AppAgent Office

Preventing bad acoustics from causing annoyance

The poor speech intelligibility, the big echo in the rooms, the employees with their headphones and Peter Fodor’s (founder and CEO) own experience led the management of AppAgent s.r.o. to take measures for a better sound environment in their existing premises. This experience has helped Peter to understand that bad acoustics cause communication noises and annoyances that are reflected in the business. He regularly works from home and has telephone conversations with the office.

The conversation at the AppAgent office was always characterized by poor speech intelligibility and problems in exchanging information. Peter was aware that many meetings, especially with foreign clients, took place (at the office) via Skype. It was always necessary to re-explain and define the information. The clients did not hesitate to say that they felt like they were being called from a bathroom. Just try to imagine what it would be like Skyping from the bathroom?

A combination of acoustic ceilings and free-hanging units for optimal acoustics

AppAgent’s offices are located on two floors with a total area of 150 m². It consists of classical smaller offices, meeting rooms and one open-plan workspace. This is an older building and therefore the clearance height of the rooms was about 3.2 m. The ceilings and the walls were smooth, with primer (i.e. mostly hard and reflective surfaces) and furnishings were moderate.

Optimal acoustic solutions were offered to provide acoustic ceilings while reducing the room clearance height. Solo free-hanging units were also added to the walls which would minimize echo in some rooms. Acoustic modifications were made in all areas except one corridor.

Significant improvement for reverberation and speech intelligibility

The open-plan workspace and one meeting room were the focus for the acoustic modifications, and the parameters were measured before and after the modification. In this case, the focus was on reverberation and speech intelligibility, which had been the client’s main issues. A significant improvement was achieved in both areas. Employees immediately felt a difference and commented on the fact that they were talking instead of putting their headphones on.

“The atmosphere and dynamics have completely changed, and it has been incredibly quiet here. The change brought us what we expected. The sound and communication quality is much higher now, even when talking to our clients via Skype or hangout. They can hear us a lot better, which was one of the main things we needed to solve”, says Peter Fodor.