Tag Archives: Music On Hold Pricing

It’s Beginning To Sound A Lot Like Christmas!

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Music on hold–that sound you hear when you call a business and are being transferred or are asked to wait a moment–makes your experience more pleasant. It’s even more impressive when you discover that the business you’ve called cared enough to play something relevant for you. In November and December, that means holiday music and greetings.

Of course, all music on hold must be properly licensed, since the telephone transmission is considered a broadcast. By using a music on hold service you avoid the peril of violations and receive personalized help in getting the right file format, voice-over announcements and updates. You can hear music samples and request a holiday on hold music and message production at EasyOnHold.com/music-on-hold/holiday.

Here’s a sampling of recommended Christmas and holiday music on hold tracks for your business. Jim Brickman Piano Christmas Music offered by Easy On HoldClick on the track name to hear the sample.

1) Jim Brickman Christmas Songs. Grammy Award winner and Windham Hill artist Jim Brickman has recorded 12 Christmas and holiday songs exclusively licensed to BMG Music and Easy On Hold. Jim Brickman has been named ” the most charted male Adult Contemporary artist to date” and is a gifted pianist and arranger. Recommended: Here We Come A Caroling, Joy To The World, Auld Lang Syne.

2) Good Grief! It’s the Charlie Brown sound! The wonderful musical score for A Charlie Brown Christmas was composed and played by Vince Guaraldi. It included jazzy versions of popular songs.  We’ve got a few selections in this style, including What Child Is This Jazz and Jazzy Jingle. These selections are performed by a jazz trio, and will bring a bit of cool to the season.

3) Holiday Category, Sugar Plum Fairies. Visions do, in fact, dance in your head when this classical piece is played. sample this superb orchestral arrangement of the Tchaikovsky classic Dance Of The Sugar Plum Fairies from A Nutcracker Suite.

Holiday Greetings For Callers On Hold
While you’re choosing music, remember that your callers will appreciate end-of-year announcements, such as closings and change of hours announcements. You might have a seasonal offer or two to talk about as well.

Holiday-specific greetings are also available, to create a “Christmas card on hold” affect. Callers will enjoy holiday wishes, such as:

  • “The year end brings the opportunity to offer you season’s greetings and good wishes. May your holidays and new year be filled with joy!”
  • “Have a happy holiday season and a new year filled with peace and prosperity.”

The Premium Holiday On Hold Production includes:

  • Fully customized; professionally written 400-word script, male and/or female voice talent and music of your choice.
  • Tell callers about holiday hours and closings, special holiday ordering deadlines, end of the year information/customized greetings.
  • Special Price: $199—a significant savings over our standard Single Premium price of $395.

It only takes a few days to prepare a custom message on hold, but it would be wise to get started now (you know what they say about the holiday rush, right?). Contact your Easy On Hold music on hold expert at 1-888-798-HOLD (4653) to get started, or visit: http://easyonhold.com/music-on-hold/holiday and place an order online.

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7 Tips For Choosing a Music Message On Hold Provider

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You’ve decided to take care of the “hold button problem”–you know, that silence or fuzzy radio that callers endure while waiting for someone to come back on the line. Now you need to choose a music on hold provider. Here are 7 quick tips–things to watch out for when shopping messages on hold.

1. CONTRACT OR NO CONTRACT?
There are services with ongoing contract payments and there are “buyout” message-on-hold providers. If you want to own your equipment and messages, mention this up front. If you simply want to pay a monthly fee for complete service (equipment, message changes, scripting) then remember that there will be a time limit on the use of the messages. At the end of the contract you have silence on hold once again.

Monthly Model
You may look at your messaging on hold as a “utility” or ongoing service, so you’re thinking of paying a simple monthly fee (like you would your cable tv bill). That can be accomplished, but look carefully at what you’re getting. Ask about whether the entire audio production can be changed, or whether just a few paragraphs can be altered. Can you change the music at any time?

Buyout Model
We often hear, “I paid every month and never changed my message”. Buyers who feel trapped by a monthly contract are looking for a pay-once play-forever model. A buyout means you may play the message on hold as long as you like, with no obligation to buy again. If you purchase 4 complete productions, for example, you can use them in 12 months, 20 months, 36 months or more.

2. WHAT IS A MESSAGE?
Some companies call a short paragraph a “message” or “commercial”, then they say you’ll get 8 messages. This means you get one on hold production containing 8 paragraphs of copy. Often a “message” refers to a self-contained 4-minute production that will loop continuously. Ask about word count. How many words will I get in my script? How many unique scripts?

Questions To Ask

  • Are we talking about a 4-minute message?
  • What is the word-count?
  • How many unique 4-minute messages will I get?

3. DO YOU NEED AN EXTERNAL MUSIC ON HOLD PLAYER?
First, do you need equipment? If you have had music-on-hold on your current phone system, state this to your prospective supplier; it may keep you from paying for unnecessary equipment.

Internal/VOIP
Your phone system may allow messages to be entered into an internal memory, in which case you may not need any equipment at all. Most VOIP off-site or “hosted” systems allow you to upload a file to the system.

2-4 Line Ordinary Phones
You might have a 2 or 4 line phone you purchased at an office supply store. These types of phones cannot play music on hold without the help of a special adapter that allows music to be piped into the phone line.

Avoid Consumer Grade Players
We recommend against the use a consumer-grade audio player in place of a professional message on hold player. Lithium batteries should never be plugged in day after day. The idea of a message on hold player is that it repeats 24/7 so any time a caller is placed on hold, your message will play.

MARKETING, GREETINGS OR JUST MUSIC?

Marketing
Consider who is calling. If you are doing business on the phone, then a marketing message may be ideal. You’ve got a captive audience of potential buyers at a critical moment. They’re already connecting with you, so phone on hold is a great time to insert your current specials, announcements, image enhancers, etc.

Greetings
A mostly-music message can include a few short spoken statemetns. For decades, callers have been hearing “thank you for calling” or generic messages on hold. These are predictable, but friendly statements that can add a human voice to the waiting-on-hold experience. Consider a custom greeting that includes your company name, to make the message more personal.

Just Music
Knowing how long your hold times are, and who is calling will help determine what content is appropriate. Companies with callers that are “internal” or “departmental” won’t need a marketing message, so just music will do. Extremely long hold times may call for mostly or all music.

HOW OFTEN WILL YOU CHANGE YOUR MESSAGE?
If you do go with a marketing message, then you will want to consider keeping it fresh over time. The on-hold message industry calls message changes “updates”. If you have a seasonal business, or if you hold monthly webinars, events and shows, you should ask for pricing on a package of custom hold messages. You may also find a plan that allows unlimited message changes over the course of a year. Easy On Hold offers an “Anytime Plan” for a flat annual fee. This can reduce the per-production cost considerably. You may be interested in a smaller package of 2 or 4 unique productions. Easy On Hold offers packages of 2 to 4 on-hold productions that “roll over” (like unused cell phone minutes that never expire).

BEWARE OF UNNECESSARY INSTALLATION AND SETUP FEES
Chances are, you can plug the message on hold equipment in yourself. If you have never had music on hold playing on your phone system, you can place a call to your system installer and ask about the MOH INPUT, which may be as easy as plugging in one cord. Installation may be best handled by your I.T. department, your phone installer or an outsourced technician.

REQUEST A CUSTOM DEMO
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? The only way to know for sure is to discuss your business with a music on hold producer. Let them take a couple of days to write up a short script–about your business. (Free music message on hold demo.) Listen to the voiceover for your actual production. Listen to how the music works with the voice. You don’t need to be completely satisfied, as the script can be modified, the music can be changed, etc., but the 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.

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On Hold Message Pricing That Makes Sense

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If you’ve looked around for an affordable music and message on hold system, you’ve noticed that no two on-hold providers seem to do things the same way.

For example, what one provider calls a “message” is just a paragraph to us. Some providers price per message… or offer packages of two, four, six or twelve messages that need to be used up in a year. Sometimes there is an annual fee. Sometimes there’s a set-up fee. Sometimes you’re required to use a particular piece of equipment… and often there are long term contracts. So where can you find a simple, flexible, affordable message on hold plan? Easy On Hold.

As experts, Easy On Hold knows how to customize a solution that’s not too big or too small for your needs.

Because not everyone needs equipment for playing music and messages on hold, Easy On Hold does not require or include equipment in any of our packages. Equipment can be purchased separately at an excellent price, if needed.

If you want just hold music, or music with generic “thank you “ greetings, choose a STOCK production for 59 dollars. After you make your purchase, your music will be available as a download from your Easy On Hold “My Account” page right on our website. If you purchase two 4-minute music tracks, you’ll receive two additional tracks for free.

But remember, your on hold system is a powerful and low cost way to reduce hang ups and improve customer service. The right message can improve your image… inform, educate, update… up-sell, cross-sell, or soft-sell… answer frequently asked questions… make people feel more at ease and more important to your business. When callers know that you’re smart enough to take care of them while they’re on hold, they’ll be convinced that you’ll be able to cater to all of their needs. That’s why we recommend a custom script of about 400 words, carefully written for the ear of your caller.

There are four ways to purchase Productions:

The Anytime Plan provides unlimited updates… that’s as many custom on-hold productions as you need over a 12 month period for a one time fee of $995… or spread out the cost over 12 months with one payment of $395 and eleven equal monthly payments. And right now, Easy On Hold is bringing you an amazing free equipment offer. We’ll get to that in just a moment!

To change your message a few times, go with the Value Package. You’ll get four Premium message on hold productions for.$795; and if you don’t use all four within one year, don’t worry… your purchase will “roll over”. Take as long as you like while taking advantage of the bulk price. And with the Value Package, you’ll get two free bonuses. We’ll include a holiday version for free. That’s one of your custom productions put to a holiday music theme, with optional holiday greetings such as “happy holidays” or “merry Christmas”. And the second great bonus is a free auto attendant greeting, up to one hundred words. When callers reach your office when you’re not there, or when all lines are busy, your professional voice talent will greet them with a professional presentation that makes a great first impression. So that’s four Premium on hold message productions, one holiday version and an auto attendant greeting all for just $795, with no other payments or obligations. Pay once, play forever.

Just getting started? The Starter Package is an excellent value. For just a little bit more than a single production, you’ll receive two Premium Easy on Hold productions to use whenever you like. And there’s a free holiday version included, too. That’s one custom production right now… the holiday version for use between Thanksgiving and New Year’s Day and another completely original custom production to stay sounding fresh. Quality that’s affordable.

If you aren’t sure whether you’ll be able to use more than one Premium production, get started with a single 4-minute production for $395 and take up to sixty days to upgrade. We’ll apply one hundred percent of your purchase to another package.

Now, here’s that free equipment offer we mentioned.

When you purchase the Anytime Plan, we’ll give you the option of taking delivery of our best music and message on hold player for free. That’s a 575-dollar player to use for free, as long as you maintain your anytime Plan with Easy on Hold. Why are we doing this? Because this new message on hold player lets us make you sound great…and when you sound great, we’re more likely to earn your continued business.

When you choose the iProMOH (say it, “eye-pro-mo”) and the Anytime Plan from Easy On Hold, you’ll be ready to launch your own “branded on hold radio station”. Working with our studio, you can schedule announcements and on-hold music that change throughout the day, week, month and year automatically. You’ll never play an out of date message on hold; you’ll never have to remember to change the message. In fact you’ll never even have to touch the iProMOH once it’s installed. Everything is controlled remotely, from our studio via a standard Internet connection.

You might be thinking, “this sounds complicated”… and while the iProMOH is sophisticated, installation is simple. Our excellent tech support makes it happen.

Everywhere you look, message on hold audio is produced as a 3, 4 or 6 minute loop. You get the same 6 or 8 paragraphs of announcements repeating over and over in the same order with the same background music every few minutes, every hour of every day. Why would you want what everyone else has? Why not try something different? Say, “goodmorning” or “goodafternoon”. Talk about upcoming weekly specials or seasonal offers when they can deliver the most punch.  Something that callers will notice and appreciate?! This is what we do best. We can make your phone on hold marketing part of your overall marketing plan.

From $59 to unlimited announcements and the most capable message on hold equipment in the market today…  get just what you need from the music on hold experts: Easy On Hold.

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