Music On Hold Players

Music On Hold Players

What is a music on hold player? 

A music on hold player is an audio playback device that broadcasts music and/or pre-recorded messages over you phone lines to callers that have been placed on hold. On hold messaging in general is a service used by businesses to market their products and services to a captive audience. There are many schools of thought regarding the content one would produce to effectively write and produce content that engages callers placed on hold. Look, nobody want's to be placed on hold and most business owners don't want to place callers on hold... but it happens, that's just a part of business and the daily operations of any business. 

Is the music on hold player something special, or can I just use my iPod?

There are a few differences between an actual on hold player and an iPod or any other .mp3/.mp4 player you may be wanting to use. The good thing about a dedicated on hold music player is that it was designed to be powered on and playing 24 hours a day. They don't overheat (I'm sure there are exceptions) but my experience would suggest that 99.9% of the time they don't. They are typically warranted by the on hold music and message companies that are providing you with the on hold service. There are also some devices that are programmable so that different messages play at different times of the day. Some of the more advanced featurse come with a price tag, but as technology advances the price of these music on hold players fall drastically. 

Can I just play the radio music on hold?

Sure, you can do whatever you want. But there are a few words of wisdom that I would be glad to share with you. First, the radio is unpredictable. There are DJ's rotating in and out of the station hosting shows that may or may not be suitable to your callers. What about the music? Whose to say that the song lyrics of any given song isn't offensive? How about your competition? Any chance a competitors business could be advertising their business to your callers? I have actually signed a client up for our services that had this very complaint. He owned a local car dealership, someone from his office called and inquired about our service. After having multiple discussions with them, I found that the owner had called in, was placed on hold, and at that time was exposed to a radio advertisement  for a local competitors dealership. When his call was finally taken, he was su livid that they contacted me that day to begin the process of custom on hold music and messaging. I believe they purchased an .mp3 music on hold player.

Can I just play my CD's?

Sure, and I will say the same thing I said above. You can do whatever you want. The issue now with broadcasting music from a CD to callers that have been placed on hold is that unless you have licensed that song or album... that is illegal. Now, what are the odds anyone reports you... well, my guess is that it's pretty slim.. but why take that chance? Why risk something so silly when on hold music and messaging is the most affordable means of promoting your business to a captive audience on hold. Depending on the service provider and the services offered you could spend anywhere from $65 a month to $265 a month for custom on hold on hold music and messaging subscription. 

My Thougts.

For whats it's worth, here are my thoughts regarding on hold music and messaging as a service and the music on hold players used to broadcast that audio to callers that have been placed on hold. First, on hold messaging is a service that is often overlooked by mid sized businesses. Smaller businesses typically try and leverage every affordable advantage available, and on hold music and messaging aligns pretty darn well with that need. Large businesses have enough of a call volume that they are aware of the need to keep callers engaged while they wait for their calls to be handled. But medium sized businesses seem to overlook the value of on hold music and messaging because they feel calls are handled in a timely manner and they do well enough that the investment is hard to justify. Now that's just been my experience, I'm not saying that's the case every time by any means. The businesses that acknowledge the opportunity and are looking for a competitive advantage over other businesses utilize on hold music and messaging to their advantage without even thinking about it.. it's just an everyday part of the operation.

Now there are a ton of on hold music players out there and some may serve your needs greater then others. It really depends on how you want to utilize on hold music and messaging as a marketing tool. For a great break down of a few of the on hold music players you can visit theis website for further details regarding on hold music players http://www.onholdmusicstudio.com/music-on-hold-player