Change your tune and influence customers with Ooma’s Music on Hold

Think hold music is dull and boring? Think again. If you haven’t seen a TikTok hold music meme yet, take it from us—they’re pretty funny. If hold music is a trend on TikTok, then it’s definitely time to start paying attention to the hold music your business uses.

On-hold music can go a long way to boosting your callers’ mood and influencing things like customer satisfaction, caller retention and reduced churn. And guess what? Ooma can help you step up your music on hold game. Let’s take a look.

Why you need hold music.

Did you know that Americans spend up to 43 hours of their life on hold? That’s a long time, so businesses might as well make the most of it. A USA Business Telephone Today study proves that callers hung up far less when music and messaging played as opposed to silence while on hold. Furthermore, callers perceived their wait time to be significantly shorter when on-hold music played during their wait.

While it’s no secret that people don’t like being put on hold, it’s a fact of life. And while most people calling your business for customer support or other reasons might already be irritated, the music you play while being on hold can significantly influence their mood. The same goes for sales calls that get put on hold—if you could play music that influences your caller’s decision in your favor right before you speak to them, why wouldn’t you? Ooma Office has pre-loaded hold music and transfer music that VoIP customers can easily apply to their business today.

How to choose the right hold music.

Now for the fun part—picking your hold music. While Opus No. 1 inspired the TikTok trend where people show off how excited and surprised they are their hold music is good, it may not have the same effect on your callers. If Ooma’s pre-loaded music on hold doesn’t fit the bill, you can easily upload your own copyright-free on-hold music to your Ooma Office VoIP service. Here are a few things to consider when picking out your hold music:
• Know your audience: Know who is calling your business and why. What mood are they in, and what will improve it? Pair the music to your customer. If your callers are mostly under 30, consider Indie Rock or pop.
• Stay true to your brand: Pick music that portrays your brand. For example, a spa will want something soft and soothing that promotes the spa experience.
• Celebrate the season: Did you know that Ooma offers pre-loaded holiday music as a feature of the VoIP service? Who can say no right after listening to Jingle Bells?
• Fade into the background or be remembered: On-hold music is not typically designed to be remembered. It’s supposed to give a low-key entertaining experience, but thanks to the TikTok trend, some on-hold music is going viral and garnering attention—like the divorce attorney who allegedly plays “Before he Cheats” by Carrie Underwood as their hold music. Hmm…I wonder if they got Carrie’s blessing on that.
• Provide quality sounds: Phone lines don’t do much for volume or tone, but VoIP is better equipped to provide a higher sound quality experience. However, even if you have a VoIP phone, don’t assume your customer does, so pick simple sounds that aren’t muddled by a lot of instruments.
• Consider wait times: You don’t want a short jingle playing over and over for two minutes, or the caller will start counting the loop without realizing it and get annoyed at how many times they hear it. Likewise, alternative songs tend to drag on and can cause callers to perceive longer wait times than they actually are.

How to change your music.

It’s easy to change your music and transfer music with Ooma. You can change it for the holiday season, any time there is an upcoming sale, new hours or location. The options are limitless. Account Administrators can swap it out by following these easy steps:
• Sign into your Ooma Office Manager.
• Navigate to Settings.
• Select System.
• Find Music on the menu to the left.
• Look for the drop-down menus for Hold Music and Transfer Music.
• Select from pre-loaded music in the drop-down menu.
• OR choose Upload Audio to add your own copyright-free music.

Where can you find hold music?

Most music is not free. Recent music and top 40 tunes will come with at least royalty fees. However, there are some places to find free hold music on the internet. Some sites charge you per pack of tracks, while other sites charge a yearly rate. To upload a music file to Ooma Office it must be an MP3 or WAV file no larger than 5MB and you are responsible for obtaining all rights to use the music.

To learn more about how hold music can change your caller’s tune, explore hold music with Ooma Office.