Phone Booths Are Revolutionizing Workplace Privacy and Productivity

The modern workplace has undergone dramatic changes over the past decade, with open office layouts becoming a dominant design. While these spaces were designed to foster collaboration and creativity, they’ve inadvertently created new challenges that many businesses are now scrambling to address. The solution isn’t abandoning the open office concept entirely, but rather creating thoughtful spaces within these environments that serve specific needs. Phone booths have emerged as one of the most effective solutions for addressing privacy concerns while maintaining the collaborative benefits of open office design.

Open offices started with good intentions. Companies shifted from walled-off offices and cubicles hoping to get people talking more and spark creative collaboration. The idea seemed solid: remove barriers, and you’ll remove the silos that keep teams from working together. 

But as open offices became more popular, there were some downsides. Here’s the problem: there’s a real tension between working together and working alone. Open spaces are fantastic for brainstorming sessions and team huddles, but can be distracting when quiet focus time, private phone calls, or confidential conversations are needed.

Workplace experts have a term for this: “collaboration overload.” It’s what happens when all that togetherness actually makes it harder to get things done. Instead of the productivity boost companies hoped for, many employees end up more stressed, less focused, and feeling like they’re always on display with nowhere to escape when they need some peace and quiet.

Phone booths represent an elegant solution to the open office dilemma. These enclosed, acoustically treated spaces provide employees with immediate access to privacy without requiring them to book conference rooms or leave their work area entirely. Unlike traditional conference rooms, phone booths are designed for individual or small group use, creating personal sanctuaries within the larger collaborative environment.

The concept draws inspiration from the classic telephone booth, but modern workplace phone booths are sophisticated pieces of furniture that integrate seamlessly into contemporary office design. They typically feature sound-absorbing materials, ventilation systems, integrated lighting, and technology connections that support both voice calls and video conferences. This combination of functionality and design makes them an attractive addition to any office space.

What makes phone booths particularly valuable is their ability to serve multiple functions throughout the day. In the morning, an employee might use one for a client call. Later, the same space might be used by a different team member for a video interview or a private conversation with their manager. This flexibility maximizes the utility of office real estate while providing employees with the privacy options they need to be most effective.

At Ethosource, we partner with leading manufacturers to bring office phone booths into your workplace, offering employees a private, focused space within open environments. As your dealer, we make it easy to integrate these stylish solutions into your office design.

Every day, employees face increasing challenges in finding a quiet place to hold meetings, have phone conversations or simply focus on individual work. “A room within a room” is a simple way to keep noise distractions at bay and boost employee productivity.

Top-tier noise reduction on a budget. Chatbox privacy rooms remain faithful to Silen’s essential qualities, but are designed to fit into more conservative spending plans.

All of the Thinkspace work and meeting space products have acoustic properties offering audible privacy in varying degrees, as well as visual privacy in varying degrees.

Bring balance to the free-flowing collaboration of open spaces with WiggleRoom Pods designed for privacy and heads-down productivity.

Successfully implementing phone booths requires strategic thinking about placement, quantity, and usage policies. The location of phone booths within the office layout significantly impacts their utilization and effectiveness. They should be easily accessible from all work areas while being positioned to minimize disruption to collaborative spaces.

The number of phone booths needed depends on office size, employee count, and work patterns. A general guideline suggests one phone booth for every 15-20 employees, but this can vary based on the nature of the work and communication requirements. Businesses with high volumes of client calls or frequent video conferences may require higher ratios.

Usage policies help ensure that phone booths serve their intended purpose and remain available for all employees. These policies typically include time limits for individual sessions, guidelines for booking or first-come-first-served usage, and expectations for cleanliness and respect for the shared space.

Our Furniture Management Services division is designed to support you throughout the entire timeline of your office furniture.  Whether you’re planning a new workspace, reconfiguring an existing space, or exiting space that needs to be decommissioned, Ethosource is your single point of contact.