While it is possible to connect up a radio to your phone system to provide something other than silence, tones or the hideous chimes some phone systems have, it is not only illegal but you run the real possibility of advertising your competition. A classic example of this was during the installation of a phone system at a new JB Hi Fi store. They did not have their custom music CD available so the radio was playing to check the volume and one of the first advertisements was for Harvey Norman! Fortunately the store had not opened yet but that could be quite an awkward situation – unknowingly advertising your competitors.
Research shows that:
- 60% of callers placed on silent hold hang up.
- 30% of callers who hang up on silence, don’t call back!
- 88% of callers prefer to listen to music and information on hold.
- The average executive spends 15 minutes every day (60 hours a year) on hold.
- Callers listening to information and music stay on line up to 3.5 minutes longer.
- There is a 20% increase in requests for additional products and services mentioned while on hold.
- 7 out of every 10 business calls are put on hold. What are your customers listening to?
Nobody likes boring long messages or old elevator music. Effectively voiced spots can work much better usually with alternating male and female voices, and always with good music.
We provide generic music and announcements with all of our phone system installations but, based on the above research, to keep your callers happy, why not consider a customised music package from Snap Messages particularly if you are using an auto attendant where the greetings for that can be professionally recorded too? There are a large number of phone systems we have installed around Australia that still have the auto attendant and voicemail announcements done by the tech that installed the system because something had to be put in there and nobody has updated them. Is that the way you want to present your business?
SNAP Messages provides your callers with professionally recorded advertising message(s) when calls are placed on hold. SNAP Messages consults with you to create a professional voice script, unique to your business and then records it in a studio with specialised voice talent. Music is then mixed in behind it. On completion of the recording(s) they are emailed to you for uploading into the phone system or external player.
Two basic packages are available – Lite and Pro:
- Lite consists of a welcome greeting, a night service greeting and a 90 second music on hold program. This allows it to be uploaded to an Avaya IP500 V2. The Lite package costs $275 ex GST once only.
- Pro consists of a welcome greeting, a night service greeting and 6 music on hold programs for loading on an external player. The programs can be loaded one at a time at different times of the year or can all play in sequence. The Pro package costs $525 ex GST once only.
Customised packaged can be quoted on request.
Different phone systems have different capabilities for providing Music on Hold internally. Some have several inputs which can be used if multiple companies are sharing a single phone system.
The most versatile method of getting music into a phone system is with an external solid-state player. The recording is stored on a USB stick and updated recordings can either be emailed out to load onto the USB flash drive or some more advanced players can be connected to the Internet for automatic updates.
Contact us for advice.