Meeting is an essential part in organizational management. A clear communicating sound is one of the factors that helps increasing the effectiveness of a meeting. In addition to audio and visual equipment, lighting, sound, vision, acoustics, communication technology, and sound quality control should all be considered along with the sound delivery and noise prevention.

Image: Conference Room

What is noise?

Noise is unpleasant sound which can be treated as noise pollution. The level of noise is measured by Sound Analyzer tool, which provides Noise Criteria (NC) value: the less, the better.

Image: Sound level from each source

Source of noise in conference room

Sound travelling can be divided into two types: Air Borne and Structure Borne.

External noise

External noise is caused by environmental factors e.g. traffic noise from land, water or air, weather noise from raining, thunderstorm, wind, or noise made by human and animals, etc.

Internal noise

Internal noise is from within the building such as air conditioner sound, vibration, walking, talking sound or surrounding building, lighting instruments, and disturbing electromagnetic wave in audio system, etc. These internal noises can be categorized into three main types:

  • Noise from air conditioner and general motors such as wind turbulence, fan, or AHU room’s noise.
Image: Noise from ventilator
  • Noise from lighting instruments such as buzzing noise from electronic ballast or light bulb.
Image: Lighting equipment
  •  Noises from walking or talking from outside the conference room penetrating through room’s partitions.

How noise impacts a meeting or a conference room?

Conference room is a significant place that users are there to talk, explain, train, teach, or discuss. Consequently, the internal environment should follow the noise standards for a clear and efficient communication. Noise can be a legit obstacle that hinders the meeting. The possible impact can be as follows:

  • Unclear message leading to miscommunication.
  • Stress and loss of focus turning into annoyance
  • Waste of energy by increasing audio or sound volume
  • Excessive time spent in a meeting rather than a concise meeting
  • Shorter lifespan of the electronic equipment due to noise and wave that have high frequency impeding the system causing faster worn-out
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