Having worked in both open-plan offices and cubicle offices I beg to differ. In open-plan, it's by definition that you can hear other people; in cubicles it evolves into the one or a few congenitally loud people doing the noise. "There goes Amy again."
The visual limitations of cubicles help here, because you have a little bit of privacy that motivates people to respect personal space. I'm quieter in cubicles, but not everybody else is, but in open-plan I have to adapt to everyone communicating loudly by being loud myself.
How about some kind of sound meter that is attached to the wall of every cubicle, if it measures sustained sound over a preset level it notifies the boss.
Can shoehorn IoT in there somewhere, then you have metrics for everyone in the place and who is doing the distracting.
Could even have a red light on the top that goes off as well.
Well that's what the IoT aspect is for, so many noise events in a defined period and you just send an automated email with a disciplinary notice (again, I'm joking).
Though actually a distributed noise sensor that reports via a simple interface might actually be a useful thing for businesses.
The visual limitations of cubicles help here, because you have a little bit of privacy that motivates people to respect personal space. I'm quieter in cubicles, but not everybody else is, but in open-plan I have to adapt to everyone communicating loudly by being loud myself.