Glass Conference Room Solutions: How to Eliminate Echo & Improve Privacy

Meeting the Challenges of Glass-Walled Conference Rooms 

It’s not hard to see why glass-walled conference rooms are popular, especially in modern office spaces. They're stylish, sleek, and open up the floor for a collaborative, transparent environment. 

But there’s one downside to glass rooms that all business owners realize eventually: glass walls produce such strong echoes that you might feel like you’re working inside a cave. 

Not only do glass rooms echo, but as your voices bounce off the walls, the rest of the office will hear your conversations. This is not only distracting but may make your staff feel they have little privacy when in the conference room.

If you recently moved into or built a glass conference room, acoustic treatments go a long way to reduce echo and loud voices. Here are three glass conference rooms solutions that will vastly improve sound quality in your Dallas, TX, office.

SEE ALSO: Making Conference Room AV More User-Friendly

1. Reduce Reverb By Absorbing Sound Waves 

Sound energy contained in a room is called reverberation. Sound waves bounce against walls and hard surfaces repeatedly until they escape, decay, or are absorbed. 

Reverberation is troublesome for teleconferencing and video calls since it makes your voice sound distant and hard to understand. In situations like this, we implement soft absorptive materials on walls and ceilings specifically designed to reduce echo. 

Many businesses use wall-mounted fiberglass acoustic panels to absorb excess sound. But if your conference room has multiple glass walls, that won’t be enough. Freestanding acoustic pillars can be placed in corners to trap sound waves and enhance soundproofing. Carpeting, acoustic ceiling tiles, furnishings, and even plants can help absorb unwanted echoes in your workspace. 

Note: Reducing excess sound doesn’t mean you have to sacrifice the sleek look of your conference space. Custom fabric-wrapped absorbers and acoustic treatments can tastefully complement your office’s interior design. 

2. Scatter Noise With Diffusion

Another way to improve a glass-walled room’s acoustics is through diffusion acoustic treatments. Diffusion materials don’t absorb sound and instead scatter sound waves, so they spread more evenly across the room. This helps reduce reverberation and echo, making the acoustics in your conference room more pleasant.

Diffusion installations often take the form of wall or ceiling panels with geometric or angular shapes. If you’re building a new office, you can plan diffusion into the architecture with curved walls or uneven surfaces like brick or stone on the non-glass wall. If windows get in the way, bookshelves and other large, angled furnishings can also help diffuse the sound in your space.

3. Increase Privacy Through Sound Masking 

Another way to contain sound in a glass meeting room is with sound masking. Sound masking utilizes ceiling or wall-mounted speakers to play ambient background noise throughout your office. The noise produced by sound masking speakers is similar to white noise; however, it is tuned to the same frequency as human speech. As a result, voices and conversations are more difficult to understand at a distance.

We recommend installing sound-masking speakers outside of your glass conference rooms to mask private conversations inside. With sound masking AV integration, everyone can enjoy privacy and get work done while enjoying your beautiful, modern office.

An Acoustics & Sound Masking Success Story 

Texadia Systems had the pleasure of installing 10 conference room systems for Eagle Materials’ corporate headquarters in Dallas, TX. We integrated a sound masking system throughout the office to create a private, comfortable environment for people to focus and collaborate. And now, Eagle Materials can enjoy their beautiful glass-walled meeting spaces, thanks to the acoustic treatments we implemented. 

Ready to Improve Your Glass Room AV in Dallas? 

To fix your office’s poor acoustics and sound, contact Texadia Systems in Dallas-Fort Worth to find the perfect glass conference room solutions.