often Confused
Callers complain about two different things and describe them the same way. The first is that the far end cannot hear the person, because the room is noisy and the microphone picks up everything. The second is that the person cannot hear the far end, because the room is reverberant and the audio is smeared. These have different causes and different remedies, which is why guessing at a fix so often fails.
| Symptom | Likely cause | What helps |
|---|---|---|
| Far end says you are hard to understand | Background noise entering the microphone | A headset with a close-talking microphone; acoustic treatment nearby |
| You cannot hear the caller clearly | Reverberation and competing local speech | Headset or handset use rather than speakerphone; reducing local sources |
| Both parties hear echo | Speakerphone coupling or acoustic reflection | Avoid speakerphone in open areas; check device audio settings |
| Quality is fine sitting down and poor standing | Device position relative to the mouth and reflective surfaces | Consistent device placement; headset rather than desk microphone |
The Device Decision Matters More Than the Platform
In a quiet office, almost any handset sounds acceptable. In an open plan environment, the difference between a handset used on speakerphone and a headset with a close-talking microphone is the difference between a working call and a failed one. The microphone's distance from the mouth and its pickup pattern determine how much of the room enters the call, and that is a hardware property no amount of platform configuration changes.
- Prefer headsets with close-talking microphones for staff who call from open areas
- Discourage speakerphone use in shared spaces, both for quality and for neighbours
- Provide a small number of quiet spaces for calls that matter
- Check device audio settings are consistent across the estate
- Consider which roles genuinely need to take calls at the desk, and equip those roles properly
What the Building Has to Solve
Some acoustic problems are not device problems. Hard surfaces, high ceilings, and long reverberation times cannot be fixed by buying better handsets; they need absorption, screening, or a change in layout. The useful contribution a voice project can make here is evidence: documenting where quality complaints concentrate, and feeding that into workplace decisions with measurements rather than opinions. It is also worth saying plainly that some environments will not support good desk-based calling, and planning for that rather than continuing to chase it.
Hybrid Working Changed the Calculation
One consequence of hybrid patterns is that the noisiest calling environment is now often the office rather than home. Staff who take clear calls at home and poor calls at the desk will draw their own conclusions about which device they prefer, and the organisation should not be surprised by that. Planning desk equipment for the acoustic reality of the office, rather than for how it looked in a plan, is what keeps the desk phone relevant.
Redstone Approach
Redstone supplies NRP handsets and compatible headset options and supports device selection for different working environments on the REX IP-PBX platform. Our teams can help classify roles by calling environment, recommend appropriate devices for open plan areas, and review device audio settings for consistency across a fleet. Where problems are acoustic rather than technical, we will say so and help you document the evidence for a workplace conversation. Device recommendations are scoped in writing against your site layout and role mix.
Redstone Systems, Inc. founded in Delaware, USA in December 2002, has been the ODM vendor for many well-known communications companies, serving the Southeast Asian market. In 2020, Redstone Systems will begin to return to the North America market with its self-developed brand.
Redstone has a complete product line of intelligent voice gateways, providing IP-PBXs, analog VoIP gateways (FXS/FXO), digital VoIP gateways (E1/T1), border appliances, and session boundary controllers (SBCs).
With advanced technology in digital signal processor (DSP), speech coding and speech processing, as well as efficient operational tools such as cloud remote management, auto provisioning, Redstone gateways are widely used in markets of enterprise communications, cloud communications, call centers, operators’ IMS/SIP trunks, bringing users friendly, efficient and reliable communication experience.
For more information about Redstone, You can follow us on Facebook, Linkedin, and Youtube to be the first to get the latest news.
