Hold Music and Messages Can Solve Customer Experience Shortcomings
Five9, a unified communications-as-a-service platform, recently polled 1,000 consumers on “Customer Experience,” which resulted in its Five9 Customer Experience Report. Read on to discover what the customers are saying about their experiences, and why Hold Music and Messages can’t be ignored in the contact center.
Business consultant McKinsey & Company says:
“CX, or customer experience, encapsulates everything a business or an organization does to put customers first, managing their journeys and serving their needs.”
— McKinsey & Company, What Is CX?
Music On Hold and Other Customer Interactions, or Touchpoints
Each of your customers goes through a personal journey with your organization, from discovery to after-sales communications. Along the journey, your customer interacts with your organization. Some common touchpoints are:
- Digital Marketing
- Events
- Word of Mouth
- Online Chat
- Phone Inquiry
- Call Center IVR
- Call Center On Hold Time, including Hold Music
- Agent Interactions
- Bots and Chat
- Product Reviews
- Purchase Process
- Buyer Feedback
- Ongoing Support
Takeaway #1: Customers Expect A Quality Experience
The Five9 Customer Experience Report contains several references to customer expectations and how they are evolving. Customers see quality experiences with your company as essential. They want effortless interactions but value the human experience.
Customer expectations are evolving faster than ever. Seamless customer experiences are no longer a luxury — they are a requirement.
Niki Hall Chief Marketing Officer, Five9
The goal of CX today is described as “creating experiences that delight, inspire loyalty, and bring joy to every customer interaction.” The report envisions a new era that delivers seamless interactions.
Hold Music and Messages accomplish CX goals:
Seamlessness – The contact center experience is an audio experience. Interrupting hold music with IVR “barge-ins” should be avoided (it’s jarring, abrupt, and interruptive). Voice content must be present while holding. The words should show empathy. Whether AI-generated or human, a professional voice must be perceived as compassionate, not just corporate. The waiting periods must have branded content that builds confidence in the caller’s decision to stay on the line (and with your brand).
Effortless Experience – Callers complain about having to battle bots. They quickly grow impatient when presented with too many questions or options, and answering the same question more than once is a top irritant.
Delight, Inspire, Bring Joy – Remember the last time you waited on hold? Was it joyful? Probably not. Craft a voice and music on hold experience that helps callers, provides ideas, and makes them feel happy about your brand.
Takeaway #2: Humans On The Phone Still #1
The Five9 Customer Experience Report and many other CX reports continue to underscore the importance of the voice channel.
Most customers (56%) still prefer phone support, with voice interactions remaining the top choice across all regions and generations.
Use human voices whenever possible, including in the on-hold messages. Customers facing complex or urgent issues won’t settle for automation or AI-assisted IVR and bots. While most callers are accepting of some AI interaction, they see it as a portal or checkpoint on the way to speaking with a human.
“72% of consumers are open to AI-powered interactions, provided they can escalate to a human when needed.”
— Five9 Customer Experience Report 2025
Phone preference grows when personal issues are at stake
Why are customers calling? Often, it is because the chat, social, or self-service channels failed them. Contact centers must focus on voice. Voices in the music and message on hold experience must be incorporated for a quality human-centric experience.
When it comes to important matters, like those listed below, the overwhelming majority of callers want to talk to a qualified human who can help. Privacy may be one reason.
- Personal Issues
- Health Care Information
- Financial Problems
- Urgent Matters
- Sensitive Issues
Takeaway #3: Despite Millions Spent, CX is not improving
Many organizations are spending millions of dollars on CX, often in the form of AI chatbots, AI IVR attendants, and other automation tools that help callers without a human interaction. The expense is motivated by the cost of losing business, as illuminated by research by Qualtrics. It shows businesses risk losing up to $3.8 trillion in global sales due to poor customer experiences. Despite the infusion of money, improvements in CX are slow to come.
When asked about customer experience in the last 12 months, most of those polled said CX was the same or worse.
Takeaway #4: Customers Fight Bots, Would Rather Wait On Hold
Not only is the desire for human interactions strong, but people say they don’t mind waiting for human help. In a humorous interaction on the CNET podcast Tech Therapy, Bridget Carey says, “Battling customer service chatbots is getting worse with AI.” She calls customer service bots “notoriously aggravating,” suggesting they are “designed to delay and deflect you from speaking with a human agent.”
“Sometimes the only way to get a human is to be nice to the robots blocking your path.”
Scott stein, co-host of tech therapy podcast on cnet
That’s the danger of replacing a quality customer on-hold experience with “technology.” “The bots are good at one thing,” Carey says, “wearing down our spirits.”
Her guest, Scott Stein, says, “Sometimes the only way to get a human is to be nice to the robots blocking your path.”
“While speed is important, 86% of respondents said that, in any situation, empathy and human connection matter more than quick responses.”
— Five9 Customer Experience Report 2025
This statement shatters the assumption that fast service is all customers care about. Instead, it reinforces a growing sentiment: people are willing to wait if it means talking to a real human who understands their problem.
Customers will wait on hold when they know they’ll get to a human
- Only 20% in the Five9 Customer Experience Report survey said speed is most important
- 31% will wait to get the answer they need
- 75% of customers prefer to interact with a human, even as AI options grow more common, according to PwC. The same study found that 82% want more human interaction in the future, not less.
- A 2024 survey by GetVoIP found that 56% of customers are willing to wait over 5 minutes to speak to a live agent if they know they’ll receive personalized help.
- In cases where issues are complex or emotionally charged (billing disputes, cancellations, service outages), customers report feeling more satisfied when they experience empathy, even if resolution takes longer.
Takeaway #5: Ignore The Caller Experience At Your Peril
The CX Report warns that bad customer service is taking its toll on many brands. The top three CX complaints are
- Long wait
- Difficulty transferring to a live agent from a digital channel
- Getting passed around
These annoyances can be mitigated through caring, professional streaming music on hold messaging services. Though these CX complaints seem varied, they share one common experience: the caller is waiting on hold.
- Long wait = hold time
- Transferring to a live agent = hold time
- Getting passed around = hold time
Do you have bad hold music? You’re getting talked about on social media
When things go wrong, Millennials and Gen Zers hit X, TikTok, and other platforms to spread the news. Your branding manager does not want you to go viral for bad hold music.
Conclusion: Fill the CX Gap with a Smart Message On Hold Experience
Even in 2025, the phone remains the top support channel for customers of all ages and regions. Hold time remains a part of most phone interactions. Unfortunately, many customer experience managers are ignoring the hold queue. Professor Raj Sivasubramanian, a keynote speaker on the topic of customer experience, was recently asked about hold music on the Crystal Wiese podcast. “I’ve been to tons of CX events, and no one has ever brought this up,” Sivasubramanian said. “What?” Wiese bounces back. “No one’s thought about the call center music?”
Do you see the issue here?
Since your customers are willing to wait on hold to get to an agent, it is imperative that the contact center source professional caller experience content from experts like Easy On Hold.
In a time when contact center technology is creating more friction than it solves, it’s time to reconsider the experience you deliver every second a caller is on hold.
https://easyonhold.com
Easy On Hold helps major brands elevate CX with professional, streaming hold audio that supports branding, informs customers, and creates a more positive voice experience. If you’re investing in CX, don’t ignore the one touchpoint your customers will remember most: the hold queue.
