How Esbjerg Municipality reduced interruptions and improved citizen conversations in an open-plan office
Industry:
Public service
Team size:
Municipal office team
Rollout approach:
Busylights integrated with desk phone.
Platform:
Desk phone
Higher productivity.
Fewer interruptions during calls and focus work.
Better quality of work.
Staff could stay on track and take notes after calls without losing context.
Improved work environment.
Less stress and clearer etiquette in the open office.
“Now you can see when a colleague is busy, and you don’t interrupt. It means better conversations with our citizens and more efficiency.”
01 – The situation
Citizen conversations demand full attention. Open offices rarely allow it.
Esbjerg Municipality works in an open-plan environment where interruptions are common. For public service teams, the cost of being interrupted is not just internal productivity. It affects the quality of citizen conversations and the time required to complete tasks accurately.
02 – The problem
Interruptions don’t just slow work. They reduce accuracy and quality.
Employees were interrupted mid-call or during concentrated work. That breaks the flow and increases mistakes and delays because it takes time to regain context. Especially when handling citizen requests that require focus, documentation, and follow-up.
Calls were interrupted in real time
In an open-plan office, walk-ups and side conversations happen easily. Without a clear signal, colleagues can’t tell when someone is in a citizen-facing call.
No buffer for documentation after calls
Even when the call ends, the work doesn’t. Staff needed a short window to write essential notes and capture details before the next interruption hit.
03 – The solution
Desk-phone presence made visible, with a built-in post-call buffer.
Automatic “busy” signal during calls
Esbjerg Municipality implemented kuando® Busylight Combi for desk phones, mounted on each monitor. When an employee is on a phone call, the light turns red, clearly signaling “busy.”
15-second post-call note window
The red light stays on for 15 seconds after the call, giving staff time to write essential notes while the context is still fresh.
Manual focus mode when needed
The Ministry included kuando Busylight for every employee choosing a headset-based Teams setup – simple, scalable, no separate onboarding.
kuando® Busylight Combi
| Connection | Desk phone + monitor-mounted light |
| Platform | Desk phone environments |
| Setup time | Under 2 minutes |
| Deployment ready | Scalable workplace rollout |
“It lets me work in peace and it’s less stressful when you’re allowed uninterrupted work.
My colleagues respect the light and they go somewhere else to talk.”
04 – Rollout
How it was deployed
Installed across desks. Simple norms. Instant understanding.
01
Installed across workstations
Monitor-mounted lights were deployed across workstations and integrated with desk phone use.
02
Introduced one clear rule
If the light is on, don’t interrupt. Move the conversation elsewhere. The clarity made adoption easy.
03
Became a daily habit fast
Because the signal is visible and immediate, the behaviour change required minimal training and quickly became part of everyday work.
05 – RESULTS
What changed across the open-plan office
Fewer interruptions during calls
Work became more efficient because employees could complete tasks without constant disruptions.
Better citizen conversations
Staff could stay fully engaged during calls. That improved continuity, quality, and service experience.
Less stress and higher quality of work
Predictable blocks of uninterrupted time reduced stress. The post-call buffer improved documentation and accuracy.
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.
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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.
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