The minimum meaningful investment depends on your meeting type. For primarily video meetings, a quality microphone ($100–$300) plus an acoustic-treated corner ($3,000–$8,000) can create a significantly more professional remote meeting environment than an open desk. For in-person meetings requiring genuine speech privacy, the minimum is a soundproof enclosed space — either external rental (ongoing operating cost) or a HIGHKA Model M or L pod (capital investment with residual value). There is no zero-cost route to genuine acoustic privacy for in-person client meetings.