FAQs

From a typical open-plan ambient of 65 dB, 35 dB reduction brings the interior level to approximately 30 dB — comparable to a quiet library or a residential room at night. Ambient office speech from outside the pod becomes inaudible. You can hear low-level environmental background (HVAC, distant movement) but cannot follow conversations from outside.

Only if both figures were measured using the same methodology. Companies looking for office phone booths should only compare dB reduction figures among suppliers that obtained their ratings according to ISO 23351-1 from a certified external testing facility. In-house testing methodologies can vary wildly with sometimes arbitrary, inflated, or fake results.  Always request the ISO

Class A pods reduce speech level by 30–33 dB (DS,A). Class B pods reduce speech level by 25–30 dB. Both guarantee speech privacy in typical office environments with 40–50 dB ambient noise levels. Class A pods provide higher acoustic isolation, which becomes relevant in quieter office environments, regulated industry confidentiality contexts, and situations where the

ISO 23351-1:2020 certification from an independent, accredited testing facility. This is the only standard specifically designed for measuring the speech level reduction of freestanding office pods, and the only standard that allows meaningful comparison across brands. Request the ISO 23351-1 test report (showing the measured DS,A figure and the resulting classification), not just a marketing

Policy interventions — quiet hours, notification batching, focus block scheduling — reduce discretionary distraction generation and improve individual distraction management. They do not address structural acoustic distraction (the open-plan ambient noise floor), do not provide call privacy, and do not create physical protection from colleague interruption. The research evidence is consistent: physical acoustic enclosure for

A practical starting ratio for open-plan offices: one pod per 8–10 employees, with a mix weighted toward the highest-demand use cases. For a 30-person team: 3–4 × Model S or M (individual focus and calls), 1–2 × Model SL (two-person calls, one-to-ones), and 1 × Model L (small team meetings). This provides on-demand access to

The microwave radar breathing sensor detects human presence via respiration — not movement. This means all pod systems (lighting, ventilation) remain active throughout the entire session, including during stationary deep-focus work. PIR sensors time out during still sessions, cutting lighting and airflow mid-session and creating an involuntary distraction that interrupts flow state. HIGHKA’s sensor eliminates

Headphones address the individual perception of ambient noise for the wearer. They do not solve the outbound call quality problem — background office noise remains audible to remote call participants. They do not protect surrounding colleagues from the headphone-wearer’s calls. They signal “do not disturb” visually but do not create a physical barrier to interruption.

Workplace distractions account for a 20–40% loss in productivity across employees. Even recovering half of this — 10–20% — represents a substantial return on any infrastructure investment. For a 30-person team at $80,000 average salary, a 10% productivity recovery is worth $240,000 per year. Certified soundproof pods address the highest-impact distraction categories (noise, colleague interruption,

Based on frequency, duration, and the full cost including recovery time: ambient noise and conversational speech in open-plan environments. Open-plan offices increase distractions by approximately 25% versus private environments, and noise-driven interruptions carry both the 23-minute recovery cost and the sustained ambient cognitive load between discrete events. For most knowledge workers in open-plan offices, acoustic