How Esbjerg Municipality reduced interruptions and improved citizen conversations in an open-plan office
Results
- Higher productivity. Fewer interruptions during calls and focus work.
- Better quality of work. Staff could stay on track and take notes after calls.
- Improved work environment. Less stress and clearer etiquette in the open office
3 quick facts
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Industry: Public services
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Team size: Not stated (municipal office team)
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Rollout approach: Monitor-mounted lights across workstations, integrated with desk phone use
The situation
Esbjerg Municipality works in an open-plan environment where daily interruptions are common. For public service teams, the cost of being interrupted is not just internal productivity. It impacts the quality of conversations with citizens and the time it takes to complete tasks accurately.
The problem in human terms
Employees were being interrupted mid-call or during concentrated work. That breaks the flow. It also creates mistakes and delays because it takes time to regain context, especially when handling citizen requests that require focus, documentation, and follow-up.
The constraints
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Open-plan office: Walk-ups and side conversations are hard to avoid without clear signals.
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Citizen-facing calls: Conversations need full attention and continuity.
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Desk phone environment: The solution needed to work with traditional telephony, not only softphones.
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Note-taking after calls: Staff needed a short buffer to capture details without being interrupted instantly.
The solution
Esbjerg Municipality implemented kuando Busylight Combi for desk phones, mounted on each monitor.
In the workflow:
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When an employee is on a phone call, the light turns red, signaling “busy”
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The red light stays on for 15 seconds after the call, giving time to write essential notes
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Employees can also activate a blue light when they need uninterrupted focus time
Rollout
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Installed across workstations with lights mounted on monitors
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Introduced simple norms: if the light is on, don’t interrupt. move the conversation elsewhere
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Built into everyday habits quickly because the status is visible and immediate
Results
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Fewer interruptions during calls and focus time, improving efficiency
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Better conversations with citizens because employees could stay fully engaged
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Reduced stress from gaining predictable blocks of uninterrupted work
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Higher quality of work through improved concentration and better post-call documentation
What they would tell another buyer
If your teams handle calls in an open office, you need a physical “do not disturb” signal that colleagues actually respect. The 15-second post-call buffer is a small detail that makes a big difference for quality and accuracy.
“Now you can see, when a colleague is busy, and you don’t interrupt. This means better conversations with our citizens and more efficiency as it takes time to get back on track after an interruption.”
“It lets me work in peace and it’s less stressful, when you’re allowed half an hour of uninterrupted work. I’m sure Busylight brings higher efficiency and a better quality of work. My colleagues respect the light and they go somewhere else to talk.”
Busylight.com is the sales and marketing department for Plenom A/S, the creator of Kuando Busylight.
Our mission is to increase awareness of Kuando Busylight products, ensuring workplaces worldwide understand the significance and value of implementing our products in the office environment.
We take pride in our products and enjoy inspiring our customers to explore and make use of the diverse features that these small indicator lights offer.