Glass partitions in call centres: ensuring visibility and sound control

How can glass help create a positive working environment in your call centre? Learn all about it in our safety glass guide.



It's no secret that call centre managers face numerous challenges.

Every working environment faces challenges, of course. But in the case of call centres, these challenges directly affect the day-to-day success or failure of the operation. They are, you could say, existential rather than circumstantial.

High employee turnover. High call volumes. High standards for compliance. All of these individual challenges can combine to create high levels of stress.

When juggling these logistical balls, however, it's easy to overlook a more fundamental issue – namely, how to create a pleasant and productive work environment for your staff.

There's an obvious reason for this. Call centres are noisy places to be.

This presents a difficulty. For a call centre to succeed, multiple overlapping calls need to take place. At the same time, the people making those calls need to be able to focus – and focus typically means some level of peace and quiet.

This is where glass comes in – in particular, glass partitions. These are transparent or translucent walls made primarily from toughened glass, also known as "tempered glass". They exist to create specific spaces or zones without blocking natural light.

With glass partitions, you can achieve the right balance between privacy, sound separation and an open-plan feel. Here's how.

How do glass partitions in call centres ensure visibility?

Most call centre managers would agree that customer service agents should be seen and heard.

This is partly to ensure staff well-being. More often than not, staff feel more comfortable in an open-plan environment than shut away in a cubicle.

It's also so that managers can monitor staff and assist with enquiries without breathing down their employees' necks.

Glass partitions allow this level of visibility – but they do so while also reducing the overall noise levels of the workplace.

How do glass partitions in call centres ensure sound control?

Call centres are notoriously noisy places to work. But glass partitions can control the amount of noise while maintaining visibility.

This is all thanks to the noise-reducing properties of glass. Of course, even a thin single-glazed window will provide some level of noise reduction. But for work environments, partitions should be made from specialist acoustic glass.

This is a type of laminated glass specifically engineered to reduce noise transmission. It's made by bonding two or more glass panes together with a sound-reducing interlayer, typically made from acoustic polyvinyl butyral (PVB).

Acoustic glass is used in all sorts of settings, both residential and commercial. Homes near busy roads, airports and other transport hubs are sometimes fitted with acoustic glass to make life more bearable. In workplaces, they're used in meeting rooms, offices and call centres.

In the case of call centres, glass partitions block out the sound of conversations and phone calls, increasing employee focus with no loss of visibility.

For many office managers, these two benefits are compelling enough to justify investing in acoustic glass partitions. However, these super-durable products have other benefits beyond visibility and soundproofing.

What are the other benefits of glass partitions for call centres?

Again and again, research has demonstrated that natural light is good for employee well-being – and that employee well-being is good for productivity.

Glass partitions are one powerful weapon in the war against artificial light. By replacing solid walls with see-through surfaces, employees are exposed to more natural light for the length of their shifts.

As well as increasing well-being and productivity, this maximisation of natural light also helps call centre managers keep energy bills down. At a time of spiralling energy costs, this can be a worthwhile investment.

Glass partitions also help call centre managers balance the twin goals of openness and separation. The open-plan nature of a partition-filled office creates a sense of communication, connection and collaboration while enabling privacy, focus and quiet.

This sense of camaraderie can be especially important in an industry often bedevilled by high turnover rates and staff burnout.

Glass partitions help with another problem. When investing in furniture and other physical equipment, it can be difficult to future-proof your purchases. In other words, if your business gets bigger, your premises need to get bigger too.

Glass partitions are often modular, meaning they can be moved around and rearranged with ease. This allows you to invest in a workable solution that can be adapted as circumstances change.

Toughened glass is easy to clean and easy to maintain. All you need is warm water, a soft detergent and a non-abrasive cloth.

Finally, glass partitions have a sleek, modern, professional appearance that can be tailored to underline your brand identity.

This can be achieved by sandblasting, screen printing or digitally printing brand colours, logos or other designs onto your partitions.

All in all, glass partitions can be a valuable addition to any call centre. They isolate and reduce sound, ensure visibility for staff and managers and have the potential to improve employee well-being and productivity.

About our acoustic glass

Here at ToughGlaze, we specialise in toughened and laminated glass. Our range includes TG AG, our specialist and made-to-measure acoustic glass. When used in conjunction with a suitable framing system, it can be used to effectively ensure visibility and sound control in call centres and elsewhere.

This glass can be digitally printed or screen-printed with your branding. This means you can make changes to your workplace environment while maintaining your brand identity.

Like all of our toughened and laminated products, TG AG carries the Kitemark seal and is compliant with relevant British standards.

What's more, ToughGlaze as a whole has been awarded the ISO 9001:2015 quality management system standard. All this means that you can count on us for a professional and reliable service.

Are you looking for high-quality acoustic glass for office partitions? Don't hesitate to get in touch with ToughGlaze to discuss your needs and request a quote.