In an era where everything is measurable – from air quality to traffic flows, from particulate matter to energy consumption – one environmental variable remarkably often remains out of sight: sound. And that’s strange. Because sound is everywhere. It’s a continuously present source of information. Sound tells us something about behavior, movement, activity, and change. It’s an indicator of busyness, disturbance, safety, and sometimes even threat.

Yet in policy, urban planning, and industrial management, sound is often only measured when residents complain or when a mandatory measurement campaign is conducted. This misses an enormous opportunity: using sound as a full-fledged, objective, and proactive data source.

Sound is more than noise – It’s context

At Dutch Sensor Systems (DSS), we see sound as an essential part of the living and working environment. Not just as a source of nuisance, but as a source of information. Sound tells us where people gather, where traffic stalls, where a city lives – or where it squeaks, creaks, or grinds.

In urban environments, real-time sound monitoring provides insights for:

• regulating traffic congestion,
• monitoring event noise,
• analyzing nighttime quietness,
• and evaluating construction activities or hospitality-related disturbances.

In industrial environments, sound provides critical insights into safety, compliance and operations.

• It helps protect workers from excessive noise exposure. Both in terms of duration and intensity.
• It allows organisations to monitor whether processes are being carried out according to regulations, helping to prevent noise nuisance.
• It enables the detection of unusual acoustic patterns, such as unauthorised vehicle movements on restricted premises, leaking gas valves, or unexpected use of tools or machinery.

By continuously monitoring environmental sound, companies can ensure safer working conditions, reduce operational risks, and stay ahead of potential disruptions.

Noise, Health and Livability

The impact of prolonged exposure to noise on public health has been convincingly demonstrated. According to recent data from the European Environment Agency (EEA, 2023) and the Dutch National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM), noise pollution leads to serious health problems for millions of Europeans:

• 18.4 million people in Europe are severely affected by noise nuisance,
• approximately 39,800 new cases of ischaemic heart disease are attributed to noise exposure each year,
• and an estimated 10,600 premature deaths occur annually as a result of environmental noise.

In addition, around 5.5 million people suffer from serious sleep disturbance. Cognitive performance—particularly in children—is also negatively affected by noise pollution. According to the World Health Organization, between 1 and 1.6 million healthy life years are lost annually in Western Europe due to traffic noise.

The call for objective, continuous noise monitoring is therefore becoming increasingly urgent—not only from residents, but also from the scientific community, healthcare sector, and policymakers.

Why DSS and why now?

At DSS, we developed the Ranos: an advanced, autonomous IoT sound sensor that measures 24/7, wirelessly transmits data via LoRaWAN, and powers itself with solar energy. This makes the system completely independent of power supplies, internet connections, or manual readouts.

The Ranos is designed to:

• perform according to international sound standards (including IEC 61672),
• be deployable in both urban and remote areas,
• and easily integrate with policy dashboards, reporting systems, or AI models.

Thanks to LoRaWAN, our technology can be deployed worldwide, from smart cities in Europe to industrial sites in Africa. With minimal maintenance costs and maximum reliability.

From festival to factory – Practical applications

Today, our technology is applied for, amongst others:

• event monitoring in The Netherlands, USA and South-Africa
• traffic noise monitoring in Dutch cities and with specific construction and engineering companies
• industrial maintenance in the chemical, construction and infrastructure industry
• nature conservation to prevent illegal logging in Eastern Europe

These applications show that sound is no longer a niche measurement but a full-fledged policy pillar, just like air quality or mobility.

The future of sound data

In the coming years, we expect sound to become a standard parameter within smart city dashboards, environmental impact assessments, and corporate ESG reporting. Sound connects technological innovation with human experience. It’s measurable, insightful, and action-oriented – exactly what modern policymaking and business operations need.

Why wait until sound becomes a problem?

Let’s utilize sound as a solution.

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In our next blog, we’ll dive deeper into the difference between classic decibel meters and modern IoT sensors – and why that transition is so important for municipalities and businesses.