I have a member of staff who uses Dragon voice recognition software. She has no issues with the use, but is very conscious of the fact that she 'makes a noise' at her desk all day. The desk dividers do not help acoustically. No-one has complained, but the member of staff is becoming increasingly anxious. I have seen a microphone used by court reporters in the U.S. - a Stenomask - but cannot find a similar product in the UK. I have considered white noise, but this only affects people in the immediate vicinity. Any assistance in solving this would be greatly appreciated.

Have you asked those around her ? She will be making no more noise than someone on the phone. The desk partitions should absorb some of the sound, perhaps a slightly higher one. Also soft furnishings carpets tall bushy plants can absorb sound. I used to sit near someone using this software, it was just background noise and after a while I didn't notice. Make sure you have a problem before trying to solve it. I have a radio playing today and to be honest I tune it out, I probably have not taken note of more than 3 pieces of music today. "Stand and Deliver" by Adam and the ants are playing, but I hadn't noticed until I went to write this.

Not sure what the real name is but if this is a real issue have you looked at the microphones used by sports commentators? The ones that are held close to the mouth and cut out background noise as well as not letting other people hear you. In the immortal worlds of the old pot black commentary "for those watching in black and white the green ball is the one behind the blue!. I may have got the colours wrong but I think you get my point. (and can we please have an English spell check even dyslexic me knows colors is not right!)