{"id":2569,"date":"2019-05-16T18:16:46","date_gmt":"2019-05-16T22:16:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/easyonhold.com\/blog\/?p=2569"},"modified":"2022-04-07T17:19:14","modified_gmt":"2022-04-07T21:19:14","slug":"hold-music-or-voice","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/easyonhold.com\/blog\/hold-music-or-voice\/","title":{"rendered":"Hold Music or Voice?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Looking for hold music? Hold on, because the age of the human voice is here.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Music on hold is an old idea. It actually happened by accident. In 1962, when Alfred Levy discovered a problem with the phone lines at his factory, he located a loose wire that was touching a girder on the building. The steel in the building picked up the music being transmitted by a nearby radio station. Callers placed on hold heard the radio station – hold music!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Problem With Hold Music<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

There are problems with music over telephones. Phones are made to transmit voices, not music<\/strong>. Cell phones use noise-cancelling technology that makes music sound worse than ever. Still, many companies, for reasons of their own, prefer to have music on hold<\/a> (and no voices). For them, Easy on Hold has expanded its hold music library, added vocal music and also provides Brandi Music, which offers music by hit artists<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For marketers, however, there is something much better than hold music, and it’s becoming more and more important to your brand. Believe it or not, that most ancient form of communication, the human voice<\/strong> is making a huge comeback.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Age of the Human Voice<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

It started with SIRI and Alexa. Now we\u2019re talking to our televisions,\ncars, light bulbs, watches and thermostats.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A rapid shift to web-based platforms led to smart devices with speech recognition capabilities. And just like that, the age of the human voice arrived. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

By next year, 75% of all U.S. adults will have access to a\nsmart speaker. Another year later there will be more digital assistants on the\nplanet than people (according to tech research firm Ovum). The better our\ndevices get at understanding what we mean, the less and less we will type. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

We also like to listen to people talking. In 2019, 65% of Americans say they listen to a podcast at least once in a while. One year ago, more than half of Americans said they never listened to podcasts. These are the results of a CBS News poll<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Request a Free Custom Voice Recording Demo<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

What’s So Appealing About Voice Communication?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Voice communication has great appeal in the digital age. One reason is time<\/strong>. We crave time-saving methods that actually work. Giving and getting information in voice form is fast and convenient. Another reason is that we crave human engagement<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 \u201cHumor, compassion and empathy are just a few ways in which we can connect with each other both authentically and emotionally by the tone of our voice.\u201d<\/p> Neil C. Hughes, The Next Web <\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

So, what does this mean for your business? It means you need to consider elevating the human voice in your marketing communications. It should not come as a surprise that when your customers need support, they want to talk to a human. That’s why we suggest taking a closer look at your call center, something we know a bit about.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Where To Begin?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Microsoft surveyed<\/a> 5,000 customers for its 2018 State of Global Customer Service Report. Only 9% said they prefer to find information without<\/strong> contacting customer support. 39% specifically said they prefer calling on the phone. The next preferred method was email at 20%.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some very successful businesses, like billion-dollar shoe e-tailer Zappo\u2019s<\/strong>, actually prefer to interact with customers via the phone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOther companies hide their phone number. We put ours front and center on the website,\u201d says former call agent Ryo Hanalei Zsun. Zappo\u2019s CEO Tony Hsieh says, \u201cWe\u2019re actually experimenting with ways to get more people to call because it\u2019s such a valuable marketing and brand builder for us.\u201d<\/p>Zappo’s Customer Service Secret Is The Phone, SmartBrief<\/a><\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Is your customer\u2019s inbound call experience part of your sales strategy? It should be. The marketing department should be involved in the overall call center experience. How is the brand being represented at each touchpoint<\/strong>?<\/p>\n\n\n\n