Information On Hold Explained: A Complete Guide

All too often, businesses underestimate the power of information on hold. It’s one of the most overlooked parts of the customer journey, yet it’s often the very first thing a caller hears.

Watch our short explainer video below to see how information on hold works in practice:

We believe in-queue and on-hold messages and music are about far more than just making a good impression. Used well, information on hold becomes an effective marketing tool in its own right. It can improve business efficiency, whilst increasing visibility of your products, and encouraging upsells.

Ensuring Maximum Impact From Your Information On Hold

So how do you use on-hold time more effectively? What’s going to add the greatest benefit to your business and your customers?

Start by reviewing what you’ve currently got in place.

1. Does your voice artist accurately represent your brand?
2. Does the tone and language match other customer contact points?
3. If your website uses modern, conversational language, does your on-hold audio match?
   
   Everything should feel consistent, so when a customer picks up the phone, they immediately recognise who you are as a business.

Next, decide what you actually want to achieve. In-queue and on-hold audio gives you a captive audience — and while some callers might switch off or get distracted, they’ll certainly be listening out for their call to be picked up. Create an engaging experience, and they’ll listen more closely.

Put your biggest offers at the start, when callers are most attentive. But be careful, the way you word your messages plays a huge part in their success. Too pushy, and you’ll lose your caller; not enough benefit, and their interest fades. The right script builds your brand, which is why Ocean’s Information On Hold service includes over 10,000 professionally scripted messages, filterable by industry and message type, ready to implement instantly or tailor to your exact requirements.

Think about how your callers will actually experience your messages. Some systems let you control where in the script each caller starts, guiding them through a journey. Each message building on the last to slowly increase awareness of your products and services.

Put yourself in your callers’ shoes. Listen to your own on-hold experience and make sure it’s relevant and genuinely improves the caller’s experience.

Ocean Information On Hold is an intuitive service that lets you create music and marketing compilations to play to callers in a queue or on hold, as well as message recordings for IVR menus, all configured by you through a simple, easy-to-use web portal.