Just as there are bad television and radio commercials, there are also a few bad telephone message on hold programs being played to callers on a daily basis. Here are just a couple of the major pitfalls of bad message on hold programs.
Incorrect Information
Believe it or not – it happens all the time, businesses approving scripts with incorrect information being played to callers. Promoting incorrect sale prices, the wrong dates and incorrect information about layby – we’ve heard about businesses who have neglected to pay attention to their message on hold – and this can end up being quite costly if your callers get disgruntled about the inaccurate information.
Long Messages
Let’s face it … many of your callers are waiting for you to come to the phone. You are more likely to grab their attention with a quick, clear and concise message … using maybe a little wit, or a great one liner to entice them to ask more questions when you return. Your message on hold program is great form of bait; only give your callers enough information to spark their interest. Don’t provide long-winded messages that are more likely to lose them.
Wrong Music
Loud or inappropriate music can be quite off-putting for many callers, and if you are playing the wrong music, then you stand to lose callers. Remember, the music you use is a representation of your company, make sure it appeals to your callers and is a great reflection on what your company is all about.
Old Messages
Old and stale messages get boring, especially for callers who ring you on a regular basis. Freshen up your telephone message on hold program at least every 6-months. This way you can add more relevant content, ensure old and inaccurate information is removed and also ensure your audio production is a little more appealing to the masses.
Your telephone message on hold system should be treated just like any other marketing campaign. You should have a strategy, and ensure your content is accurate and is the best representation for your brand.
Phone Sound is one of the country’s leading suppliers of telephone message on hold programs. We provide the full on hold package, from the supply of your on hold equipment, through to scriptwriting, voiceovers and production of your audio advertisements. Call us today.
It was less than a week ago that we farewelled 2014 and welcomed in the New Year; and what a crazy year it has been! As we embark on 2015, we suggest all businesses take this opportunity to update their telephone message on hold program.
There is no better time to update your on hold messages, just to freshen it up and start the new year with a new telephone on hold audio advertising campaign. Even if you do have the same information, maybe you can reword it so it sounds like a new message.
Are you about to launch a new product, service or promotion? Maybe you have started a new blog and want your callers to sign up to receive your monthly newsletter? Either way, you need to make sure that you have this information on your telephone lines, and use the time they wait for you on hold to promote your company and it’s products and services.
Updating your telephone message on hold program also helps you to freshen up the content, and make it sound different. By doing this, you are more likely to capture your audiences’ attention – especially those that call you regularly.
A fresh on hold message campaign is essential, just as you would renew all your other campaigns, you need to make sure you telephone message on hold campaign is in-line with all of your other marketing campaigns.
Contact the team at Phone Sound today and let us help you freshen up your telephone message on hold program and help you reduce caller hang-ups and increase sales inquiry.
We Welcome The Festive Season
Can you believe that Tis the season to be Jolly already? Where has the year gone? The fat man in red is already packing the boot of his sleigh, getting ready to drop off all of the presents to all the boys and girls around the world.
2014: A Remarkable Year
This years has been truly remarkable for Phone Sound and we have worked with some amazing businesses, providing quality telephone message on hold programs for a variety of businesses, including medical centres, lawyers, restaurants, taverns, real estate agents, insurance agents, gyms and a whole lot more.
Creative Scripts. Creative Clients.
Some of our clients have let us have a little fun with their scripts, while others needed us to simply write a program that was professional and straight to the point. We have also worked with some amazing talent, our copywriters are truly amazing with the ideas they come up with, and then our very talented voice artists amaze us at how they bring the scripts alive. Finally, the audio production team are the guys that put it all together, along with royalty free music and sound effects.
Thanks for all the Support
Thank you to everyone who has worked with the team here at Phone Sound in 2014. We appreciate your loyalty and support.
We look forward to doing business with you all again in 2015.
Merry Christmas Everyone
Now it is time for you to go and enjoy your family, and this amazing time of the year. We hope that good ol’ St. Nick spoils you rotten and you get lots of presents, eat lots of good food and even enjoy a vino or two.
Merry Christmas everyone.
Christmas is Nearly Here
Not long to go until the fat man in red pays us all a visit, so make sure you are utilising your valuable telephone on hold ‘air time’ and promote your Christmas operating hours with your callers.
Spread the Christmas Joy
It is also a great way to get into the Christmas spirit and to send out well wishes to your loyal customers, suppliers and staff.
Freshen up your Message On Hold Program
And when it comes to your telephone message on hold, it also gives you a great excuse to update your current audio production and freshen up any information that may be out of date.
New Royalty Free Music
New music can also help re-capture your callers’ attention, especially if they call you regularly. Knowing that you have a new program playing, regular callers are more likely to have to listen to what you are advertising.
Get in Quickly
So call us today and get our very creative copywriters to revise your script and freshen up the content; wish all your stakeholders and very Merry Christmas and also let them know when you will be open over the festive period.
And don’t forget to ask us to have a new program for once the Christmas period has finished, that way your messages won’t be out of date.
Call us today and give your telephone lines a little Christmas magic.
http://www.joshvoiceovers.com.au/
 It is amazing how much businesses will spend to get their business phone lines to ring, but then the buck stops once the call has been made; forgetting to continue with their branding internally. At Phone Sound, we are the internal communication specialists, and we have a range of products to ensure you continue to promote your brand and sound professional when your customers call you.
We’re talking about audio advertising for your telephone lines. With a professional script, voice over and expertly edited production; you will sound like a bigger and more professional company in an instant.
Messages On Hold
This is what we’re famous for, our telephone message on hold programs. Basically, this is a professionally scripted, voiced and produced production aimed directly at your core customers. It is played to your callers when you put them on hold, and is used to entertain and educate your callers about your products and services. Previous research has shown, that telephone messages on hold actually reduces caller hang-ups, increases inquiry and can help to convert sales.
Interactive Voice Response Prompts
Looking for a system that answers your phone, and then directs your callers to the appropriate department? Then you may be interested in getting us to record an interactive voice response prompt for your phone system. These programs can significantly reduce caller queues and reduce staff handling times. With an IVR system, you callers can call 24/7 and get information about your company if you set it up accordingly.
After Hours Messages
A professionally voiced after hours message with background music will make a much more lasting impression and will be much easier for your callers to understand.
Auto Attendant
Just as you should sound professional when your customers call outside of business hours, first impressions also make an impact. Do this with a professionally audio production played to your customers call is answered – this is called an auto attendant.
At Phone Sound, we are one of Australia’s fastest growing telephone message on hold companies, and we are a well renowned audio production company. We have a dedicated team of scriptwriters, voice artists and audio engineers passionate about producing compelling audio production for telephone lines. Call us today for more information.
Believe it or not some of our best voice actors are children. It’s true! And many of them have not even been trained in voiceover work, but they simply have an innocence that is so pure, it makes for compelling listening.
I guess many of us get nervous as soon as we realise that we are being recorded, or we try to put on a persona that isn’t really us. And the recording becomes unnatural.
Children on the other hand, simply say it the way it is meant to be said. They don’t over analyse it, and they don’t second-guess themselves, they simply say exactly what you tell them – and many of our voice recordings that feature children, are simply done and are really effective.
Children are often employed for various audio productions, for radio, television, film, games and even telephone messages on hold. They can often bring a whole new dimension to an audio production and really help to get your message across.
You can view our full range of children voiceover artists just by visiting our voiceover library. You can listen to all of our voice artists at your own leisure in the comfort of your own home or office, and once you have found the artist you would like to represent your company, then simply contact the team at Media Sound and we will get your audio production underway.
We are after all, the audio production specialists, and we can create audio advertisements for almost any advertising platforms, such as corporate presentations, videos and training DVDs, radio, television and cinema advertising and also in-store music and messaging and telephone message on hold programs. Call us today.
If you have recently invested in a telephone message on hold production from our very professional team at Phone Sound, then you will already have a very, very professional audio production that is being played to your callers while they wait on hold.
Wouldn’t it be great if you could increase your listener base even further! For a small fee, you can ask our team of audio professionals to cut up your audio advertisements and put them in a format ready for you to share to potential customers online.
Obviously not all of your telephone message on hold advertisements will be appropriate for online sharing, but the ones that are, can be shared with a much wider audience online through social media, your website and also through sharing a link in your email signatures.
 Sharing through Social Media
Did you know that YouTube is the third largest search engine in the world? So doesn’t it make sense to create some sort of content to share on this video social sharing site? While we offer the audio, you can add some visuals – such as a presentation, photographs or logo in order to create a multimedia presentation. Once you have uploaded your audio production to your YouTube channel, you can then share the link on your Facebook, Twitter and Instagram sites (just to name a few).
Your Website
Sometimes it’s nice to mix up the content on your website, especially when you are trying to grab your audiences’ attention. A strategically placed video clip with a professionally produced audio production can do wonders for your website, hell, to save bandwidth, you could even embed your YouTube clip on your website. That way, YouTube hosts the video and provides you with the analytics. Simples!
Email Signatures
Again, using your audio production from your telephone message on hold program – use the link from your YouTube channel and put it at the bottom of your email signature. This is after all, one of the most used pieces of communication in your office.
Maximise the return on your investment, and get the most out of your telephone message on hold program. Call our professional team today – or sign up for a free audio production customized specifically for your business.
 Radio may seem like the easy option to select for your telephone message on hold program, I mean after all, what better way to distract your callers than playing the latest in top-40 music? Well,, there could be a number of repercussions to your actions should you choose this option, and we thought it was our duty to point them out to you.
You have to Pay to Play the radio
Yep – you heard us. You are legally required to pay for the right to play commercial music to your callers. And this price ranges depending on your business size. You will need to pay fees to both APRA and the PPCA – and that could end up costing you thousands of dollars each year. Not such a cheap option after all … hey?
Promoting your Competitors
Do you have a schedule of all of your competitors advertising campaigns? Then it is unlikely that you will know when they are playing radio commercials, and even if you did, would you remember to turn the radio off? Think about it, if your competitors are advertising on that particular radio station that you are playing to call your callers, they could be waiting on hold and learning all about the specials and promotions as advertised by them. They may hang up the phone and go else where, thanks to you playing your competitors advertisements.
Inappropriate Music
You have no control over what music is played on the radio station, and at any given moment they could play a track that is completely inappropriate for your market, insulting even. Are you really willing to take that risk?
Inappropriate Content
Just like you can’t control the music, you can’t control what the radio announcers are talking about. Are their conversations in line with your company’s culture? Do you want to be associated with everything they are saying?
Professional Telephone Messages On Hold
At the end of the day, your callers will associate what you are playing to them on hold, with your company. Don’t risk putting them offside or insulting them. Instead, invest in an inexpensive telephone message on hold program. That way you can select the music that will appeal to your callers and have audio advertisements promoting your business, and not someone else’s. Contact Phone Sound today.
 When it comes to investing in a professional audio production for your next audio advertising campaign, make sure to deal with a team of professionals who have access to a professional recording studio.
Part of our craft comes down to having the right facilities to produce outstanding productions to be played on television, in cinema, on the radio, over the phone and in corporate presentations.
At Phone Sound, our head office is home to a state of the art recording studio that has been specifically acoustically designed and built to guarantee we can produce broadcast quality audio productions. Designed by professional audio engineers, our studios have used calculated methods and built the studios to ensure they can record optimum sound with very little disruption.
Part of our strategy was to design to main areas:
The Studio
Editing Suites / Control Room
The Studio
This is where our very talented voiceover artists use their craft to bring your scripts to life. Our pet name for this room is the theatrics room – as our voice artists need to get their acting on – and perform their act for your audio production. These rooms are quite bare, and pretty much feature sound proof walls and the latest microphones.
Editing Suites / Control Room
The editing suit and control room is where we store all of our tech savvy equipment, and where we use our magic to create the productions you hear through a variety of media. We have high tech recording and routing equipment that helps us to record and manipulate the voice recordings. It is in this room, that we work with your recordings to create a fabulous and captivating audio production for your campaign. We have a range of equipment including:
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Studio monitors
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Multi-track software based editing programs
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Outboard and inboard sound processing equipment
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Mixing consoles
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Dynamic and passive studio microphones … just to name a few.
While every recording studio is different, the fundamentals are the same, and you can be rest assured, that if you are dealing with professionals, they will have more than just a spare room set up, and have a fully functional recording studio.
So if you are looking to invest in a high quality audio production to represent your company; your brand, then make sure to you invest in a professional company with a fully fledge professional recording studio. Contact Phone Sound today and get a high quality telephone message on hold production for your businesses phone lines.
http://www.joshvoiceovers.com.au/
A telephone message on hold program is without a doubt a great inbound marketing solution, however, there are right and wrong ways of conducting your campaigns. Here are the top 5 message on hold mistakes.
The Wrong Music
Music can really make or break your message on hold program. Obviously, you will need to choose a style that will appeal to your callers, and not want to make them hang up the phone. If you are a doctors surgery for instance, a calming background music clip would be more suited than an up tempo track.
Long Messages
Remember your callers are likely to only be on hold for around 20 seconds, so if your messages are longer than this, you risk them not understanding the information you are trying to get across. Keep your messages short and sweet, and straight to the point!
Vague Messages
Then you have messages that are too short and very vague. Give your callers enough information that they want to ask for more, and also let them know how they can get more information. Eg: “For further information visit our website” or “ask for more details when we return to your call”.
Too many or the wrong Sound Effects
While sound effects can really help to bring your messages to life, too many can just sound wrong and out of place. Some sound effects just don’t sound right over the phone, and don’t necessarily have the same effect as what they do in your head. Really think about the sound effects you want to use, and how they are going to impact on your caller.
Old and Inaccurate Messages
Old and out of date messages are big no-nos. If you are advertising a product for a certain price on your telephone system, then in most cases you will need to honor that price – or get your customers offside. Likewise, inaccurate information can really damage your caller’s perception of you – so please make sure to revisit your message on hold program and check to see if all the messages are up to date and accurate.
Get the most out of your telephone message on hold system, and avoid the above mistakes by reviewing your on hold messages regularly. Freshen them up and give your callers something new to listen to when they call you.
Sound more professional and get a telephone message on hold program for your business today. Call us on 1300 799 302.
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