The short answer to this question is yes. But unless you are a professional broadcaster, have the right recording equipment and have technical skills, maybe the question is, “Should I use on hold software to make my company’s on-hold messages?” Without going into the technical aspects of the software itself, here’s why using on hold software might not be the best idea for your business…it’s all about QUALITY.

The issue of quality comes up in more than one place.

1. Content. Whether you call it scripting, copy, or messages, your content is a major part of the overall quality of your on-hold message. There’s a huge difference between writing something that will be read silently and something that will be read aloud. The flow of the sentences tends to be less wordy and more conversational when something is written to be voiced.

2. Voice. Even if your brother/cousin/friend/neighbor tells you that you have a great voice and you should be on the radio, you might not be the best choice to voice your on-hold message. Proper enunciation, timing, inflection, and articulation don’t come naturally to everyone and a professional voice talent will have the training and experience necessary to deliver a message in the best way. In addition, depending on your industry or company, the opposite gender may be a better choice for your callers.

3. The recording itself. This is where the proper equipment and recording space comes into play. Using a low-quality microphone in a noisy environment such as your office isn’t going to work. Even if you have a door on your office, hard surfaces like walls, non-carpeted floors, windows, and your desk will reflect sound waves causing echoes. A professional studio editor is able to minimize echoes but the quality is even better if the voice talent is recording in a studio.

4. Music. Using copyrighted music is a big mistake and could cost you thousands if ASCAP or BMI comes across it during their random checks. Paying a one-time fee for a “royalty-free” music license is one solution. However, if you have repeat callers it’s nice to have several different music tracks to keep your on-hold production sounding fresh.

5. Content. Yes, we are mentioning content again. You’ll need to keep track of what’s currently playing on hold, and change it out occasionally. If you’re running a sale and mention it in your hold message, be prepared to make another change once the sale is over so callers aren’t asking for a special price that you’re no longer offering.

It’s a lot to think about and keep track of and while it may be feasible for some companies to use on-hold software to create their own on-hold messages, for many it’s not the best option.

You can learn more about what Spectrio does to make it easy for our clients to take advantage of on-hold messages here!