White noise generator - worth the trade?

[j-azn]

Are these white noise generators good at dampening noises? In my co-op placement, we've just moved into a new area and it is ENCLOSED entirely, anyone could hear me talk if i were to raise my tone even a bit. We were going to have these white noise generators installed to dampen the noise so others cant hear you unless its close by.

Is it worth the trade? by reducing the noise generated using another source of noise.
Is the white noise irritating? (currently, we havent installed it so i dont know how it sounds like)
How much are they?

[nici]

All i know is you should not be able to hear the white noise after a while, your ears classify it as background noise and stops registering it.