Habitat Soundscaping – and Now for Something Completely DifferentHabitat Soundscaping – and Now for Something Completely Different

I'm one of several analysts recently briefed about Plantronics' recent Habitat Soundscaping launch, and I think it's fair to say I wasn't the only one who didn't know quite what to expect from the company (see related article, "'Habitat Soundscaping': You Didn't Know You Needed It'"). Given the shape-shifting, moving target we call "collaboration," I say that's a good thing. We have no shortage of offerings that can support every imaginable type of collaboration, and given how hard it is to choose from all this, Habitat Soundscaping is refreshing in a Monty Python-esque way as being "something completely different."

My intention is not to poke fun at Habitat Soundscaping, but based on just a casual glance, doing a double-take wouldn't be out of line. We're so used to hearing about the cloud's scalability, seamless integration across networks, open APIs, chatbot automation, one-touch conferencing, etc., that you'd think collaboration was completely driven by digital technology. Being known as a headset vendor, this wouldn't be its route to market, but there's plenty of room for innovation -- as shown by the many non-traditional players in this space.

What's the Problem?
Before getting to the "what," let's talk about the "why." As per my briefing:

From these few data points, the problem set should be clear, and now it's easier to understand the rationale behind Habitat Soundscaping. Plantronics isn't in the business of providing collaboration solutions, but it has correctly identified an opportunity to improve the environment in which collaboration takes place.

While the concept behind Habitat Soundscaping may sound like soft science, Plantronics has done its homework. It identified a problem, didn't see anything out there addressing it, and decided to build a solution itself. Whether you buy it or not, kudos are in order for Plantronics in taking a fresh approach and finding new ways to make the workplace more productive. More importantly, it's built its case around some solid data and trends, so no "alternative facts" narrative will cloud your thinking.

So, What Is It?
Based on the name, you'd be hard-pressed to guess what this is about, so I'll briefly explain. For more detail, Plantronics has built a website specifically for telling the full story, and it's worth a visit. I've written elsewhere about how enterprises need to consider the workplace environment for a holistic approach to collaboration, and this is one way to do that.

With this being so new, analysts haven't had a chance yet to coin a new acronym, so it's best to follow Plantronics's lead, which describes Habitat Soundscaping as an "intelligent acoustic management service." It's not quite UXaaS, but that's part of the story. The basic idea is that workers perform better in calm environments rather than in chaotic offices, and Habitat Soundscaping tries to provide that. It's OK to admit that you've never heard of biophilia -- I hadn't -- but as Wikipedia explains, it's the "innate tendency to seek connections with nature" (along with being the title of an album by Bjork!).

This may seem totally out of left field, but keep in mind how our lives are increasingly being shaped by virtual and online experiences. Dystopians like me will see this as the logical progression in our march towards machine-like efficiency where workers are just production units serving the needs of big data. Hopefully, we'll never get there, and Plantronics believes that putting more "nature" in the workplace will help make workers more productive. To do that, Habitat Soundscaping has three core elements:

Continue to next page to read about the business case, and more

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But Is There a Business Case?
The trend toward open office spaces will likely continue, and that means the problems will only get worse -- good news for Habitat Soundscaping. Actually, the storyline becomes stronger when you consider the real driver for open workplaces. While it's nice to think Millennials thrive in social settings sitting around long plank tables, the motivation for management is simple -- cost savings. If Habitat Soundscaping can help deliver that, you bet they'll be interested.

Real estate costs keep rising, and to remain based in urban settings -- where those tech-savvy Millennials tend to live (often with their parents, but that's another conversation) -- office spaces are shrinking and becoming denser. As proximity to others gets tighter in these open workspaces, staying productive gets harder, and that's exactly what Habitat Soundscaping addresses.

During my briefing, Plantronics presented some interesting research showing the hard dollar ROI that could come from downsizing your office footprint as a result of using Soundscaping. Its research, based on a "Speech Transmission Index," shows that the distraction caused by extraneous speech extends out to 39 feet in the office. However, with Habitat Soundscaping, this distance shrinks 59% to 13 feet. That's reasonable, but I'm not so sure about how this logic is then applied to savings in occupancy cost. In other words, Plantronics has projected this same 59% reduction to show "potential rental savings" for Soundscaping use under "optimal conditions." I'm not so sure there's a 1:1 linear relationship here, not to mention assuming that all other working conditions will remain the same when employees have 59% less space. That's a pretty big leap of faith in my mind, but I do think Plantronics is on the right track in working to develop the kind of metrics companies will need to build the business case.

Another rationale that I brought up in the briefing -- but not cited by Plantronics -- would be about how Soundscaping creates a better collaboration UX than compared to working from home. You need to be in the office to experience the calming effects of waterfalls and sky views, and if your home office is an endless parade of barking dogs, screaming babies, Amazon Prime deliveries, bandwidth hiccups from your kids streaming video, and telemarketer calls, coming in to work now seems like a pretty good idea.

On a more practical level, Soundscaping will appeal to businesses where management isn't enamored with remote working, and believes workers will be more productive and engaged when based in the office. In this scenario, Plantronics is giving management a pretty compelling double-whammy -- lower occupancy costs and a more engaged, easily managed, workforce.

What About the Channel?
As with any new concept, however, the value proposition is hard to articulate, and much like the early days of telepresence, you had to experience it to see the value. To facilitate that, Plantronics has demo sites in its Santa Cruz, Calif., HQ, along with its office site in the Netherlands, but most decision makers won't have the luxury to try before they buy.

This brings us to the channel, and since the specific nature of the underlying technology is not in the wheelhouse of most channel partners, developing a network of qualified partners is going to take some time. For now, Plantronics has cited partnering with AVI-SPL, the world's largest AV integrator, but beyond that, I'm not sure how quickly other partners will come onstream.

As such, Habitat Soundscaping may not be a viable add-on for most channels. Instead, you may need to view this as a specialty offering to complement UC, either to bundle with new deployments, or to enhance existing deployments where the UC ROI isn't unfolding to plan. Either way, you have to be at least a little bit intrigued... I know I am, and I'll be tracking Plantronics's progress with great interest, so you may be hearing from me again about this soon.