Holdcom’s team of professional script writers, audio producers, and veteran voice talents customize and convey your on hold message, effectively promoting your value proposition and key initiatives. From branding to providing customer assistance, we are committed to producing more than just great sounding audio – we are dedicated to designing and aligning content with your image and marketing goals, while creating a positive customer experience. The value of a professional Message on Hold lies not only in quality, but in content.
Our professional Message on Hold programs will connect with your customers, providing valuable information, answering frequently asked questions, building your brand, and reducing call abandonment. From a single on hold message for one location to a multi-location remote load enterprise installation, Holdcom brings three decades of experience to producing professional hold messages.
It All Starts With a Script
Message on Hold starts with a great script. A basic script consultation is included with every order. One of our script consultants will review your script and verify pronunciations of any special terminology, as well as provide suggested verbiage improvements, if necessary. For custom script orders, your consultant will take your ideas and source materials and transform them into customized scripting that will engage your callers. Our experienced staff will work with you to create, revise, and finalize your audio script so that it’s ready for studio production. We’ve helped businesses of all sizes, and within various industries, ensure their scripting will keep their callers informed and engaged.
Whether your audience speaks one language or twenty, it’s essential to communicate your message effectively. Not only can we provide professional translation services by native language speakers with fast turn-around at an affordable price, but we can create multilingual audio productions by authentic voice talents in languages spoken all over the world.
Work with a script consultant
Your experienced Holdcom Script Consultant will review your website and other marketing materials to create an effective audio marketing message.
Already have your script?
A Holdcom Consultant will review your script to check for grammar & syntax and verify any necessary pronunciations before submitting to production.
Voice Your Brand
We offer quality voice talents and professional voice actors who record in all languages, dialects, styles, and age groups to best suit your company needs. The right voice can make your message, your brand, and your mission resonate with callers. Find the voice to best fit your brand!
Music
There’s no need to stress about music usage or copyrights for your music on hold program. Our licensed music can be used not only as music on hold, but as queue music or background music. We have music to fit every industry and brand – to entertain, distract or influence callers.
Delivery
Holdcom offers a range of equipment solutions for Message on Hold that will ensure high quality sound at the right time, all the time, for you… and your callers. Before you decide on a Message on Hold equipment solution, there are a number of factors to consider:
- Number of locations
- Number of updates per year
- Message on Hold customization needs
- Security (from tampering and/or theft) at single or multiple locations
- Hands-on capability for update implementation and maintenance
- Length of desired Message on Hold system contract
Frequently Asked Questions
It is illegal to play copyrighted music for commercial use (which includes your on hold programming) without paying royalties. Music provided by Holdcom use is royalty free because Holdcom licenses it for Message on Hold usage.
There are many common myths and misunderstandings about music licensing. We’ve compiled a list to help you make the right decision about legally licensed music – click here to read more.
On average, 5 to 15 seconds of music plays between each message blurb. Keep your audience in mind: musical breaks that are too long are boring, but message blurbs that are long or too detailed can be overwhelming. In most cases, 5 to 15 seconds, between message blurbs that don’t exceed 30 seconds are usually appropriate.
In short, no. Music played to callers on hold must be licensed for this type of use. By playing unlicensed music, legal action can be taken against your business. The music in Holdcom’s vast library is fully licensed for Message on Hold usage.
This strict synchronization and performance licensing ensures all parties are legally protected.
For the average 4-minute on hold message, we recommend no more than 2 music tracks. Having too much variation in music can distract your audience. Longer programs can accommodate more music themes. To sample our music, please visit our production music library.
Almost all phone systems* manufactured today have Message on Hold capability, but to determine exactly what you have before your purchase a Message on Hold system, it is best to check with your phone system vendor. Need equipment?
*This does not include phones purchased off the shelf at office supply stores such as Staples and Officemax. For the most part, these phones do not have the Message on Hold capability built-in. Add-ons are available for some models but their functionality can be problematic or inconvenient for the user. The best course of action is to upgrade to either a basic key phone system or one of the new virtual phone systems, for which Holdcom is a key audio production supplier. Contact Us for more information.
As an essential component of your marketing and customer service efforts, Message on Hold will reinforce your organization’s message in other mediums. Its effectiveness can be judged by satisfied callers, ready to do business. Often, our clients report that their Message on Hold programs informs their callers about products, services, or promotions that the callers were previously unaware of.
Yes. Holdcom can readily incorporate client supplied audio components (with permission and licensing) into its Message on Hold programs. Upon request, we can include messages from CEOs and Presidents, company jingles, radio excerpts, television ads, or any other existing content.
For the best results, we recommend a studio recording of your representative’s voice. If needed, we can also arrange remote voice recording via telephone or smartphone app. Most often, a “special message from the CEO/President” will be a component of an on hold program, with the remaining messages recorded by one of our professional voice talents. This maintains a “spokesperson” approach and creates a distinction between standard content and the CEO’s announcement.
Changes can be made quickly and easily. Your Client Relations representative will work with your Script Consultant to create scripts that reflect your changing needs and situations.
Your Message on Hold content should be updated in conjunction with changing information at your company. These changes might include marketing efforts, customer service strategies, policies, promotions, or other news.
Working with Holdcom to keep your program up to date is easy. Just tell your Client Relations Representative and Script Consultant the information and they’ll revise your script. They can replicate your advertising from newspaper or television ads, follow your social media updates, and check your website.
If you use social media to promote your business or have a newsletter, make sure your Client Relations representative and Script Consultant are on the distribution lists, so they can be sure to include any relevant content.
Holdcom continuously monitors usage and content, and provides update reminders from your Client Relations representative and your Script Consultant.
To keep the information in your program current, you should review your script whenever your business has updated policies or procedures, new promotions or special offers, or changing customer service strategies.
Although most clients select just one voice talent to read their entire script, some choose two voices for a more interesting finished product. The most common choice is to have both a male and female read the script in an alternating format.
A typical Message on Hold program is 4 minutes long. Because a voice over talent typically reads between 100 and 112 words per minute, the script for a four-minute program can be up to 400 words, allowing for four to six paragraphs or messages, interspersed by brief intervals of music. Longer audio storage and program lengths are available if necessary.
A script is the product of your message and our expertise. A Message on Hold program is more than a script with words and music, it reflects your marketing objectives, current advertising and promotions, dedication to customer service, and long-term goals. When it’s time to write your script, you have two choices: You can use your knowledge of your business to write your own script or provide your information to one of our Script Consultants who will do the writing and send the copy to you for final approval.
Every client is assigned a personal Script Consultant and a Client Relations representative.