Verisk Health

The Issue

Verisk Health improves the sound of their teleconference calls without compromising the design of the existing office space. Now listeners on the other end of the line have clear communication.

The Challenge

The large 14′ x 20′ conference room at Verisk Health has a range of uses, but its most important uses are for conference calls and presentations. Being able to collaborate on critical projects requires a good conferencing system. No matter what the quality of the electronics, rooms with lots of reflective surfaces will muddle the sound entering the audio system.

This room is lined with a bank of windows on one 20′ long wall, providing an excellent outdoor view. However, this glass redirects voices back into the room. The sound combines with the reflections between the ceiling and the tabletop. All of this essentially bombards the sound system’s microphone. Unlike our ears, which use our brains to decipher speech, microphones cannot yet decode garbled speech. To combat these issues, it is best to address the acoustics and prevent sound from echoing throughout the room.

The Solution

The installed acoustical panels reduced sound reflections from the walls. Whisperwave^® Ceiling Clouds, over the conference room table, offered a clean, crisp design. The Whisperwave^® Ceiling Clouds also eliminated the bounce back between the table and ceiling. Art Acoustic Printed Panels, featuring Richmond area landmarks and added later, allowed the acoustic treatment to accent the decor and as a result, only the speech was picked up by the conference equipment.

Materials:

• (8) 2′ x 4′ x 2″ Whisperwave® Ceiling Clouds, (HPC Arctic White)
• (6) 2′ x 4′ x 1″ AlphaSorb^® Fabric Wrapped Acoustic Panels in Guilford of Maine Anchorage Fabric with square edges in Angora #2035
• (3) 48″ x 44-1/2″ AlphaSorb^® Art Acoustic Panels with Richmond area landmarks

Verisk Health Art Acoustic Panels depicting Richmond area landmarks.

The Result

Prior to the installation of the material, users had a hard time using being understood in the room. It was also difficult to be heard on the other end of a conference call. After adding materials to this room, it knocked down the reverb time. The teleconference system now works as it should and transmits quality audio through the system.

From the client: “We now have a usable space and it sounds as good as it looks!”