Music On Hold News

New Easy On Hold Production Studio Opens

One of the studio microphones in use at the new Easy On Hold Recording Studio.

Easy On Hold announces the opening of its new recording studio in Portage, Michigan. The studio features a large production room, client area and generously-sized isolation recording room.

The custom-built studio is constructed on a solid concrete base and is surrounded by brick walls covered with concrete siding. The isolation room is a “room within a room” design to keep all sound and vibration out. Special construction techniques were utilized, such as the use of sound and vibration absorbing material between walls, extra heavy drywall, the use of airspace for sound wave cancellation and high-density flooring.

The window between the control room and the isolation room is made of two panes of 8 layers of laminated glass with a 4-inch airspace between. Acoustic treatment throughout the studio allows for a pleasant-sounding space that’s not too “live” or “dead” (studio terms that refer to the sound reflection qualities of a room).

The studio uses Neumann microphones, including the Neumann TLM103 and Neumann U87. Sound is processed using the API 512C preamp and 525 compressor. A custom-built Windows-based system operates Avid (Digidesign) ProTools. Mogami cabling is used, along with classic Yamaha NSM-10 near field monitors and Alesis reference speakers. (The Wikipedia article on studio monitors says about the NSM-10, “many more successful recordings have been produced with its aid over the past twenty five years than with any other monitor.”)

Audio is stored on a raid-5 server and additionally backed up from there. To accommodate audio file transfers, two T-1 lines are maintained. The studio is equipped with Source Connect, a software that allows a live studio-quality connection over the Internet so that talent at the Easy On Hold studio can record at other studios without actually being there, and other voice talents can be recorded at the Easy On Hold studio from their similarly-equipped facilities.

With the completion of the new studio, Easy On Hold is demonstrating a firm commitment to the very highest quality sound recording.

Easy On Hold is a producer of voice announcements and music on hold messages for phone systems, marketing messages, voiceovers, radio and tv spots, narrations, IVR, auto attendant, overhead announcements, web voiceovers, and voice recordings for flash, video, online and Power Point presentations.

Can Your Message On Hold Company Be Green? 10 Ways We Are.

A recent blog post at AutoMPG.org gets it right when they say:

Message on hold is one of the most cost effective methods of communicating a company’s marketing message to its customers and prospective customers, and it works.  But messages on hold can also be one of the most environmentally friendly forms of advertising there is.

Here’s how Easy On Hold is helping:

1)  We offer message and music on hold players that are managed over the Internet. See information about the iProMOH by Interalia on our site. If you’re managing multiple locations, this type of unit will save you from driving from location to location to maintain and update. Messages are transmitted from the Easy On Hold studio directly to the unit.

2)  Internet delivery of music on hold messages means removable media need not be shipped.

3)  Cassettes and CDs are disposable.We can keep these from landfills.

4) Cassette and CD packaging can be eliminated, saving paper and plastic.

5) CDs are petroleum-based products. Eco Facts – It takes an estimated 300 cubic feet of natural gas, two cups of crude oil and 24 gallons of water to make a pound of plastic, which is enough for 30 CDs. Further, it’s estimated that it will take over 1 million years for a CD to completely decompose in a landfill. [Source - Back Thru The Future, a New Jersey-based company that recycles electronic devices.]

6) Easy On Hold’s music library is updated and delivered electronically. We do not purchase CDs for the reasons described above.

7) Easy On Hold is now paperless. Our new client scripting service is 100% online. Our writers, producers and clients can easily log in and write scripts that can be stored and produced digitally.

8)  Our message-on-hold systems do not use batteries. Easy On Hold recommends the use of a professional music on hold player, rather than an “i-pod” type player that utilizes a battery. We definitely discourage the use of all types of batteries.  Kate Krebs of the national Recycling Coalition states, “Lithium Ion batteries are classified by the federal government as non-hazardous waste and are safe for disposal in the normal municipal waste stream.” Most other types of batteries include toxic metals such as cadmium. [Source: Computer World] Why use a product that creates waste?

9)  AutoMPG.org points out that on hold messaging players may use about 1/50th the energy of a standard light bulb. That’s efficient.

10)  Of course, using available “on-hold” time allows you to talk about ways your company is environmentally sensitive–an issue that is increasingly influencing buying decisions. Contact Easy On Hold for help with a custom music message on hold.

Lockheed Martin, Cummins Choose Easy On Hold

Continuing more than a decade of quality service to corporations of all sizes, Easy On Hold announces it has been chosen by Lockheed Martin and Cummins Power as music on hold vendor of choice.

Easy On Hold handles the licensing and formatting of music files for use on-hold. In addition, custom voiced announcements are created in a high-quality studio at the company’s facility in Portage, Michigan.

Easy On Hold began providing custom messages on hold and music on hold productions in 1997, and serves smaller businesses, such as medical offices, salons, John Deere Dealers, financial and real estate offices, as well as larger corporations, such as DHL Express, Ashley Furniture HomeStores, Thyssenkrupp, GFS Marketplace Stores and Visa Coporation.

Improvements In Music On Hold System

When I hear the phrase “music on hold system” I know that it probably means “how music on hold works on your phone system”. The system I want to talk about is the way your music on hold company takes care of you.

Businesspeople know that systems create quality control, efficiency and predictable outcomes for customers. A company’s fulfillment system, for example, makes sure that the customer is satisfied over and over again. Music on hold companies have been dabbling with various systems for processing orders for script changes. What works?

Easy On Hold was first on the scene with a free online demo, which plays from an Adobe Flash platform for customers logging in to MY ACCOUNT. In the near future, logging in will provide you with the option of going to a “customer home page” where you will find an archive of audio and scripts. You will be able to download audio and view and modify scripts.

Comments are welcome on what you’re looking for.