Common complaints include being disturbed by loud colleagues (50%), overall noise levels in working environments (48%) and interruptions from colleagues (46%). These findings and more are revealed in EPOS’ ‘Understanding Sound Experiences’ Report, which surveyed 2,500 end-users and decision makers of audio equipment, over 75% of whom work in organizations of over 200 people.
As technology has proliferated and working habits have evolved, the volume of telephone calls, conference calls and teleconferences has increased in turn. Remote communication encourages flexible working, but also has its downsides: 44% of end users report poor sound quality while making phone calls, and 39% the same with internet calls. In total, 87% of end-users surveyed have experienced at least one pain point due to poor sound quality on calls, whether in the office or working from home. These include background noise (42%), having to repeat yourself (34%) and asking for information to be repeated (34%). These pain points cause a number of costs for companies that lack access to high-quality audio technology.
These audio pain points are adding up to lost productivity. In fact, on average end-users are losing 29 minutes per week due to poor sound quality on voice calls. For the average full-time worker, this equates to just over three days of lost time, and from an employer perspective, this lost productivity has significant cost repercussions. Looking for example at the average UK wage according to OECD data, this equates to £389.48 per employee, per year of lost revenue. For organizations with 10 employees, this is a productivity loss resulting in £3,894.80 lost revenue per year, extrapolated further, businesses that employee over 100 people risk losing over £30,000 per annum in lost revenue.
