Missing Office During Coronavirus Lockdown? These Websites Bring Familiar Office Sounds to the Home

While working from home has its advantages, it can't be denied that the relative silence that comes with it can often make us feel lonely. If you're missing the light chattering sound of your colleagues, buzzing sounds of the printer, the whirring of air conditioning system, and the ringing telephone on the reception desk whilst working from home amid the coronavirus pandemic - well, you're not the only one. And in case you are already feeling nostalgic about your workplace, we have looked at some websites and videos that can help you feel being at an office without physically attending it.

I miss the office

To help you focus while working from home, Kids Creative Agency has come up with imisstheoffice.eu that offers "soothing tones of modern office."

Once you open the website and hit the play button at the bottom left, you will notice the site isn't just a white noise generator. You can click around on different objects to activate certain sounds such as clattering of a desktop keyboard, the buzzing of a printer or a silent cell phone, and even the subtle sounds of a moving chair. The website further allows you to increase the number of colleagues (maximum 10) to recreate the perfect office setting.

The Sound of Colleagues

Similar to imisstheoffice.eu, 'The Sound of Colleagues' website offers a variety of sounds that we hear every day in office. These include sounds from the coffee machine, printer, telephone, office dogs, keyboards, and even "rain on the window."

The website allows you to increase or decrease the volume of a particular object to recreate the setting that you probably notice from your own desk at work. The Sounds of Colleagues is created by Red Pipe Studios and Familjen.

Calm Office

Mynoise.net offers "calm" office noises "without the boss yelling at you." On the website, you can find various sound effects including room tone, air conditioner, chatty colleagues, copy machine, printer and scanner, along with other office noises. Similar to 'The Sound of Colleagues,' you can adjust these sounds to replicate your office environment at home.

There's also a myNoise app available on both Apple App Store and Google Play Store. However, the "calm office" sound is not added to the default sound collection. It can be downloaded from the download section on both Android and iOS apps.

Alexa and more

For those who own Amazon Echo smart speakers, an office ambience at their home can be very easily replicated with a simple voice command. Just say "Alexa, start office sounds," and the device will start playing the office-sounds that we are used to listening, for an hour.

Similarly, iOS users can also download the Sound Bored app from the App Store. The app has a collection of sounds including the clicking sound of the heel-shoes to the floor, subtle honking of cars out of the window and many more.

To be also fair, not all workplaces are as quiet as we think. We have also looked at some videos on YouTube that recreate sounds of a busy workplace. Here's a list for those who miss the adrenaline rush in a noisy office offer, to fight your coronavirus woes.