The Kelly Family is on tour once more and in 2019 the Spice Girls too are celebrating their comeback. Yet the biggest comeback in recent years was celebrated by a completely different star: the telephone box.
The first public phone box was set up on January 28, 1878 in Connecticut, USA. From then on, it became an integral part of the streetscape of the world's cities and communities. It has also celebrated its success in film and books, for example as a time travel machine in Doctor Who, as a secret changing room for Superman or in various criminal cases for the delivery of anonymous clues.
With the improvement of the communication network and the advent of modern mobile telephony, the telephone box lost its significance. Today it is merely used for alienated purposes and recycled as a public bookcase or art installation.
From the street into the office
So while the phone box on the street has had its day, it is now celebrating a remarkable comeback in the office. The relentless trend towards open-space offices also entails new requirements in terms of privacy and confidentiality. An acoustically shielded room offers the necessary quiet for telephone calls, in order to concentrate on one's conversation partner and to conduct both business and confidential telephone calls. In the meantime, more and more companies are upgrading and providing their employees with locked cabins - so-called phone booths - in the open-plan office, where they can make phone calls undisturbed.
But the benefits of telephone booths in the office also affect employees not using the telephone. Who has never found themselves trying to concentrate on a job while being considerably disturbed by colleagues talking loudly on the telephone? The use of telephone booths can fundamentally reduce noise levels and improve the well-being of employees.
The telephone booths for the office are well equipped with high-quality and sound-absorbing materials that can be individually tailored to the needs of the company. As free-standing room-in-room solutions, they offer a ventilation system, automatic LED lighting systems and power supply, thus creating a space for communication, concentration and quiet ─ a most successful comeback, to our mind.