TELEPHONE MUSIC ON HOLD, at one point, it was wonderful. Having the technology to create music on the phone was a novel idea at the time. I’m not talking about the phonograph music for listening, offered to subscribers in 1901, but the music we listen to when we expect customer service or technical support. Do you mean that the technology for streaming music over the phone is over 100 years old? I was quite surprised, but we are very creative. The idea in 1901 was for entertainment purposes and was a subscription service chosen by the customer. The custom that is the focus of this article is started by the merchant without the customer’s permission.

MISTAKES.

1. Marketers know that people involved in an activity are less likely to hang up while on hold and will maintain acceptance of the modern custom of playing music during hold time. Providing customers with music to listen to while they wait assumes that people are sheep. This is the first mistake. We are not sheep. We have different tastes, different values ​​of our time, different ways of working and being. Any merchant who wishes to play music to fulfill the mission of keeping us engaged during the waiting time must respect us as individuals and consider our rights when playing unsolicited music.

2. The next mistake is hiding how inappropriate it is to force hold music. If a company put a radio in their washing machine that only played a song with no way to adjust the volume, song, duration, or style; you wouldn’t buy it. Correct? Unless it was the only option. Yes, I am used to the freedom of choice that is granted to me in my country, so I am not happy when a choice is flagrantly eliminated, as is the case with music on hold. It is inappropriate and resembles a mild form of slavery. Before doing business with a merchant, should I verify what wonderful or abusive music I will be subjected to when I need customer service or technical support? Who needs a new item to consider in the buying process?

3. The choice of musical style is the next mistake. We have no choice. With the exception of one merchant, GoDaddy.com, who is to be commended for leading the effort in providing the customer with the option to remove music and be quiet, we get what we get when we call customer service. And customer service and support agents around the world say, “Mind if I put it on hold?” without realizing that they are subjecting the client to a barrage of non-choice.

OPPORTUNITIES.

1. From error arises a great opportunity. New technology arises out of necessity. So here we are, people. The time is now.

1. Let’s create a non-astronomical price phone system in which we all have the option of giving our dear customers the option to choose between music or silence. Many of us work on hold, so this opportunity for silence should be standard.

2..We create a non-astronomical price telephone system where we can connect our favorite Pandora station to the telephone system waiting for anyone. When we provide our personal information or credit card information, there may be an additional field where we enter a Pandora station or a specific genre of music, if we are not using this established radio system. Right next to the drop down box that asks if you are using American Express, Visa, Mastercard (which is an unnecessary field because the first digit of each card number delineates what type of card it is) we can have a gender box for the music preference including silence.

3. We seem to have lost sight of how personal music is to each of us. As a music therapist, I can discuss how the subtleties of rhythm, melody, tempo, genre, social proof, etc. permeate and affect us. Let’s create a technology whose telephone software is based on the emotional state of the customer. There would be an additional layer of the familiar voice menu, common to phone systems before putting the customer on hold, asking them to rate their mood, such as a motivational medley, pensive or exhausted silence, welcoming. Option 1 would direct the software to play motivational music, which might fail the brand most of the time, as our motivations are different. Thoughtful or exhausted he would play spa music; and silence would allow the customer to keep working, creating, doing what they were doing before the customer service / tech support phone call.

4. Finally, we were able to create a productive and creative program that allowed us to do karaoke while we waited. We would be given the option to choose between 3 songs of the genre that the company knew we liked based on the personal information field provided in 2. The system would sing a line from the song and then play music for only that line so that the customer could sing while on standby. Then the software would sing the next line and repeat this line only with music so that the client could continue learning and singing. The process would continue in this way. The customer could repeat the process with the same song until the customer service or technical support person came in. Email and other electronic delivery options may be available to send lyrics or a main score (sheet music with melody, rhythm and chord changes) to the customer before the call or as a supplement during the waiting process.

CONCLUSION. Progress is a wonderful thing. Our inventions are based on our inspired ideas. We all have them. However, it is our responsibility to respect our fundamental principles, those of freedom of choice, expression and creativity. Our duty to guard our personal values ​​and protect our personal time and space.

So let’s create phone software that stops the abuse and is much more effective for each merchant’s marketing team than forced music on hold has been. Let’s build our brand by caring for our customer base while respecting the fundamental right to choose. The element of music or the absence of music affects our purchasing decisions. But the choice of whether or not to have music on hold must be up to the customer.