Open Forum

Greetings All,

As most institutions who are reopening, my museum has installed acrylic barriers in front of all customer-service-type areas to protect our staff and guests.  We've run into a problem, however, with one particular space that has a flat piece of acrylic covering an opening in the wall, with only an access hole at the bottom.  The staff who sits behind this barrier is having trouble hearing anyone who comes up to them - turns out a small access hole at the bottom does not help much with sound!  Their supervisor has asked if we can either drill holes to help with sound (potential safety issue?) or help them source some kind of microphone (potentially expensive and difficult to retrofit into the already-installed piece).  

Has anyone else run into a similar issue and found a good solution?  We're doing some brainstorming, of course, but would love to get some perspective if anyone has successfully navigated this one.  

Thanks!
Beth

------------------------------
Beth Kelly
Exhibit Project Coordinator
Cleveland Museum of Natural History
Cleveland OH
------------------------------

Hi,
I've spoken to the folks at Leerform, advertising here, and they might have solutions for you, including double barriers where holes might not compromise safety.

Good luck!

Tamsen Young
Digital Media Manager
The Museum at FIT
NYC

------------------------------
Tamsen Young
Digital Media & Strategic Initiatives Manager
Museum at FIT
New York NY
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 06-23-2020 01:22 PM
From: Beth Kelly
Subject: Sound Solutions for Customer Service Barriers

Greetings All,

As most institutions who are reopening, my museum has installed acrylic barriers in front of all customer-service-type areas to protect our staff and guests.  We've run into a problem, however, with one particular space that has a flat piece of acrylic covering an opening in the wall, with only an access hole at the bottom.  The staff who sits behind this barrier is having trouble hearing anyone who comes up to them - turns out a small access hole at the bottom does not help much with sound!  Their supervisor has asked if we can either drill holes to help with sound (potential safety issue?) or help them source some kind of microphone (potentially expensive and difficult to retrofit into the already-installed piece).

Has anyone else run into a similar issue and found a good solution?  We're doing some brainstorming, of course, but would love to get some perspective if anyone has successfully navigated this one.

Thanks!
Beth

------------------------------
Beth Kelly
Exhibit Project Coordinator
Cleveland Museum of Natural History
Cleveland OH
------------------------------

That's a great thought, thank you, Tamsen!

------------------------------
Beth Kelly
Exhibit Project Coordinator
Cleveland Museum of Natural History
Cleveland OH
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 06-24-2020 07:33 AM
From: Tamsen Young
Subject: Sound Solutions for Customer Service Barriers

Hi,
I've spoken to the folks at Leerform, advertising here, and they might have solutions for you, including double barriers where holes might not compromise safety.

Good luck!

Tamsen Young
Digital Media Manager
The Museum at FIT
NYC

------------------------------
Tamsen Young
Digital Media & Strategic Initiatives Manager
Museum at FIT
New York NY

Original Message:
Sent: 06-23-2020 01:22 PM
From: Beth Kelly
Subject: Sound Solutions for Customer Service Barriers

Greetings All,

As most institutions who are reopening, my museum has installed acrylic barriers in front of all customer-service-type areas to protect our staff and guests.  We've run into a problem, however, with one particular space that has a flat piece of acrylic covering an opening in the wall, with only an access hole at the bottom.  The staff who sits behind this barrier is having trouble hearing anyone who comes up to them - turns out a small access hole at the bottom does not help much with sound!  Their supervisor has asked if we can either drill holes to help with sound (potential safety issue?) or help them source some kind of microphone (potentially expensive and difficult to retrofit into the already-installed piece).

Has anyone else run into a similar issue and found a good solution?  We're doing some brainstorming, of course, but would love to get some perspective if anyone has successfully navigated this one.

Thanks!
Beth

------------------------------
Beth Kelly
Exhibit Project Coordinator
Cleveland Museum of Natural History
Cleveland OH
------------------------------

We've designed ours with multiple overlapping openings that allows sound around, modeled after a bank teller window


------------------------------
Katherine Gerard
Administrative Services Specialist II
Florida Museum of Natural History - University of Florida
Gainesville FL
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 06-23-2020 01:22 PM
From: Beth Kelly
Subject: Sound Solutions for Customer Service Barriers

Greetings All,

As most institutions who are reopening, my museum has installed acrylic barriers in front of all customer-service-type areas to protect our staff and guests.  We've run into a problem, however, with one particular space that has a flat piece of acrylic covering an opening in the wall, with only an access hole at the bottom.  The staff who sits behind this barrier is having trouble hearing anyone who comes up to them - turns out a small access hole at the bottom does not help much with sound!  Their supervisor has asked if we can either drill holes to help with sound (potential safety issue?) or help them source some kind of microphone (potentially expensive and difficult to retrofit into the already-installed piece).

Has anyone else run into a similar issue and found a good solution?  We're doing some brainstorming, of course, but would love to get some perspective if anyone has successfully navigated this one.

Thanks!
Beth

------------------------------
Beth Kelly
Exhibit Project Coordinator
Cleveland Museum of Natural History
Cleveland OH
------------------------------

BTW, I just noticed this went out under my office manager's signature for some reason, but this is Darcie MacMahon, Director of Exhibits and Public Programs, Florida Museum of Natural History. :)

------------------------------
Katherine Gerard
Administrative Services Specialist II
Florida Museum of Natural History - University of Florida
Gainesville FL
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 06-24-2020 11:06 AM
From: Katherine Gerard
Subject: Sound Solutions for Customer Service Barriers

We've designed ours with multiple overlapping openings that allows sound around, modeled after a bank teller window

------------------------------
Katherine Gerard
Administrative Services Specialist II
Florida Museum of Natural History - University of Florida
Gainesville FL

Original Message:
Sent: 06-23-2020 01:22 PM
From: Beth Kelly
Subject: Sound Solutions for Customer Service Barriers

Greetings All,

As most institutions who are reopening, my museum has installed acrylic barriers in front of all customer-service-type areas to protect our staff and guests.  We've run into a problem, however, with one particular space that has a flat piece of acrylic covering an opening in the wall, with only an access hole at the bottom.  The staff who sits behind this barrier is having trouble hearing anyone who comes up to them - turns out a small access hole at the bottom does not help much with sound!  Their supervisor has asked if we can either drill holes to help with sound (potential safety issue?) or help them source some kind of microphone (potentially expensive and difficult to retrofit into the already-installed piece).

Has anyone else run into a similar issue and found a good solution?  We're doing some brainstorming, of course, but would love to get some perspective if anyone has successfully navigated this one.

Thanks!
Beth

------------------------------
Beth Kelly
Exhibit Project Coordinator
Cleveland Museum of Natural History
Cleveland OH
------------------------------