Glossary
What is an office phone booth?
An office phone booth is a freestanding, ventilated single-occupancy enclosure installed inside an open-plan workplace so one person can take a call or a video meeting without being overheard by the room.
The short version
One seat, one door, nobody listening in.
A phone booth is the smallest office pod: one seat, one work surface, one door that shuts out the floor. Assembled where it stands. Moved when the layout changes.
The word booth has no legal weight. A plywood box with a fan and a tested acoustic enclosure both use it. The difference is one number: how much of your voice stays inside.
The numbers
In place
How to tell a real booth from a box with a fan
Which standard, which class? ISO 23351-1 is the speech standard and Class A is its top band. No class named, no test done.
How fast does the air change? Ask for seconds, not the word ventilated. The S Pod, S Pod Plus and Arc S Pod each replace their air every 49 seconds.
Which certificates can you look up yourself? Ours: UL Listed (UL 962), ASTM E84 Class A interior panels, GREENGUARD Gold Certified. The ASTM E84 Class A is a fire rating, not the acoustic one. Our office phone booths answer all three in writing.
What the acoustic rating means
The number is speech level reduction: how much quieter your voice is in the room once the door shuts. ISO 23351-1:2020 measures it in a laboratory and reports one figure and a class.
ISO 23351-2:2026 is the field method. Same booth, measured where it stands, reported as apparent speech level reduction. The room is part of that number, so the two are not interchangeable. We publish no field measurement.
NIC comes from ASTM E596, which puts the sound source outside the booth. The standard itself warns its figures may not fit a source sitting inside, which is where a caller sits. Keranen, Hakala and Hongisto ran four booths through both methods for Forum Acusticum 2023 and found ISO 23351-1 the better fit where speech is the main sound.
No booth is soundproof. PrivacyPod phone booths are ISO 23351-1 Class A certified, at approximately 30 dB of speech level reduction, measured on the voice going out.
Where the loudspeaker sits
The same booth twice, with only the sound source moving.
Source inside
ISO 23351-1
Sound leaves the occupant, crosses the shell, and reaches the room weaker.
- Reports speech level reduction as one number and a class. Class A is the top band.
- Puts the source at the occupant's mouth. A booth is bought to keep that voice in.
Source outside
ASTM E596
Sound leaves the source outside, crosses the shell, and reaches the occupant weaker.
- Results may be used to rank enclosures by noise isolation class, NIC.
- The standard warns its own numbers may not fit a source sitting inside.
Two numbers, two standards. Always ask where the loudspeaker stood.
Air and light decide whether anyone uses it
Stuffy after ten minutes means empty by month two. Compare air change in seconds. Ask for fan noise at ear height, because a booth can be quiet from outside and loud from the chair.
Light decides how you look on video. One overhead downlight puts a face in shadow. The S Pod wakes on motion and dials from 3000 K warm to 6000 K daylight. Outside, the indicator shows red when taken and green when free, so nobody knocks mid-call.
Sit in one for a full call before you sign.
When a phone booth is the wrong buy
Two people, routinely. A one-person booth used as a two-person room fails at both jobs. Buy a meeting pod: higher price, lower cost per seat.
No space near the desks. A booth parked in a far corner stays empty. Put it where the calls happen.
A landlord who has not signed off. A freestanding structure can need approval. Ask before you order.
Is an office phone booth soundproof?
No booth is soundproof, and the word has no test behind it. A booth reduces the level of the occupant's speech reaching the room, measured under ISO 23351-1 in decibels. Ask for the class and the test report.
How much does an office phone booth cost?
The unit and the install are separate numbers, and both should be published before you speak to anyone. One-person booths at PrivacyPod run $6,395 to $6,995, and install starts at $900 with two installers. Shipping is free on every order. Quick-Ship models ship in 1 to 2 weeks; made-to-order takes 9 to 11 weeks.
What is the difference between a phone booth and a meeting pod?
Occupancy, and everything follows from it. A booth is sized and ventilated for one person on a call. A meeting pod is sized for a group, so it needs more air, a larger footprint and a longer install.
Can a phone booth be moved after installation?
Yes, within reason. A booth is assembled on site rather than built in, and models like the S Pod Plus and Arc S Pod sit on hidden casters with leveling feet. Short moves across a flat floor are straightforward; plan anything longer with the installer, because the shell and frame are heavy.
Next step
Sit in one before you sign
Every one-person pod on this page is ISO 23351-1 Class A certified and ships free. Tell us the floor plate and we will tell you what fits.
