I work in an open office with about 30 people, all in the same room. We have (much to my chagrin) the stalwarts of open-office philosophy, the worst of which in my opinion: one big room that is library quiet.<p>This has produced lots of bad effects regarding sound:<p>-The office is library quiet, all you hear is clicking and typing<p>-There aren't enough people to generate a din,<p>-Taking a call is so awkward, making a call is too. You hear every word every person says in the office. Everyone takes calls in "phone booths".<p>-Any noise is distraction, any conversation is a distraction, however:<p>-It is inherently anti-social, as everyone either has headphones in or too scared to have a casual conversation because it is too quiet.<p>-We have these zones that are supposed to be loud/active, quieter, then the "actual library" area, which is supposed to be quiet, but the whole office ends up quiet.<p>Solutions I have thought of:<p>-Piping in white noise like www.coffitivity.com into certain areas of the office<p>-Creating natural sound barriers like temporary screen walls to make people more comfortable conversing without people worrying about distracting others.<p>That said, I need help. I want to be able to bring in some ideas to management that will help this situation.<p>Or is it a bad idea, and a loud office is much worse than a library quiet one?