If you take calls for work and don't have a headset you should be ashamed of your ergonomics! It's a no brainer to allow your hands to be free to type and use the mouse when taking calls either phone calls or via video conferencing. The obvious issue being the awkward neck lateral flexion as well as shoulder elevation and shoulder abduction that is typically seen when someone is holding a phone. So why do rely on what you know when you can have an expert tell you exactly what you need in seconds. The cost could possibly be covered by your insurance or company. Otherwise, it would be tax deductible or just worth it! Let's talk now about phychoacoutics which is how we perceive sounds. An acoustical engineer succeeds in properly designing an office environment when it transmits the sounds we are trying to hear while reducing the unpleasant background noises. They would also ensure sound related annoyances and stressors are to a minimum and important speech is not disrupted. And in the least, reduces hearing loss over time. We know that sound travels as a wave and acoustics is the science and technology of the production, transmission, and effects. Adults hear at about a range of 40 dB and above in the frequencies between 20 Hz to 10,000 Hz. Noise is unwanted sounds which are not always loud. It can make it difficult to focus or hear wanted sounds especially those spoken by a colleague or manager.

When we communicate via telephone or other auditory transmission system, we have to consider everyday forms of distortion called "clipping" or "filtering." This is when the peaks of the waveform are flattened off and cut out frequencies or amplitudes. This clipping affects vowels if the clipping occurs below 1000 Hz but has little effect if above 2000 Hz. Peak filtering/clipping has been shown to not be critical at below 600 Hz or above 4000 Hz since it primarily affects the vowels and reduces the quality of transmission only in a small manner. When this is applied to speech it has a surprisingly insignificant effect on its intelligibility. Showing 80% or 90% of words are still correctly interpreted by listeners, even when filtering is high. The issues come primarily when this filtering/clipping is high in the ranges of 1000-3000 Hz. This "center clipping" garbles the message since it primarily affects consonants.

If you want to know more about sound and how your employees can benefit from office designs, arrangements, or equipment talk to an ergonomic consultant with Ergobility today.