Streaming music on hold in OnSIP is as easy as 1-2-3. If you’re an OnSIP customer, then you have likely discovered the user-friendly qualities of this hosted VoIP service. The company has focused on “easy to set up” solutions since its inception, and that includes how the hold music is handled. If you’re looking for a hosted VoIP provider for your small-to-medium-sized business, OnSIP is one we recommend.
Streaming Music On Hold in ONSIP Options
You have several options for hold music in OnSIP, such as “elevator” music (yes, it’s called “elevator). There are other default music choices, such as “classical” and “jazz”. While we’re all for a diversity of music styles, we strongly suggest setting up a custom music stream from Easy On Hold. The custom stream can be changed in your Easy On Hold customer portal at any time, so you can quickly change what callers on hold are hearing without tweaking the OnSIP Admin settings. Most businesses can improve sales, build brand image, and boost customer satisfaction by combining music with custom voice recordings (a.k.a. messages on hold). Before we talk about stream content, let’s get an actual stream up and running in OnSIP.
Get Ready…
The custom music stream integration is very straightforward and simple, but you’ll need to have opted for the enhanced music on hold feature from OnSIP. At just under $20 USD per month, it is a worthwhile investment. After all, your callers are tired of the same old “hold music” routine. Custom streams are more engaging and result in keeping callers from hanging up in frustration or, worse, calling a competitor. In the OnSIP Admin panel, in your account area, check the box for enhanced music on-hold.
Get Set…
This exercise assumes you have an account with Easy On Hold with a stream URL. This can be instrumental, vocal music, your favorite artists, custom voiceovers, or whatever will engage your callers. Contact Easy On Hold support and request the URL. It is a series of letters and numbers that you’ll want to “copy and paste” in step 2.
Go To Your ONSIP Admin Panel
OnSIP has arranged the Admin area with a convenient side menu. That’s where you’ll see “Resources”, the 5th link down the list. This is step one: Create a New Resource.
How to Set Up Streaming Music On Hold in ONSIP Step One: Create a New Resource
OnSIP offers several features that are considered “resources”, such as voicemail, recordings, external phone numbers, etc. Music on hold is also a resource. You’ll see Elevator, Classical, and Jazz Music Sources listed. We’re going to add a new one.
Click Create New Resource to open a panel of resource types. The type of resource we’re adding is called Music Source. Clicking the music notes icon drops down a description and a button, “Create a new Music Source.” Yes, that’s what we want! Clicking that button opens two text fields: Name and URL.
How to Set Up Streaming Music On Hold in ONSIP Step Two: Enter the Name and URL
You can name the streaming music source anything you like. For example, you might have one stream for “sales” and another for “service,” so the naming protocol becomes important. In our exercise we use the name Easy On Hold Stream.
For the URL, copy and paste the entire URL provided by Easy On Hold.
How to Set Up Streaming Music On Hold in ONSIP Step Three: Assign the New Music Source to a User (or Users)
Now your OnSIP account has access to an external music on hold stream. The question is, who wants to use it? One of the cool features of OnSIP is the option of using unique music and message on hold streams for different users. Think of your company image and the profile of who is calling. For our example, we will assign just one user.
On that handy left-side menu, click Users (the second option from the top). Choose a user by clicking a name. The screen expands to show all of the settings for this user. Look for the Music On Hold field. Here, you will see the default music setting (Elevator). To the right is the word “modify”. When you click modify, a dropdown field appears. When you pull the dropdown open, all of your music on hold options appear, including the one you just named.
Choose the stream name then guide your eyes back to where you clicked “modify”. Next to it is the word “save.” This is very important, and the small type is easy to miss. Unless you click save, your user will be sending people back into the elevator, which is not very polite.
Video Shows Streaming Music On Hold in ONSIP Being Set Up
It takes only a minute to set up streaming music on hold, as we show in our video on the topic. Anyone with Administrative access can do it. Before you get started, you’ll need a stream from Easy On Hold. Learn more about streaming messages on hold.
Easy On Hold Streaming in ONSIP Since 2013
Did you know that OnSIP was the first VoIP phone provider to adopt the Easy On Hold streaming music on hold solution? Now, as part of the innovative cloud-based integrator Intrado, OnSIP will continue to add user-friendly features and services.
