It happens to you just about every day. You call a business and are told to "AAAPhoneOnHold". Then you hear it: a fuzzy radio station, computer-generated music or the black hole of silence on hold. "This is terrible!" you think to yourself. Then you wonder, "What do people hear on hold when they call MY business"?

So you've decided it's time for a little help from a pro. You start your search online, but soon questions pop up. Do I need a contract? Is a buyout option a better deal? What about the technology? Can my phone system take a file or do I need equipment? It can be confusing just finding out how the on-hold audio even gets through the phone to the caller on the other end.
Typically, message on hold providers will play an audio sample of messages on hold they've produced for other businesses. That's fine, but it doesn't really show you what they'll do for you. Will you get the same voiceover/announcer, script quality, production quality, etc. as the sample? A custom demo, made from scratch and specifically about your business, provides a high level of confidence in moving forward with your message on hold provider. It may take a couple of days to write up a short script and record a couple of minutes of it. Listen for customized content that will appeal to your callers. Listen to how the music works with the voice. You don't need to be completely satisfied, as the script can be modified and the music track can be changed, but a custom demo should tell you if the producer "gets" your business. Also, consider how the production process was handled. Were deadlines met? Did the script speak to the caller, or was it all fluff and corporate-speak? Don't let the script writer get away with using a boring template.

On Hold Messaging Service providers