When confidential discussions aren't staying confidential, you have a speech privacy problem. Here's how to fix it without rebuilding your walls.
Enter your wall's STC and background noise to calculate your Privacy Index and see if conversations are protected.
Use Speech Privacy CalculatorSpeech privacy depends on two factors working together:
A high-STC wall in a very quiet room may provide worse privacy than a medium-STC wall with adequate background noise. This is why open-plan offices often use sound masking systems.
For HIPAA compliance and legal privacy, you typically need PI 75+ (Confidential privacy). Open offices often score PI 50-60 without treatment.
Add mass to walls (extra drywall), seal gaps, extend partitions to true ceiling. Each 5-6 STC point improvement is noticeable.
Electronic systems that add consistent background noise (like airflow) to mask speech. Often the most cost-effective solution.
Acoustic panels inside the room reduce how loud speech leaves. Also helps with internal room quality.
Sound masking adds a constant, unobtrusive background sound that makes speech harder to understand. It doesn't make the office "loud" — it makes it acoustically neutral.
Sound masking can improve your effective Privacy Index by 8-12 points without any construction. It's often the only practical solution for open offices, as building full-height walls is expensive.
Single-pane glass has poor STC (25-30). For privacy, use laminated acoustic glass or add heavy curtains. Double-pane with air gap helps significantly.
If your wall stops at a drop ceiling, sound travels over it through the plenum. True ceiling-to-structure barriers are needed for confidential privacy.
A high-STC wall with a cheap hollow-core door has the STC of the door (STC 20). Use solid core doors with seals on all four sides.
Ductwork can carry sound between rooms. Use lined ductwork and consider acoustic silencers for critical spaces.
See whether your current setup provides adequate privacy and what improvements would help most.
Check Your Privacy — FreeTarget PI 75-80. Usually achievable with STC 45+ walls (full height) and moderate background noise (NC 35-40).
Target PI 80+. Requires higher STC walls (50+), proper door/ceiling construction, and often sound masking. Exam rooms adjacent to waiting areas need special attention.
Target PI 80+. Similar to healthcare requirements. Confidential discussions must not be intelligible outside the room.
Achieving true privacy is difficult without partitions. Sound masking helps (PI improvement of 8-12), as do high-NRC ceiling tiles and furniture-based barriers.