Ever experienced a scenario like this? You are in your cubicle at work, it is now 10:30 AM and the boss asks you for a report due after lunch. You need all the focus and concentration in the workspace sometimes it just may be a little too noisy to gather your thoughts and with the deadline looming pressure may stunt creativity. The office environment can be littered with distractions, though some may indeed prove humorous than others, distractions are still distractions.

Nothing can be worse than being unable to focus when you really need to, so cubicle workers and office dwellers need all the help they can get in order to compose their thoughts efficiently and without distractions. This is where sound masking and white noise generators come in.

White noise generators literally generate white noise to mask other external sounds in the area it is applied to. In the office setting, the ambient sounds we usually hear are tuned out by this device to remove all the other distractions in the workplace. This tool is also used in professional sound recording.

Sound masking is a different approach entirely, by pumping in a different ambient sound in any environment; the current ambient sound can be tuned out. There are special properties involved that make it effective, but for the layman, it simply means to hide a distracting sound with a different sound. An example is how in a dark room when a flash light is lit the light from the flashlight will immediately stand out. However if you take the same flashlight and light it in a room with multiple light sources the effect is dramatically decreased. This is what it means to mask sound, by using a different sound source; the distraction caused by the prominent ambient sound is drowned out.

There are new technologies that make the most out of white noise generators and sound masking; in fact, there are even cases in which both are combined to completely block out unwanted sounds. However, no matter what the approach, the effect can be greatly felt. The noises that may prove distracting can be drowned out creating a more relaxed and serene working environment.

By eliminating distracting office noise such as copiers, loud air conditioning, noisy cubicle mates or much of any other noise that may come from within or outside the office, this is the best way to a healthier office environment that offers both peace of mind and increased productivity.

White noise generators and sound masking can dramatically increase office productivity by reducing ambient distractions caused by a loud or a noisy work environment. Offices are bound to have sounds that will never be of help for us when we think and go about our everyday calculating and brainstorming. So masking these sounds will be of great help especially if we really want to focus.

- Frank Barnett