What is Messaging On Hold? Message On Hold is a customized recording that callers will hear when they are placed on hold. Now one might think that that is just another fancy way to keep your callers entertained. But truth is, Messaging On Hold is far more than just helping callers kill time while they are on hold. Messaging On Hold is actually a highly effective marketing tool. It is basically an infommercial about your business. Yes, it will keep your callers entertained avoiding that they hang up. But most importantly, it will help to sell the products and/or services that your business has to offer. Studies conducted by major telecommunication companies revealed that approximately 20% of callers that are placed on hold will actually make purchase decisions based on what they hear while they are on hold.

Here are some interesting Message On-Hold statistics:

Results of studies performed by 3 of the major

telecommunication companies:

AT&T REPORTS:

An estimated 70% of business callers are put on-hold.

An estimated 60% of business callers put on-hold hang up.

An estimated 30% of these callers don't call back!

A NATIONAL STUDY PUBLISHED BY NORTH AMERICAN TELECOMMUNICATIONS ASSOCIATION REPORTS:

Callers with SILENCE-ON-HOLD will abandon their calls in less than one minute; 90% hang up within 40 seconds.

Callers with MUSIC-ON-HOLD will stay on the line 30 seconds longer than with only silence.

Callers with INFORMATION-ON-HOLD will stay on the line for up to 3 minutes longer.

US WEST COMMUNICATIONS FOUND THAT INFORMATION-ON-HOLD RESULTS IN:

40% increase in retention of callers on-hold

15% increase in inquiries

12% increase in requests for products and services mentioned on-hold

MORE ON-HOLD FACTS:

Telemarketing Magazine - "Over 70% of business callers are put on-hold..."

OfficeTeam Survey - "The average executive spends 17 minutes per day on-hold..."

CNN Survey - "The average person spends 60 hours per year on-hold..."

CNN Survey - "Without music or messages, 60% of those on-hold will hang up and 30% won't call back..."

Cellular Marketing Magazine - "Over 85% of callers prefer on-hold messages over silence..."

Telemarketing Magazine - "Surveys show that 15% to 20% of callers make purchases based on information they heard on-hold..."

On-Hold Messages are usually played back on dedicated Message-On-Hold players, that usually feature solid-state technology to ensure maximum playback reliability.