How to Soundproof Your Call Center

Call centers are typically large rooms that are filled with numerous operators talking to customers on headsets. Multiple voices, all at the same time, fill the airwaves inside the room. As their echoes continue to bounce off the perimeter wall, ceiling and floor surfaces, the phone bank operators strain to hold a conversation over the phone with their customers, and the decibel levels in the room continue to spike. That’s why it’s important to invest in call center soundproofing. The poor work environment blurs sound signals, threatens clarity to speech, and limits the effectiveness of the phone conversation. The key to producing a more user-friendly call center environment is to install call center noise reduction products and eliminate the echo.

Related Sound Panel Options for Noisy Call Centers

There is a tack-able version of our Fabric Panel that converts the sound panel to a bulletin board.   This is called a FabricTack Treatment Panel and is popular as an inset into a work desk environment.   Another popular alternative sound panel option is our Pyramid Acoustic Foam that can mounted as you wish around your room.   And finally, if you have an exposed joist metal deck ceiling, the VET Acoustic Baffles are yet another means for introducing sound control into your Call Center environment.

Call Center Soundproofing:  Q&A

How does office noise in a Call Center impact worker productivity?

Call Centers are typically office spaces that are designed for efficient use of available room with cubicle settings for phone bank operators who all speak simultaneous.  As their voices fill the cavity space to the room, background noise elevates, forcing the phone operators to raise their volumes up over the background noise to the callers on the phone.  This produces a strain in phone conversation and worker productivity.   Absenteeism, turnover and poor work performance are the result, which in turn threatens the long term viability to the business.

What impact does Call Center noise have on turnover and absenteeism?

It’s important to create a comfortable work environment when running a call center business. Call centers have multiple operators who talk at the same time. This makes it difficult for workers to be heard and causes them to raise their voices. The spike in noise creates an atmosphere that is hard to correct without call center soundproofing products. Due to the consistently poor work environment, workers may choose to be absent or find a different job, resulting in an overall high turnover rate.  The replacement costs to train new employees can prove to be prohibitive to the growth of the business.  An investment in sound panels for the space is the more favorable alternative to ensure the success of the call center.

What is the cost to the Call Center if you don’t control your noise levels?

The ultimate cost is not being able to retain your employees. There may be constant turnover, which means you’ll have to hire new people. Because of this, you’ll have to continually train your new hires, which ultimately wastes your time and money. By investing in acoustic panels, you choose to bypass the constant turnover, and ultimately, invest in your employees.  In addition to employee turnover, the caller on the other end of the phone will be affected by the professionalism of the phone operator.  If the operator is shouting to hold conversation, this will affect the impact of the quality of the phone call.

How to reduce noise levels for telemarketers in a Call Center environment?

Sound panels are the easiest way you can reduce noise levels in your space. By mounting them to the wall or ceiling, you can effectively capture and convert the noise that is disrupting your work environment. The key to success, however, lies in your product selection and coverage amount. By providing the right room measurements, you can have adequate soundproofing. See our Room Analysis for more information.   The sound panels can be wall or ceiling mounted within the call center, or cut to retrofit into existing cubicle work spaces.   The key is to not under treat the room, so be sure to check with our sound consultants to target the appropriate coverage amounts based on your room size.

How can cubicles work to help control noise exposure levels in a loud Call Center environment?

Our FabricTack Panel is a popular option that can serve as an inset for the workspace. Not only can it be converted to a bulletin board, but it also serves as an effective sound panel for noise absorption. It can be customized to the size and color you want. With over 60 different color options, they are a great choice for work desk soundproofing.  These panels can be custom cut to retrofit into the cavity space of each cubicle.  They will serve to absorb the echoes of the phone operators voice, lowering the level of ambient echo in the room, and serving to generate a more controlled acoustic environment.  

Does soundproofing a Call Center make the telemarketers less loud?

No. Sound panels will not make telemarketers less loud. Sound panels will make the room less loud. The noise levels in a loud call center are caused by the phone operators’ voices as they reflect and bounce around the room. As the echoes spike to uncomfortable levels, the noise works to interfere with the productivity of the other operators. Fabric Panels are acoustic panels that will combine to capture these sound wave reflections, lowering the level of noise in the room, and creating a more comfortable and productive work environment for the phone operators.

How many sound panels does my Call Center need?

The size, shape and surface textures of your call center will determine the amount of sound panels needed to properly soundproof your room. Simply feed your room’s dimensions into our help desk at 1-800-638-9355 or submit a Room Analysis. We will calculate your sound panel coverage amounts for you. The sound values you seek for call center noise reduction lie in not undertreating the room with acoustic panels. Our calculations are based on more than 26 years of defining projects just like yours.  The key mistake that can be made on your sound control product is if we under treat the room, so we need to guide the calculations for you on coverage amounts.   You control panel size, panel color and placement as you wish throughout the room, wall or ceiling mounted.

Where to place sound panels in a Call Center environment?

Acoustic panels can be placed as you wish within your call center environment. The bulk of our projects will target the top 1/3 of your perimeter wall space, or ceiling, for sound panel placement. The goal will be to evenly distribute the soundproofing panels as best you can around the room’s perimeter. You can also have us cut the panels as insets into the cubicle work station locations, as well as upgrade the panels to make them double as bulletin boards for your phone operators. See FabricTack Panels.   Note that most cubicle settings with cloth wrapped interior walls are backed by hard metal panel surfaces that actually reflect the noise and make the acoustics worse rather than better.   Insetting our sound panels into the cubicles will absorb up to 80% of the echoes bouncing off the surface.

What are the benefits to using NetWell’s sound panels in a Call Center?

By capturing and converting unwanted echoes from your call center environment, our sound panels will lower the noise exposure levels in your room. In turn, the phone operators will work in a more calm and comfortable environment, lowering levels of absenteeism and turnover, while raising levels of worker productivity.  As a result, soundproofing your call center will increase the profitability to your company, increase the satisfaction of your employees, and the customers they are serving.