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Appropriate Music for Callers 'On Hold'?
RiBread asks: "I work at a startup, and as such wear many hats. Right now I'm trying to make sure our phone system is useful. One of everyone's biggest complaints is the cheesy music that plays when someone calls in and is put on hold. The stunning MIDI rendition of 'Home on the Range' they hear vies only with the ice cream truck and 'It's a Small World' for its ability to infuriate. I found out we can hook up a CD player to the phone system to alleviate this, but the real question is now: what do we want to play? What's the best 'on hold' music you've heard?
(comments with links to samples of music will be most appreciated)"
Let me get this straight, you work at a startup and this is what your worried about?
Put actual music on there, and change it. Not stuff that only appeals to a small audience - stuff lots of people like. Blue Man Group, Beatles, ABBA ... or whatever. Licensing might be an issue; I don't know. But don't put on Ride of the Valkries and Beethovens 9th 300 kajillion times in a row.
Classical music is good, but don't forget about copyrights. Although the music itself may be in the public domain the performance may not be.
Prevent email address forgery. Publish SPF records for y
Once you put them on hold, they'll never make the mistake of calling again.
Any of his stuff should work well for this. I imagine "Chop, Chop, Chop" and "Time to Kill" would be especially appropriate.
All Primus/Sausage/Col. Les Claypool's Fabulous Flying Frog Brigade
All the Time
(except when you're playing Rush)
Popular? no. It will change your customers' attitudes though.
The smart ones, at least...
"Oh my God. This is terrible. This is the end of my Presidency. I'm fucked."; ~ Donald J. Trump
From Ninja Gaiden. That or almost any other tune from that game.
Einstürzende Neubauten.
I heard Thelonious Monk while on hold for AT&T last week.
Sweetness.
Rage Against the Machine - Bullet in the Head.
It perfectly describes my attitude to being on hold.
why not an iPod? 10000 songs, just put it on repeat and shuffle, and off you go.
On a side note- muzak is intended to be calming for everyone. Instead it's annoying. All other music is written for a specific audience, so no matter what you play, someone won't like it. i say load the iPod with some of everything.
-Ryan
AUWYHSTOT (Acronyms are Useless When You Have to Spell Them Out Too)
Well, I'd check out the legal aspects of using commercially produced music like that... but that said, you want something that's relaxing but crisp, no vocals (or minimal)... possibly approachable jazz/swing?
Ever heard of Pink Martini? Some of their songs would be the perfect hold music. No specific genre (but vaguely retro), non-threatening to most.
There are only 10 types of people: those who understand decimal, those who don't, and, uh, 8 other types I forget.
...while I do real work. I didn't call to listen to music, it just serves as a reminder that you haven't hung up on me.
When I was in high school (Such a long time ago. About 3 weeks ago) they piped some low volume classical into the halls during classes. They claimed it had a calming effect on the students and helped them learn.
Not a Twitter sockpuppet... but I wish I was.
.. use marketting material for their hold music. At the very least, customers are reminded whom they are on hold with and what specials and products/services you offer. I thought it was a good idea...
sigs are like a box of chocolates, they all suck remove the underscores to email me
I've worked at many call centers. If people HAVE to be on hold, they definitely prefer something nice to listen to. I've heard quite a few comments from customers saying "Whats that god awful sound for the hold "music"?!? I remember one company i worked at, the hold music there was broken and they never bothered fixing it for a couple years. Once we went over to a new system, and we actually had a chance to change the hold music to something a bit better, people were more pleasant when we actually got to their calls.
Anyway.. I'd definitely recommend a mix of current music from various genres as recommended before, however people sometimes do choose to hang up or lower their speaker phone on a song they do not like... In which case you may loose the call. I've found that the "muzak" version of current songs seems to work out well. Or at least instrumental versions of current songs.. It gives people a chance to "be creative" while on hold and they aren't forced to listen to a singer that they don't like.
Also I recommend streaming a local Light FM station through or even a news channel.
But one of the most important things to do is to occasionally break in with the customer's hold status and important system messages that could pertain to why they are calling.
Good luck in your new endeavor
---
Your sig is for me to poop on.
I personally really enjoy it when I call up some place, and their hold music is the local public radio station. I think it's great to hear that little bit of wherever the end-point of your call is. Granted, this doesn't work for huge companies, but when I call a smallish / mediumish place, it's a nice treat.
The purpose of call-hold music is to indicate that you have not hung up. So why not send soft beeps, once in a while, so that
(a) the exchange does not terminate the call thinking that there is no activity
(b) the listener doesnt get pissed off listening to some (great?) music played over a crap 3KHz bandwidth phone line
US is now divided as the "Red" and "blue" states. Red States = communist countries. Coincidence? I think not
A little out of the way, but how about offering a range of music and let the customer flick through the music by pressing a number on their phone until they find something they like.
- No, I am not your imagination
here i am not talking about what music to use but how to choose different music accordingly.
... morning, noon, evening.
1. Depending upon the time of call
2. Depending upon the destination department, like finance, customer support...
3. Depending upon the destination person, this person will decide what his caller want to hear.
4. depending upon the caller(this should be the first point) like partner, customer, consultant...etc.
for your business. I'd suggest a mix of open-source or musician-posted streaming audio direct off the internet.
That, or some Mid-Cretaceous Dinosaur rockers like Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, The Doors - would really let your customers know that your software's inspired by organic product.
Big Daddy, Johnny, Burp, Aunt Zelda, Scott, Slurp, Big Momma
I think some companies like to use the hold time for ads. However, this can backfire if you leave people on hold too long, because they will get more upset and start making up their own "versions" of your ads. I think what works best is some easy listening or classical music from a local radio station. This way you get the variety that you would not have to keep up with yourself.
-CowboyNick
Specifically, I'd go with with mostly Romantic and Classical stuff (Schubert, Shumann, Mozart, Haydn...), although some twentieth century composers would work well too, I think (Rachmaninoff, Copland's folksy stuff).
Jazz standards are probably pretty good too, stuff like Sinatra. The main thing, I think, is to stay away from contemporary pop stuff. You're always going to irritate lots of people that way, because everyone hates at least half of the stuff on the radio.
Ahh in which case I'd put the speakerphone up to 10 and allow everyone else to enjoy as well. :P
--
http://www.winterkalte.com/sound.html
For a commercial music, you want to try to offend as few people as possible, while still playing interesting music that people won't mind listening to. Generally you want it to be instrumental, apolitical, and good.
You don't want to be playing The Clash or blaring Radiohead out to the world.
Downtempo electronica and acid jazz fit that bill perfectly. They have a certain amount of respectability because they generally sample jazz and mix it with electronic beats and modulations to produce very "chill out" music. It's not hard on the ears, it's not loud. It's quiet and relaxing, and still good. The nice thing is, there's a lot of it that is purely instrumental. No annoying vocals to deal with, so you have to neither risk alienating people with controversial vocals, nor dumb down vocals to the point where they are stupefyingly trite and banal.
For concrete suggestions, try the following:
Suzuki by Tosca
Bricolage by Amon Tobin
Another choice you have is to play straight up good Jazz. Put on some Coltrane or Miles Davis or Herbie Hancock or something. There's no fucking way anybody can be offended by that music. It's all instrumental, and it's all rock solid.
Jazz and jazz-based electronica seem to be a perfect fit for what you're looking for in terms of: apolitical, instrumental, and good.
-Laxitive
Then again if this is not a tech support line, please disregard. Might want to think about doing the Engelbert Humperdinck thang.
Web2.0: I love when people Flickr my cuil and digg my boingboing until my google is reddit and I start to yahoo
I strongly recomend some light classical music. Many people enjoy it and at worst, some who don't atleast won't be pissed off by it like the music you named. The lack of people singing in it is also helpful when on hold, as I'm often talking to other people in the room with me, or trying to pay attention to something else. Makes it easier, so when someone Does come on the phone you can readily identify them.
Mike Scanlon
If you can change the way hold works and give them a separate line plug them into HAL. It will give them the option of voice command over their music. All you need is a PC with a good voice modem and HAL (one pc per line).m c.shtml
http://www.automatedliving.com/products_d
Instead of being forced to listed to a monolithic, one-way conduit of bad music the next time you're on hold, wouldn't it be great if you could change the station? "Press 1 for Jazz, press 2 for Top 40, etc." People would stay on hold longer, which means the businesses who used this would get more customers. I might even call it just to listen to the music! It could be Internet radio, XM, or anything else. Discussion here.
If you're specifically asking about genres, I recommend ambient electronica and/or classical, in that order.
Play some speed metal or punk. Nothing says "We are here to help you" like Crass or Slipknot.
You may find your work load lighten a bit with all the hang ups.
flinging poop since 1969
Use your competitors adverts. It means that there is an incentive to get people off those dumb arse holding queues.
For a long time, Apple used to play surf rock. Beach Boys, Ventures, etc. Definitely different; made waiting much nicer.
- The Amazina Llama
I suggest the Bunny Hop, and other such music. Children's songs like "I'm a Little Teapot," or "Head & Shoulders, Knees & Toes (Knees & Toes)." Oh yeah, great stuff. "Pop Goes the Weasel," "The Hokey Pokey." Classics all, and guaranteed to drive most sane adults totally bonkers. Then when they get annoyed and hang up, you don't have to talk to them!
How much do you like your job ?
Veteran, Bermuda Triangle Expeditionary Force, 1992-1951
Start with an ETA every minute or so. There's nothing worse than "your call is important to us, we'll be with you shortly" every thirty seconds for tens of minutes.
After that, the minimalist in me says just play enough white noise to make it clear that the line isn't dead.
In this day and age, I'm really genuinely surprised at how common being on hold is. Let the customer input their phone number, leave a message, or whatever, and get the next available person to just call them. The customer doesn't have to hold a phone to their head for an hour. They don't have to tie up their phone line. They can listen to whatever music they want, watch TV, make food, or pretty much do whatever it was they were doing before they had to call you.
"You know, Hobbes, some days even my lucky rocketship underpants don't help" -- Calvin
Plug a radio into it! No licensing fees...
If you hate your customers, play either the Jeopardy theme or Hanson's MMMBop. Actually, some time ago, there was a site that had corporate anthems for download -- perhaps some of those would be appropriate...
For every problem, there is at least one solution that is simple, neat, and wrong.
Yawn, that's easy listening. Try Merzbow. He has a 50-CD box set out I believe.
They'll think the phone is broken. Or at least they will come to believe that their flesh is on fire and that the only way to find relief is to immediately commit suicide in the most anguishing way possible. At least that's how I felt when I listened to a few seconds of Merzbow. I had a stop button.. your callers will not be so lucky.
On second thought, stick with the Neubauten.
I once called a company that allowed the caller to choose from 8 selections of hold music. They had outstanding musical taste. The company still had terrible service though!
Having looked into this once for my company, you should know that you probably need an ASCAP licence to be legal. Most people don't bother, though.
My company does business in many languages, and our phone system only supports one source of hold music, so they have to choose instrumental-only music so that callers don't get lyrics in a language they don't know...
1) If you're going to do that, some taped Sesame St.
classics would be good (featuring the letter T. for tech support?)
2) If you're at all concerned about the Parents idea or number 1 being seen as inappropriate, They Might Be Giants would be a good choice for those that still like the idea.
I had to call dell to get a replacement part for a friends computer. The holding music? Saftey Dance.
personally, i can't stand being subjected to:
kenny g style 'lite' jazz
cheezy 'lite' or 'soft' rock
christmas songs
or the worst, flaccid flatulent fatass 'classic' rock. if i NEVER hear 'stairway to hotel freebird' again it will be too soon. how many times in a life can one listen the same crap over and over and over and over and over and over.
i like the idea of a local station. preferably college radio.
or real classical.
or a dozen different covers of the carpenters 'close to you'
Where's Robin Hood? We could kinda really use him now.
Try a Dr. Demento mix. Fish Heads, Napoleon XIV, etc.
Slashdot: Failed Car Analogies. Amateur Lawyering. Anecdote Battles.
take "on the road again" and s/road/phone/ and loop it over and over. people will never get tired of that one.
Ice T - Cop Killer
Pretty Pictures!
Get them humming, at least for a time - Abba
Entertain them for a half hour (or more) on hold - radio comedy shows from the 40's and 50's
Remind them of a time before computers - 101 strings playing "hits" of the 60's and 70's
Get them to forget they're on hold if they're over age 40 - up-tempo orchestral classics - Brahms, Beethoven, Thaikovsky, Rimsky-Korsakov, Mussagorsky, etc.
But whatever you play, run it through an audio compressor so the dynamic range is minimal - and then check the actual volume from another phone so you neither blast them out nor make them strain to hear.
Been there, done that, paid for the T-shirt
and didn't get it
"Einstein on the Beach"
The caller will either be intrigued or annoyed beyond all repair.
Seriously, don't keep saying "your call is important to us", don't play some top 40 crap. Do give the caller an estimate of the time they'll have to wait to talk to someone (better to overestimate a bit than underestimate), do let them know if there is a website they can use.
IMO, you want to go with something instrumental, preferably something
... -- and there are people who passionately hate it. That's not
venerable.
You have a couple of options here. You could go with something slow and
soothing, on the theory that it will keep people calm; in that case, something
from the Romantic era is probably what you want, e.g. Chopin. This has the
disadvantage that it will put people to sleep, however. The other choice is
to go with something with a bit more pizazz (but not so much pizazz as to be
annoying). The Baroque era is rich in music that is peppy enough to be
interesting but nevertheless sedate enough to avoid making anyone crazy. If
I were picking, I'd tell you to get Munchinger's performance of the _Art of
Fugue_, which is really excellent; I've received positive comments about it
from people who generally don't listen to old music in general or Baroque in
particular but liked this album. Contrapunctus II is particularly fetching.
Another reasonable option would be something classical. Very few people have
a strong dislike for Mozart, for example; people may feel that he's overrated
(e.g., I do), but they won't be hanging themselves with the phone cord after
the tenth measure.
What you absolutely want to avoid is anything with lyrics. Lyrics get more
attention, get noticed, and get a reaction. That's bad. Lyrics make fans,
but they also make foes. Genres with lyrics sell a lot of albums, because
a lot of people like them -- but a lot of people hate (any given genre of)
them too. You pick any genre with lyrics -- rap, rock-and-roll, metal,
country,
what you want for hold music; you want something everyone can at least put
up with; it's not necessary for anyone to be _excited_ about the music; you
just want them to be able to stand it okay.
There's another strategy you could follow: Make it play the tail end of
something obnoxious for the first ten seconds and then switch to something
else. People will be so relieved they won't mind if the thing it switches
to is not their first choice. But this only works if the obnoxious music
is significantly obnoxious. Perhaps a polka rendition of MacArthur Park,
or an amateur nobody singing a Neil Diamond song, or something like that.
Of course, that breaks down once people have been on hold enough times to
know the trick. What I would really recommend is going with the Bach.
But don't get a recording played on organ; Bach fans love that, but a lot
of people dislike organ music. Go with an orchestral recording, like the
the abovementioned Munchinger one. That's harder to hate.
Finally, realize that no matter *what* you pick, you *cannot* please
absolutely everyone. There will always be some loon who thinks you should
play Country music, and he'll be mildly irritated that you don't; you have
to reconcile yourself to the fact that it's a choice between irritating that
guy mildly, by not playing his first choice, versus playing the Country and
driving other people out of their skulls with loathing. (If it's not
Country, it'll be metal or rap or some other love-it-or-hate-it genre;
avoid these, and go for something hard-to-hate instead of something that
some people really love.)
Cut that out, or I will ship you to Norilsk in a box.
How about not worrying about hold music but instead working actually talking to users/customers. Improving your efficiency in solving problems/answering questions. I think thats a way better aproach to your problem than muzak.
------- ?
Playing the radio can be bad, while waiting on hold, what if they hear an ad for a competitor?
They will judge your company by what music they hear. Theres a reflex ad going on at the moment where a boardroom full of execs on speaker phone gets put on hold to the heaviest music you ever heard crackling through a phone line. Remember, phone lines arent designed for music, and it wont always come out the other end the best
Also, you must ask, do you have a LICENSE to broadcast that music?? In Australia, the aussie version of the RIAA (ARIA) has on-hold licenses you must purchase for the playing of licensed music. I assume the US would probably be the same.
Maybe get a professional company to do it for you. Someone with the recording talent and licensed music to avoid the licensing costs and problems. These guys know what they are doing: http://www.infotec.com.au/infoonhold/
In Soviet Russia the insensitive clod is YOU!
How about just answering the phone?
Hold music is great for when there's a sudden surprise jump in the number of calls, but it seems to be common practice just to make the customer give up and leave from boredom. Very few calls seem to be answered quickly these days.
I guess it cuts down on the number of complaints (that get through).
But I'm a paying (or potential) customer. Telling me my time isn't important to you is a great way to lose my custom.
- MugginsM
One last thing. Resist the urge to interrupt the music frequently with
voiceovers explaining how important the call (allegedly) is to you. One
such voiceover early in the hold (possibly even before the music starts)
is probably a good idea; beyond that, spread them out at least twice as far
as you think they ought to go, and either put them between music tracks or
leave the music playing in the background during the voiceover. Above all,
do *not* stop the music every fifteen seconds, giving false hope that a
live person is about to pick up, only to play a voice recording. That's
more annoying than almost any music you could pick. Once you start the
music, just let it play. (Exception: if you have the capability to notify
the user when they move up in the queue due to completion of a previous call
(a la, "Thanks for holding; you are now second in line to speak to a tech
support representative. Calls are answered in the order they are received"),
that would be better received, due to being an indicator of real progress.
Still, avoid abruptly stopping the music for this announcement, since that
introduces false hope that the call is being picked up by a live human.
Instead, run the voice overtop without stopping the music if possible.)
Cut that out, or I will ship you to Norilsk in a box.
Radio.
Hey! Isn't this "slashdot"?
Doesn't _anyone_ here play videogames?
Just record all the K.K. Songs from Animal Crossing, and shuffle their order.
Not only would the customers be completely tripped out, they couldn't be offended by the music or the lyrics, and they'd certainly know when it ended.
Every new form of media has it's own Requirimento
You should play morse code training materials.
<morse code> di-dah
<Eisenhower era voice> "A"
di-dah "A"
di-dah "A"
dah-di-di-di "B"
dah-di-di-di "B"
dah-di-di-di "B"
Etc.
MM
--
By including this sig, the copyright holders of this work or collection unreservedly place it in the public domain.
Nine Inch Nails...
Oh, wait... that would be BOFH customer service music.
How about Phillip Glass' "4 Minutes"?
There were some particularly weird "things" on XMission (a local and awesome ISP)'s hold music
When I worked there, there were two songs that were the techs favorites. One of them was something like six minutes of dogs barking. The users really hated it, it really rubbed all of them the wrong way. Rubbed them the wrong way so much that you could always tell when it had just finished playing and someone had to sit through all of it. Even though there were thousands of songs in the playlist (mostly trance), this one got a lot of attention and was removed.
The song that people liked to hear the most was "C is for cookie" by the cookie monster. Wouldn't matter if they had just been sitting on hold for three days and the DSL line had surged out of control and killed both of their parents, anyone after listening to that was in a pretty happy mood by the time they got to you. I think that one is still on there.
My personal favorite Hold Music was what I put on when I worked at a little company in San Jose. 100% Christmas music, the Secretary said it shouldn't be done, it was October and all. But I said "But if we don't do it now, we won't catch them by suprise." It's really quite amazing how few people know how to change the hold music, even though it was powered by a normal cd player with a little wire running to the PBX
aphex twin's "selected ambient works vol II." (or mr bungle's "desert search for techno allah" [note: not an ambient song])
Leonard Cohen, Waiting for the Miracle Leonard Cohen, Everybody Knows Bob Seger, Hands in the Air
The Cardigans, Erase and Rewind Dire Straits, Brothers in Arms Jim's Big Ego, I'm Addicted to Stress Kathy Mar, Merlin Kim Wilde, You Keep Me Hanging On Leonard Cohen, Closing Time Meat Loaf, Life is a Lemon and I Want My Money Back! Pandora's Box, Original Sin Peter Gabriel, Come Talk to Me Rob Dougan, Left Me for Dead Rob Dougan, Furious Angels
http://www.modarchive.com/
A lot of pretty much IP-free music, some of which is very good. You'll have to go through it to pick a few workable selections. 30 minutes should be plenty; if people are on hold for that long, you guys aren't doing your job!
It's a pivotal moment in ambient dance music - sure to calm anyone's frayed nerves. At least if the sound quality isn't so bad.....
Here's waiting for CD quality VOIP codecs
Here are my choices for soothing hold music. I have tried to leave my selection fairly broad so it is suitable for the general pubic (left off some lesser known tunes) Just a tip too, it is always a good idea to leave the gain on the hold music sequencer well and truly in the clipping region as this will help improve Customer Hold Satisfaction (CHS).
:)
Anyway, here is my list. Please feel free to add as necessary
Slayer
Black Sabbath
Deicide
Morbid Angel
Decay Of Salvation
Solstice of Suffering
With a playlist like this you are sure to get a high CHS ratings.
You asked about what on-hold music to use. I'm going to pretend you said, "Give me input on phone-related stuff for my company."
1) NEVER blame "unusual call volume" for hold times. God, that makes me sick. It's a sneaky way of saying "It's not our fault you're on hold." Yeah, it is.
2) When the caller has finished their business, NEVER ask "Is there anything else I can help you with blah blah blah?". "No." "Okay then, thank you for calling Ultrablather Systems Software Systems Incorporated." STFU and say goodbye like any normal polite person and let me get off the goddamn phone.
3) NEVER have a phone system that constantly reminds me every 30 seconds that your sorry I'm holding and blah blah blah. If you're not gonna have enough people to eliminate the wait, at least let me wait in peace.
4) If your phone system requires me to punch numbers in, you better be sure your system rewards my effort. Being asked for the info I just punched in makes me want punch in your face.
5) Make sure the hold music is QUIET.
6) Play Dixieland music, simply because nobody does. Added bonus: It uses banjos.
Bach's Brandenburg Concertos.... hands down. Intelligent, unobtrusive. Kinda classy, really.
If copyrights aren't an issue, go for some modern lesser-known instrumental music. A lot of it is good while still being non-invasive. Because it will be something that most people probably haven't heard before, it could help reduce boredom by sparking intrest. Classical is alright but it's pretty generic.
Whatever you decide, don't play the local fucking pop station. No product is worth having to sit through 30 minutes of ChristinaBritney/NickleCreed.
Off the top of my head, some quiet instrumental music I listen to while coding:
Godspeed You Black Emporer!, Tortoise, Boards of Canada, mouse on mars
Of course, you could always just do what everyone is thinking and play Uncle Fucka from South Park on an endless loop.
It's all catchy music that is mellow, interesting enough to keep you listening, without putting you to sleep. They're all on iTunes if you wanna give 'em a listen.
well, the RIAA might have something bad to say. .but... try... Godsmack.. "Whatever".
I'm doin the best I ever did
I'm doin the best that I can
I'm doin the best I ever did
Now fuckin' go away!
"Champagne for my real friends - and real pain for my sham friends!" http://ericblade.postalboard.com/
Just play the Free Software Song by RMS.
how about "Hold The Line" by TOTO
The lunatic is in my head
Find some AMBIENT music from any musician. I would personally recommend Aphex Twin's ambient works, but that's personal taste.
Remember, hold music is meant to just remind the caller that the line has not, in fact, gone dead and that they are still on the line. It should not be anything catchy or particularly enjoyable (because everybody has different tastes and there's no such thing as a song that every person will enjoy).
So just pick something ambient. Preferrably it'll be calming, with no beat.
Whatever you do, please god, don't play popular mainstream music.
This is the song that never ends...
Tell me what number i am in the line, unless it is embarasing for you that I have been number 1 for 2 hours. But for me it really helps that im told that im number 5, in the line. 411 in Denmark (118) tells me how long i app. have to wait before i get a real person on the line. eg.. **you are number 5 in the line, it should take around 1 minute** And one thing you really don't want to do, is hang up all the lines at 4 o'clock, even if people has been on the line for an hour...TAKE THAT AIR FRANCE IN NEW YORK... now im just ranting... You should make a call back option.. If the system has caller ID, you should offer them an option that you would call them back as soon as it is possible. And they would be in the que just like any other caller on hold, and when "you" pick up the phone you would have to wait for the caller to pick up. If it is paying customers it shouldn't matter much with the cost of a phone call. And for music.. have an option to play it anoyingly loud so that i can put my phone on my desk and use my time for something usefull :-)
spelling is for people who doens't know better...
Amazon
"1984" was ment to be a warning, not a guidebook. You hear that Kim Jong-il!? BushCo?!
Yes, I've really had this one. I was on hold to a local isp wrestling with the droid who had the tech support manual, convincing the nice lad that no, I didn't have Windows installed for over 30 minutes, and then he put me on hold. I laughed for a good 2 minutes :-)
just play the first 30 seconds of It's a small world or Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, then cut it abruptly and allow people to entertain themseleves by singing either of those songs to themselves over and over again for the next several days.
go ahead, try it
it's a small world afterall
it's a small world after....
Famous Last Words: "hmm...wikipedia says it's edible"
Best on-hold music for Germans: The Beez - Die Warteschleife
Guten Tag, Sie haben's eilig
Das ist doch nicht mein Problem
Ihre Zeit ist ihnen heilig
Doch die Wartezeit extrem
Sie müssen auch noch dafür blechen
Für die lange Wartezeit
Sie woll'n doch nur mit jemand sprechen
Aber keiner ist für Sie bereit...
Ref:
Ich bin die Warteschleife
Und ich bin endlos lang
Ich bin die Warteschleife
Und Sie sind scheiße dran
Telefonieren sie mobil
Ach das kostet wirklich viel
Und jetzt hängen Sie hier fest
Ja, das ist ein Nerventest
Jetzt ham Sie sicher schon 'ne Krise
Immerhin bin ich nicht "Für Elise"
Diese Melodie ist nur für Sie, Sie armes Schwein
Please Hold The Line
Ich bin die Warteschleife
Und ich bin endlos lang
Ich bin die Warteschleife
Und sie sind scheiße dran
Ich bin die Warteschleife
Bin so unendlich lang
Ich fang nochmal von vorn' an
Und Sie sind doppelt scheiße dran
You absolutely, positively have to rip the audio from this and loop it.
They'll love it. I'm sure. >:D
Blondie 'Hanging On The Telephone'.
:)
Quite apt.
Steve
Humm...Dell with their EXCELLENT home customer support seems to fail at your guideline.
1. yep, they blame the latest virus/worm causing increased call volume and waits of an eternity.
2. Yea, just gives me an excuse to think of something else to complain about- tying up the rep for even longer.
3. yep, that music, then dell's "helpful" messages on how to get rid of spyware...bla bla. And the occasional reminder that I'm important (but nobody seems to talk to me)
4. yep, i punch in my express service code, but they still ask me for my system tag...
5. Quiet? they're annoying.
6. nope, they don't play that!
-Grumpy
Is it true that more people vote for the winner of American Idol, than vote for the president? -Ali G.
The Muzak version of course. Why limit it to just elevators?
Linux, you magnificent bastard, I read the fucking manual!
Its a great SWF and a great song.
Lyrics:
I've seen things
I've seen them with my eyes.
I've seen things, they're often in disguise.
Like carrots, handbags, cheese, toilets, russians, planets, hamsters, weddings, poets, Stalin, KUALA LUMPUR, pygmies, budgies, KUALA LUMPUR.
I've seen things,
I've seen them with my eyes.
I've seen things, they're often in disguise.
Like carrons, handbags, cheese.
*REPEAT*
Though of course, you can't go wrong with Badgers.
Aah Badger, badger, badger, badger, badger, badger, badger, badger, badger, badger, badger.
Mushroom! Mushroom!
Aah Badger, badger, badger, badger, badger, badger, badger, badger, badger, badger, badger.
Mushroom! Mushroom!
Aah Badger, badger, badger, badger, badger, badger, badger, badger, badger, badger, badger.
A SNAKE!! SNAKE!! OH NO A SNAaaaKE!!!
*REPEAT*
1) it is proven that helps to relax
2) no RIAA bugging you
but please make it longer than the usual 30seconds.. and it would be nice to "beep" loud when someone answers the phone, in case the on-hold time will take longer than 2 minutes.
-- There are two kind of sysadmins: Paranoids and Losers. (adapted from D. Bach)
Whatever you do, don't attempt to filter out the vocals..
;) )
I once sat through about half of Eric Claptons Chronicles, with the voice filtered out, and interrupted every 17 seconds (yes, I timed it..) by a inane message that I was still holding.
I don't think I've heard the album since (yeah, I own it.. it'sfrom back when it was OK to buy music
For the first 30 minutes, somthing light and breezy, like Britany.
For the next 30 minutes, something soulful, like Nora Jones.
And after an hour...
Mandatory Suicide by Slayer.
Que voy a hacerle yo
Si me gusta el whisky sin soda
I would go for at hurried voice saying " Hold on a sec" and then the sound of someone blasting and cursing his way through Metal Slug or some other noisy shoot-em-up.
Could be an interesting experience for the listener.
Who discussed this recently, here's a good best of list:
Blondie: Hanging on the Telephone [A personal favourite that I've used]
ELO: Telephone Line
Although there's a number of other interesting possibilities. Such as these
on a queue that nobody is really all that bothered about answering:
Annie Lennox: Waiting in Vain
Eurythmics: When Tomorrow Comes
Moody Blues: Go Now
PSB: Saturday Night Forever
Pink Floyd: Time
Tom Robinson: The Frozen Man
Eurythmics: Forever
And as background on the voice menus:
Backman-Turner Overdrive: You Ain't Seen Nothing Yet
Queen: I Want to Break Free
Divine Comedy: The Certainty of Chance
B-52's: 6068-842
Tom Robinson: 2-4-6-8 Motorway
Queen: I'm going Slightly Mad
Background for annoucements of queue position:
Eurythmics: Would I Lie To You?
Tom Lehrer: New Math
Finally getting through:
Queen: The Miracle
On a premium-rate number, what else?:
Pink Floyd: Money
Honourable mentins:
Blondie: Call Me
ELO: Ma Ma Ma Belle [OK, a tad tenuous]
Others:
Annie Lennox: Waiting in Vain
Eurythmics: When Tomorrow Comes
Moody Blues: Go Now
PSB: Saturday Night Forever
Pink Floyd: Time
Tom Robinson: The Frozen Man
Eurythmics: Forever
Rolling Stones: Time Is On My Side
Tommy Tutone - 867 5309
Kim Wilde - 36580
/* FUCK - The F-word is here so that you can grep for it */
I worked a summer job a at small-time ISP when I was 16. I hated working there and the boss always treated me like scum, so when he wasn't around I'd change the CD for the PBX to Dead Kennedys "In God We Trust, Inc." or Crass' "Christ - The Album".
Oh ho ho. Somehow the old boar didn't find out. I loved it.
"It was hell!" recalls former child.
Just search the web for a few relaxing tunes. Say, on modarchive.com you probably can find a few nice ones. Politely ask the authors, I'm sure some wouldn't mind some extra advertising in this way. Or go to Magnatune, they seem to be very reasonable. As an additional advantage, your customers will hear something that they probably never heard before.
...some UK companies pipe live radio stations like Radio 1 to their hold music. you'd need to licence it, but it's always new, doesn't get stale and people *might* not mind listening to it.
How about:
The Torture Never Stops by Frank Zappa
The only time I found useful a waiting system was when every minute or so I was informed what was my place in the queue to obtain the support I needed.
To know that I am getting close to be served is very cathartic if you have to wait for more than 2 or 3 minutes.
Oh yes, play a Beethoven string quartet, whatever else is suggested is pure rubbish.
IANAL but write like a drunk one.
And for the companies intent on fast Chapter 11:
Who says corporate suits have to be uncool?
(Shuddup!)
And remember: Martha was ready to change brokers over bad lift music - it's a good thing!
While you are apologising for putting them on hold might be a good time to ask.
Having said that, if you are a tech company, how about the 6-CD set of the HitchHiker's Guide to the Galaxy (the BBC radio show version)? No ads, no swearing (apart from b*lg**m), and quite a high 'oh, I forgot about this funny bit' value if you dip in at random.
A pizza of radius z and thickness a has a volume of pi z z a
Quiet is good, but make sure it's loud enough that I can put it on my speakerphone and still hear. I can't stand having to keep the phone held to my ear for 10 minutes on hold. I'd rather put it on speaker, low enough for me to hear but no one else, and get things done.
That's part of the reason why your current hold music sucks...it's cheaper and easier for the manufacturer.
Unfortunately, there's not much free (as in no licence fees) music.
My employer plays commercials when you're on-hold. Commercials for products, for our website, almost anything related to the company. Really, really bad commercials.
Even when you're on-hold from within the company. So I know they can't do better. Maybe our new owners can.
I have my own music that I can listen to while working.
It annoys me no end that I have to turn that down while having to listen to music I can't stand.
Or make it an option. "Press 5 for switching of music while holding."
Max M - IT's Mad Science
one company i used to call a lot had a long loop of monty python sketches as their hold "music". I could have put up with being on hold for hours!!!
Originally we had a CD player hooked up to our phone system. I jettisoned that and attached a Linux box that plays CDs we've ripped here in the office. We generally have Jimmy Buffet, Bob Marley, The Dead, Phish, DMB, Chemical Brothers and anything else that we might like at the time. I've also streamed in Fluffer Trax just for laughs.
Please don't use live radio. I work for a large national hardware chain co-op. I'm on hold frequently waiting for a store to do something and occasionally hear a commercial for a competing store. Think Lowes doing advertising for Home Depot with their hold music.
Play this. Over and over and over again.
8) Don't recommend going to your website to find the solution. I'm ringing because your website is rubbish and doesn't do what I want it to.
9) have a menu system that covers everything, or at least has a category for "all other enquiries", I hate trying to force what I want into categories that don't quite fit (although I have a sneaky suspicion that I end up talking to the same person, whatever buttons I push)
-- Intelligence is soluble in alcohol
Who says it has to be music? One company that placed me on hold played trivia and other fun facts. It was actually the most "enjoyable" time I ever spent on hold. The information was quite interesting. How about you help your customers stay informed and play the sound from CNN or NBC news?
Popisms.com - Connecting pop culture
Licensing is an issue, period. If you play regular music, even the radio, be prepared for a letter from the RIAA, and possibly ASCAP asking for back royalties. I use On-Hold Plus from On-Hold Plus, Inc. It is royalty-free as well, just stick the CD in the player, hit repeat, and you are good, I am fairly certain they are just one long track. Hope this helps. Linkage
I hate sigs.
I heard "I'm dreaming of a white Christmas" last summer about four times in a row before I hung up. Nice. It was summer where the company was located, also.
I've been stuck on hold for hours before, I always wished someone would have books-on-tape for being on hold. I don't care if it's even a boring book, least it's not going to be something I've heard 7000x's before like common music.
I doubt it's legal, but since when did that stop anyone? Broadcasting NPR news over the phone would be nice... god I love it.
The thing that causes me the problem is when they break in and tell you "your call is important blah blah." When I get music on hold I just put the speaker on and do something else. When I hear a voice I then pick up the handset.
If you break in with a voice all the time I can't do this -- I have to pay attention just to find out when I'm no longer on hold! Really dumb. Don't do this to your callers.
Oh yea, and play Grateful Dead bootlegs of summer concerts from between 1973 and 1978.
Yanni!
My vocabulary is so huge it's enormous. if only I could think of a word bigger than enormous, like huge.
Neubauten, alternated with Merzbow, would be ideal. Assuming your goal is clearing out the phone queue, that is. :)
For several years my ISP used Star Wars theme music. It's something that I'd never listen on my own but for some reason it made the hold time not so bad. That was the early days for them and sometimes I was on hold for a looong time waiting to sort out billing issues.
A couple of years ago they changed over to all ads for their service and it's not near as nice. Business must be better because now the hold time now is usually a minute or less.
I've always thought it would be an interesting experiment to 'conference' everybody on hold in a tech support line together; maybe they could help solve each other's problems.
Vintage computer games and RPG books available. Email me if you're interested.
Why not play a radio drama, rather than music?
If I have to stay on hold for a long time, playing a story I can be interested in might keep me from noticing the time - I know that when I am on a long drive, queuing up the Stories directory on my Neo makes the miles fly by better than any of the music directories.
Of course, when you DO finally pick up, you might get people saying "Awww, man! It was just getting good!"
www.eFax.com are spammers
I've noticed a trend of breaking into the music to tell people you appreciate that their business. So even if the music is worth hearing, it is constantly interrupted. Breakdown from help desk at my company:
29 seconds of "we appreciate..."
51 seconds of music
repeat above 2 indefinitely
t
That or some Whitehouse.
Al Qaeda has ninjas!
That's why they make "Volume" and "Mute" keys.
I work in an area with a Liebert air handler. Not overly loud, but a good bit of white noise. When I do make calls to our vendors and I'm on hold, I toss my phone into speakerphone mode, and hit "mute". Since it's not truly a full duplex speakerphone, this makes it so that the liebert unit doesn't activate the mic, thereby making it so I can't tell if the hold music is still playing.
Of course, your phone on your desk may or may not have these features.
Karnal
It doesn't have to be music -- but beeps? That could easily confuse a caller into thinking there was some error in the system.
The hold music used by the Macaroni Grill (Italian restaurant chain) -- and what they play in the bathrooms in the restaurants -- is an interesting alternative; it's a "learn Italian" CD, teaching you common phrases in Italian.
You might think it'd be annoying... but the voices are soothing (and Italian in general is a very musical language), there's some subtle music in the background, and it really worked for me.
I'm not sure what an equivalent would be for tech support, though... listening to some adenoidal geek stuttering through technical term definitions somehow wouldn't be the same.
There are only 10 types of people: those who understand decimal, those who don't, and, uh, 8 other types I forget.
I've had on-hold music so quiet I could barely hear it, even after turning my phone all the way up.
Try working for a company that builds amusement rides for a living. Our hold music is the tinny, awful music that plays on all of those carrousels. We have different music for different seasons. My favorite(?) is the Christmas collection. It's cute for about 15 seconds, then you want to strangle a clown or something. My wife won't call my work phone any more for fear that I'll put her on hold (no such luck for her not calling and bugging me at work though, she has my cell number) :-/
Using the Freedom of Speech while I still have it.
Play those Bud Light commercials... Real Men of Genius!
I'm not poking fun at you. I think that would be hilarious. People would remember your company.
1) NEVER blame "unusual call volume" for hold times. God, that makes me sick. It's a sneaky way of saying "It's not our fault you're on hold." Yeah, it is.
Ever tried making sure hundreds of support agents are in the right place at the right time to answer the right amount of calls? It's not easy. Especially if there are multiple centers and/or there is something happening (virus, network outtage, 9/11, etc) that's causing increased volumes. Tech support is a loss leader for companies, they don't want to pay any more for it than they have to because it costs a *TON* of money. Quite frankly it may even cost more than losing a few customers for a lot of companies.
2) When the caller has finished their business, NEVER ask "Is there anything else I can help you with blah blah blah?". "No." "Okay then, thank you for calling Ultrablather Systems Software Systems Incorporated." STFU and say goodbye like any normal polite person and let me get off the goddamn phone.
People usually remember the first and last things about a call and not the middle. Most people *like* it when the agent seems to genuinely want to help. You're not going to get rid of this one anytime soon, management wants the companies name said at the end of the call so people will remember it.
As for the rest of your suggestions, I only have an issue with #6, I hate dixieland music...
I'll add one more:
Make the for other inquiries..., when there was no appropriate option in the menu, easy to get to. Some systems allow you to press 0 to just get an operator to route your calls, but others don't -- and that is incredibly frustrating.
Ever tried making sure hundreds of support agents are in the right place at the right time to answer the right amount of calls? It's not easy.
I'm sure that's true. However, it is rare to not have to sit on hold when calling many companies. I'm pretty sure that, in many cases, the problem is simply a lack of staff -- not any difficulty in scheduling. Its not an "unusually high" call volume if its that high every time I call!
1. Iron Maiden - Number of the Beast
2. Testament - Souls of Black
3. Saliva - Back Into Your System
4. System of a Down - Toxicity
5. Metallica - Ride the Lighting
6. Motley Crue - Shout at the Devil
7. Trapt - Trapt
8. Slayer - South of Heaven
9. Queensryche - Operation: Mindcrime
10. Sentenced - Crimson
// TODO: Insert Cool Sig
As a professional UI designer in the telephony arena, I mostly some with your rant list. To add some info though:
1) What also bugs me (and in general, people hate and/or ignore) are messages like "please pay attention, as our options have changed". I've known companies that put that sort of messaging into their applications and just leave them there for months.
2) In general, callers like that sort of question. You can always just hang up on the agent when you're done with your business. Sure, it might be rude, but you'll get off the phone those 10 seconds faster...
3) Totally, it's best to be unobtrusive so that caller's can do other things and pay minimal attention to the phone while on hold.
4) While a great idea, this technology is pretty expensive and tricky to implement, at least from what I've seen over the past five years. When companies implement it, callers totally love it, and in theory, it reduces agent talk time. But, getting companies to understand that sort of thing isn't easy.
6) Holy crap! No way! Soothing, non-intrusive music is usually best, unless you've got a specific need for something else. Playing Dixieland would totally interfere with #3 and #5.
Verizon Wireless is a big offender in this regard. They play (or at least, they did several months ago when I last called) messages that are basically ads when you're on hold. Every time I call, I complain to the agent about it, and I additionally send an email to customer service. I also tell all my friends on Verizon to do the same. I'm already a customer! I don't need to be pitched to.
Thanks.
Todd
-- !todd erases a red dot! I steal music on the internet.
One of the biggest selling points at my company is our "live-voice-answer" policy. Essentially, we've found that our customers don't like to wait on hold and that that can be enough to swing them from buying from us or a competitor. The costs of hiring extra support people do add up, but if your product is good enough, the two often cancel out.
Or, failing that, consider rewarding your customers for waiting. If you can set up music so that it is simply one continuous track for each caller, start feeding them 'offer codes' or something of the sort -- discounts, free company t-shirt, a CD, who knows. I'd enjoy that.
In any case, good luck!
-Scott
do you have a nortel phone system? if so, hit "FEATURE" then enter "86" let the music begin.
I have a couple on-hold annoyances of my own:
Don't make people wander through a phone-tree maze to talk to a human. "0" at any point should get you to a human or at least in the line for one. How good this on-hold music is doesn't matter much if it takes me 10 minutes to figure out which fourth-level-down option I need to get in the queue, because by then I'll already be irritated anyway.
Another oh-hold annoyance: systems that make you type in your phone number, customer id, or whatever, and then as soon as you get through to a human, the first thing they ask for is this same piece of information. Is the computer incapable of storing this information? Was there any point in me typing it in in the first place?
Anyway, avoid those and your phone system will be less aggrivating. Also, parent poster's idea about quiet banjo music is a good one.
1. Police/Fire Scanner
2. Books on Tape
3. White Noise
4. Foreign Language Lessons
5. NPR
6. Raymond Scott - Soothing Sounds for Baby
7. Place Microphone in Center of Office
8. Train Sounds
9. Bubble Wrap
10. Car Dealership Commercials
11. Make a "People On Hold" Party Line
12. Heavy Breathing
13. These
14. Fax Machine Sounds
15. "Guess The DTMF" Game
16. Funny Answering Machine Outgoing Messages
17. Phone Sex
18. Bass Test CDs
19. Trivia Questions
20. The Sound of One Hand Clapping
the 'Die Warteschleife' post is really quite good, funny and relevant,
if you are a german-english slashdot reader. why is it marked 'Score:0'?)
run it through babelfish, or listen to the mp3 that is linked in the post.
its hilarious!
j.
Several years ago, I had occasion to call 3com's tech support. After wading thru several layers of menus, the last option was what kind of on-hold music I wanted to listen to. Something like "Press 1 for jazz, press 2 for classical, press 3 for country, etc."
The worst part about it was that the one time I get to choose my on-hold music, the wait time was less than a minute.
Give me my freedom, and I'll take care of my own security, thank you.
And if I do have to navigate through a menu, just let me get to the menu. I find navigating through multiple menus much less annoying than having to listen to some long message before the menu options. I make a lot of checking up on orders calls, and chances are that I've called your company before and I already know that I want to hit 2 at the first option and 1 at the second option, so just let me get to it.
I don't know if they still do, but Symantec used to have a live DJ running the on-hold music, along with "traffic reports" saying how many people were on hold, and what the average wait time is.
Give me my freedom, and I'll take care of my own security, thank you.
BTW, "Die Warteschleife" was used by the Berlin Chaos Computer Club in the Blinkenlights project.
Would it be legal to rebroadcast a local radio channel for people on hold?
It'd be interesting to hear NPR while on hold and get updated on the world for example...
Excellent...
How about that with the voice that cuts in that says "your call is important to us...." But you alternate the voice with:
a) a death metal growl
b) a black metal squeal
c) alien and robot noises
d) an evil sarcastic clown voice...
e) low mumbling
-
your comments are being recoded for "training purposes"
The only purpose for that ISP is to host the best page in the universe.
Jesus was all right but his disciples were thick and ordinary. -John Lennon
(virus, network outtage, 9/11, etc)
How the holy hell can you put the events of September 11, 2001 in a list for "Unusual call volume"? The thing happened one time. It was tragic, sure. But how the hell can you put that thing that happened one time next to two things that happen.. well, more than once?
Not a Twitter sockpuppet... but I wish I was.
Dial 'M' for Motherf*cker by Pussy Galore
Odds are that you hook the CD player into your phone system through a "line in" jack. If you are playing a radio station over the intercom system, you already (should) have payed the fee to whatever music group that allows you to do a public performance. Extending this over the phone system would not include another fee.
If this isn't the case, I would recommend any material on which copyright has expired (Bach, Beethoven, Mozart, etc). There should not be a fee for playing this type of music because it is in the public domain (at least until copyright is made retroactive 1000 years).
The Weather Channel always has pretty good (and widely appealing) music on. They have a list of what they play on their website. For instance, here's the November 2003 song list.
"Nature doesn't care how smart you are. You can still be wrong." - Richard Feynman
Refering to the "enter your data, once, not have the support monkey demand it again" idea. Honestly, usually "reduces agent talk time" is a really excellent point with most companies. And most call-center level PBX systems include a reasonable amount of CTI these days. Honestly it should come down to:
"Listen, you can pay me a few grand right now to code up a little dingus that'll pop up everything we know about a caller when their call gets to an agent, or you can burn a few grand a month on phone time, and lost revenue from people who didn't get through because your agents spend close to half their time getting all this information from the caller again." Really is a no brainer.
IP is just rude.
Is there any torture so subl
Why not just pipe sounds from your office into the phone? Pretend it is a piece from John Cage.
Nothing at all please! Most of the time it's crap anyway.
Just a beep every x seconds or so and a message every half-a-minute telling me how many people are before me in the queue.
www.vanheusden.com - home of Multitail, HTTPing, CoffeeSaint, EntropyBroker, rsstail, bsod, listener, nagcon, nagi
Better still, a single Merzbow track, looped. Who needs variety?
I like my women like my coffee... pale and bitter.
I've been waiting such a long time
Just trying to get through
And it's taking all of my strength
To keep me here away from you
...
:-)
A lot of people have some form of music(or something) already playing, and don't need your "hold music" service for entertainment.
I like silence with an occasional spoken message reassuring me that my call is going to be processed (and hasn't fallen into the ether).
When I'm in my car with a headset, I don't like listening to _any_ hold music because it overpowers my car's radio.
Similarly, when I'm at home listening to the News or the radio or something, I don't want to have hold music playing in one of my ears.
It also sucks when it's on a speakerphone in the office...
Pure silence with an occasional, "Please continue to hold..." is the best solution in my opinion.
Don't think that a small group of dedicated individuals can't change the world. It's the only thing that ever has.
The playlist has a good mix of jazz, blues, rock, country, etc. Many times I've had people tell me that we have the coolest hold music ever. One customer once told me he'd never heard Alice Cooper on anyone's hold music before.
Note, we do pay our BMI/ASCAP tithing and I puposely avoided adding any of those "Your call is very important to us..." interruptions because they just make the wait seem longer.
You insensitive Klod
I had to call SMC once to get a beta version of firmware software... I waited so long, some message explained to me the difference between a switch and a hub at least TWENTY TIMES !
At least I put it on my resume
Hardware skills:
*hubs
*switches
riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiight... :)
What would I like to hear if I called your company and was put on hold?
"Hi. Sorry for the wait. We will pick up the phone again in 5 ... 4 ... 3 ... 2 ... 1 ... "
<click>
"Hi, can I help you?"
National Public Radio! The last time I was on hold and heard the broadcast, I became so interested in the discussion that when the person finally picked up the phone to talk to me I almost told them to put me back on hold. That was the only time I actually enjoyed being on hold.
Left 4 Dead Gaming Group - http://www.l4dgg.com
Problem is everyone has different tastes in music... What really needs to happen is this: "While on hold, you may select music to listen to, press 1 for top hits, press 2 for Classical, press 3 for Jazz" etc etc etc.... Seems simple to me!
I love you, you love me...
It might have a negative impact on business though.
It's good to use your head, but not as a battering ram.
Seriously, let the caller choose what he/she wants to listen to. Something obvious like:
Press 1 for classical. Press 2 for jazz. Press 3 for easy listening. Press 4 for popular tunes. Press 5 for hard rock. Press 6 for the weird guy who likes dixieland. Press 7 for country. Press 8 for western.
This will be a little harder to set up, but if you care enough to BOTHER THE 100000 PEOPLE WHO READ SLASHDOT then surely you'd be willing to put some extra time into this.
I don't mind hold music -- I mind it when whatever is being played while I'm on hold is a human voice talking, especially if it breaks into music --
... how about someone telling you how great their service is, and that you should buy other stuff from them, too. Or how you could check your order status online (of course, I was calling to check the repair status on my computer).
because then, I think I'm being taken off hold. You think those 'please wait on the line, because your call is important to us' messages are annoying
So, if you're going to put me on hold, give me something that I can ignore in the background, and/or put on speakerphone without being overly distracting, and not having anything that might make me think for even a second that someone's finally talking to -- when they're not. When I hear a person's voice in a conversational tone (ie, not singing), I want to be able to tell them what my problem is, and have them tell me what can be done to fix it.
(I also prefer it when the music is below normal levels of spoken human conversation, so it's that much more obvious when someone finally gets on the line).
Build it, and they will come^Hplain.
we've gotten compliments on our new-age ocean-surf mellow music. Every year or so, the owner switches it out with a Mozart CD (and back again). We don't have a tech support, such that we constantly have people on hold for long periods of time.
I would suggest sticking to one CD. Make it mellow, unless you want to project a startup-attitude of independance.
If so, go to cdbaby.com, kill a few hours browsing some of the following categories: GENRE:Classical/Contemporary; GENRE:Classical/New Age; GENRE:New Age/Ambient; TYPE:Soundtrack; TYPE:Background Music
You'll know that it'll be something new for most of your callers.
(As an extra moral benefit, you'll know that the artists get the lion's share of the price of the CDs at cdbaby)
Why? I figured that it would offend no one. And even if it did who would have the nerve to complain about Bach? I mean can you say hello I am a dumb tasteless slob any louder than to say "I hate the classical music on your hold"? Guess what I found that many people are very pround to be dumb tasteless slobs.
See my blog http://ilovecookes.blogspot.com/ for light hearted technical information.
I recently called my cable company and was put on hold. I nearly died laughing when I heard the song they were playing: "All By Myself".
Brilliant 'modern rock' covers (mostly up-tempo) done by a couple of geezers on a whole collection of 'vintage synths'... (moogs, mellotron, ...)
Not that much different from cheesy midi files, but that record never failed to make me smile
Okay... I'll do the stupid things first, then you shy people follow.
[Zappa]
I know of one company (an ISP) which plays old Superman radio broadcasts, interrupting every 60 seconds with an advertisement.
Playing the Hitchhiker's guide to the galaxy might be a good idea too. Of course, whatever you do should be within your license.
Well, for a company that's the right size, yeah, that would work. I work with companies who need solutions quite a bit larger than that, like a number of airlines in the U.S. My company provides speech recognition telephony applications, but isn't a CTI vendor. I agree though that even on this larger scale, it's a no brainer, but unfortunately, I'm not a sales guy.
Todd
-- !todd erases a red dot! I steal music on the internet.
The Blue Note sessions to be exact.
We actually had a customer ask for a supervisor and complain about our "horrible" hold music. I looked up his order and he was from deep in the heart of Texas. What an ass.
Hollow words will burn and hollow men will burn.
That's not the real question. The real question is: what is legal to play? Getting sued over your hold music would be a real bummer.
SPANISH FLEA.
6 04 870&style=music&frm=lk_all4oldies
Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass.
http://www.cduniverse.com/productinfo.asp?pid=1
Whilst I used Vodafone for my mobile phone company, the part of the call I most looked forward to was the challenge of getting them to say goodbye without them realising what you were doing.
It made the whole exercise seem worthwhile if they would say goodbye instead of the usual "Thank you for calling Vodafone."
I seem to remember their hold music being particularly annoying, although nothing will ever top the Carphone Warehouse with "Get myself connected".
You need to rock out with something like the Dust Brothers.
On my PBX (the company I work for just paid for it as far as I am concerned. IT'S MINE!) I got constant complaints about the original music (royalty free crap that came with the CD player). Everyone was happy to complain, but no one was interested in offering any solutions. So, I downloaded the remixes of the Signs movie soundtrack and put them on the PBX. Six weeks later, one of the management lackies comes around to complain to me. I told him to get stuffed and I've played whatever I've liked since.
If you can hook up a CD player, surely you could hook up a radio or even a PC with a streaming radio station?
...Eclipse Computers over in Coventry do this (by the way, if you're in the uk they have some of the cheapest computer parts and really good customer service). Normally you're in position number 4 or so so don't mind waiting. I however did mind listening to the last Britney Spears album whilst on hold!
I am NaN
...Just make sure it's something non-offensive (i.e. jarring and/or discordant - Stravinsky "The Rites of Spring" would probably not be a good shoice.)
Something Baroque (but not choral), or even some of Philip Glass's stuff may work well.
If all else fails stick a Mozart CD in, people will find the tunes familiar.
I am NaN
Because I was working that day (as you may have guessed, I work phone tech support), and we *did* have network outtages and higher than normal call volume and people were *angry* because of hold times. And this were all from people in New York.
Disclaimer: I work for a company that manufacturers On Hold equipment
When your callers are on hold, you have a captive audience. Lots of people sell a service to provide you profesionally mixed music (licensed) and marketing messages promoting your business. Just google for Music or Messages on hold, you will find lots of providers.
I think its a nice touch and projects a professional image.
While perhaps not appropriate, the hold music for my company was for a very long time Apocalyptica. [google yourself...]
For those too lazy to google, Apocalyptica is a band of 4 [now 3] classically trained cellists [sp? cello players] who've released 2 albums of metallica instrumental covers [and other things].
It was great as it had that hold music sound to it, but was still very cool, and not sleep inducing like "soft" classical music.
Back in the 70's, if you called an 800 number and got put on hold, you could hang up, and the company would call you back when someone was available. Does't the phone company provide that service anymore?
If you must moderate, please moderate as irrelevent, not something bad, because I'm sure someone will find this interest
I had a friend who worked at Rhino records. Waiting on hold was always a treat, especially shortly after they released the Songs in the Key of Springfield CD. I'd just sit there happily sitting on hold listening to the Monorail song or Dr. Zaius or wotever else came up...
I would rather have no hold music at all, just silence. As an alternative, maybe you could have an option to "press # to stop the hold music". You see, when I'm on hold - especially for long periods of time - I put the call on the speakerphone and work on something else. Music is distracting. Voices are even more distracting, so don't have anyone talking to me unless it's a live person ready to take my call. Silence would be perfect.
The mambo thing at the begining when they're all in traffic. Its ok music and geeks who call will get an ironic kick out of it. Although (dont know how it got on there) but one morning that came up on shuffle on my mp3 player while i was stuck in traffic. I knew it wasn't going to be a good day...
"Sic Semper Tyrannosaurus Rex."
Ever tried making sure hundreds of support agents are in the right place at the right time to answer the right amount of calls? It's not easy. Especially if there are multiple centers and/or there is something happening (virus, network outtage, 9/11, etc) that's causing increased volumes.
Yeah, but if you get that message every time you call and you call a lot then it can't be that unusual, can it?!?!? It's one thing if it really is unusual. Its another if the fact is that they haven't staffed their call center with enough people.
"Where quality is like a dead stinking rat - you just can't miss it."
8) Have a "0" option to go straight to the general questions queue. I know this means fewer people type in their credit card number, SSN, mother's birthdate, granddad's blood type, ZIP + 4, first license plate number ever on current car, and number of times they've had sex in the last decade, but it's user-friendly, so just do it.
sulli
RTFJ.
I used to work at a skateboard manufacturer. Naturally, they played punk, ska, and metal via the hold music.
Apparently, people enjoyed it so much they'd call just to be placed on hold! So, basically, know your customers and pick something appropriate.
char sig[120] = "\0"
I suggest Ultraviolence.
See http://www.teamuvr.com/teamuvr_mp3.htm
Crickets chirping, tumbleweeds rolling, rain dropping, wind whistling...
While waiting for a HAS engineer from Sun to get back to me, they had some pretty decient trance on. 'Course this was about 3am EDT, but I enjoyed it.
Use this as your on hold music...
d es cramble_joe_wecker.mp3
http://www-2.cs.cmu.edu/~dst/DeCSS/Gallery/css_
I can't believe that I didn't see any suggestions for the kind Live Music Archive. The live music archive is THE source for high quality open source music!!! There are many great artists there. You might need to get a copy of the mkwACT for converting SHN or FLAC to convert the files to .wav
Some of my favorites include:
Steve Kimock Band
Steve Kimock & Friends
Zero
Yonder Mountain String Band
Yo Miles
Motherbug
Charlie Hunter
Top Level All Bands
enjoy!!!
2. Cruel Angel's Thesis.m l ?" ...the possibilities are endless if you change your goal to "annoy the customer".
3. Baby One More Time.
4. "Did you know that all our agents simply read responses from the script located at http://www.yourcompany.com/support/phone-agent.ht
5. It's Gonna Be Me.
6. Recording of the news on 9/11/2001.
7. Ode To Joy.
8. Latest State Of The Union.
9. Pyramid scam commercial.
Contrary to the popular belief, there indeed is no God.