Patent ID: 8098833

Claim:
A method comprising: determining if a selected test score should be established based on current remediation parameters applied to a plurality of voice output devices distributed throughout a region, and responsive thereto, establishing the test score; responding to the test score, sensing the ambient sound in the region through a plurality of microphones distributed throughout the region for a predetermined time interval; analyzing the sensed ambient sound; overlaying the ambient sound in the region with a plurality of test audio signals injected into the region having predetermined characteristics; sensing the overlaid ambient sound via the plurality of microphones; determining if speech intelligibility in the region has been degraded beyond an acceptable standard; upon detecting that the speech intelligibility has degraded beyond the acceptable standard based upon maximum attainable remediation values for at least one of frequency band energy and sound pressure level, automatically optimizing the current remediation parameters applied to a sound source operating within the region by adjusting at least some of pace, pitch, frequency spectra and sound pressure level of audio from at least some of the plurality of voice output devices.