Article posted on July 24, 2025
Open-plan offices are great for fostering a sense of camaraderie, but they come with one significant drawback: noise.
A room full of people talking, coughing, laughing, sneezing, phones ringing, keyboards tapping, and more could make it hard for employees to concentrate. This can have a negative impact on productivity.
Office sound masking systems can help you minimize the disruption so that your employees can focus on getting their jobs done.
Office sound masking systems don’t cancel noise but rather add a subtle layer of pink or white noise to reduce how much distracting speech and noise is noticed.
It’s kind of like acoustic camouflage, where the added sound is engineered to match the frequency of human speech, making conversations and office sounds less intelligible—and therefore, less distracting.
The system creates a subtle yet consistent hum that fades into the background while helping you focus on what’s in front of you.
Hybrid work and open offices are the norm nowadays, which means that most employees have to work in noisy environments where constant interruptions can crush productivity.
It takes the average worker nearly 25 minutes to refocus after a disruption. When you multiply that across a team, you start to understand the silent cost of chatter and ringing phones.
Office sound masking systems give your employees the acoustic breathing room they need to concentrate and get things done without tuning out their environment entirely.
Even in non-sensitive roles, sometimes employees have to handle information that shouldn’t be broadcast across the entire bullpen. This could include things like client names, budgets, and internal decisions. The problem is, these things are often discussed out loud, which puts that information at risk.
With a sound masking system in place, it becomes much harder for nearby ears to catch what’s being said, adding a layer of built-in discretion that doesn’t depend on whispering or ducking into a meeting room.
Dead silence can sometimes be just as awkward as loud distractions. Offices with sound masking systems in place tend to feel more balanced. They feel less like libraries and more like focused workspaces.
The white or pink noise fades into the background, helping everyone feel less exposed and more at ease, especially in large or echo-prone rooms.
Get in touch with Fearing’s to have office sound masking systems installed in your workplace to reduce distractions, protect speech privacy, and create a better-sounding work environment.
A graduate of DeVry Institute of Technology, Doug has been in the Technology industry since 1976 and actively oversees Fearing’s daily operations. Along with his wife, Lois, and three others, Doug started Fearing’s in a 600 square-foot facility in Portage, Wisconsin. In the 25 years since, the company has grown to over 30 employees with offices in Madison and Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Doug likes to say he’s a “TV Technician with a dream� going back to his history with the family’s original business-Fearing’s TV and Appliance.
Doug values time with family, watersports, hiking, snowshoeing and skiing. In addition to being a devoted member of his church, Doug serves as Board President for Kinship Mentoring of Columbia County, Board member of Schools for Haiti and Scripture Chair of the Gideons-Portage camp.
A graduate of MATC, Lois oversees Fearing’s daily book keeping along with various HR responsibilities.
Along with Doug, Lois is deeply connected to community outreach, serving as a Board member and Fundraising Committee Chairperson for Kinship Mentoring of Columbia County. She also serves on the Schools for Haiti Fundraising committee. In addition, Lois’ ongoing passion and commitment to provide care for the elderly comes from her 10-year history of working in a Reedsburg, Wisconsin Nursing home.
Lois enjoys singing, hiking, sunny days on the pontoon, and spending time with her 4 grandchildren.
Ehren drives Fearing’s technology by continually seeking out trends to enhance capabilities while supporting Sales, Engineering and Installation teams. Throughout his years with Fearing’s, Ehren’s talent and vision have joined forces to create a wide variety of projects and strategic solutions that exceed expectation.
Ehren loves music, family time, movies, nature, sustainability efforts and electric vehicles.
With 10 years with Fearing’s and over twice that long in the industry, Ben continues to lead, coordinate, and develop the Commercial AV team.
By consistently delivering an outstanding experience and outcome, Ben contributes to the Fearing’s legacy of long-lasting partnerships that truly make a difference. Whatever the Commercial AV need may be, Ben and team deliver at the highest level.
Ben is an avid fisherman and photographer. He enjoys coaching his sons and other youth.
Chris has been with Fearing’s for 20 years and in the industry for over 2 decades. As a Certified leader in Sales Acceleration and trained in EOS (Entrepreneurial Operating Systems), Chris successfully utilizes his skills to lead the Fearing’s Salesforce. Chris and team are motivated and driven to develop new client partnerships while continuing to reinforce loyal long-term relationships with ongoing Service excellence.
Married for 19 years with 3 children, Chris enjoys skiing, hiking, fishing, boating, hunting, camping and golf. He’s also been actively involved as a Youth Football and Softball coach for his family and others.
