Why can't I use the music on my phone system?
Your telephony system probably came bundled with a selection of music for the in-queue and on-hold spaces. So, why not just pick one of those tracks and run with it? Well… I mean… you can, but if your organisation has any sort of unique persona or brand, I’d advise against it.
The issue is you’re choosing from the same few tracks as every other user of that telephone system. So, you could easily pick the same tune as your competition or some other organisation you’d rather not be associated with. It’s entirely possible your customers have heard it there too. It’s saying nothing about your brand and is probably way off the tone of your wider marketing.
On modern telephony systems, it’s almost universally possible to load your own music file. This gives you the opportunity to match it to brand, current marketing activity, caller mood state or type of line. Indeed, where you can route through to multiple queues, the ability my also be there to tailor music to the activity or option selected. Think about a more upbeat track on a sales line for example, or a more calming feel for customer service, where you may have more complex or difficult calls. Ambient, futuristic music could suggest a tech brand, while fashion could be represented by an edgy, current feel.
The other issue that contact centres often encounter is that the system defaults to playing just one track, endlessly repeating every two or three minutes. That’s fine if you’re picking the phone up quickly, but with longer wait times, callers will notice and suffer. Here, we would advise thinking about deploying a selection of tunes. These could be selected and mixed to create a feel that adapts as queue times increase. Consider a queue that starts upbeat but gradually shifts mood to music within the same brand-appropriate genre, but slower and less energetic. A gradual calming of the experience that offers variety and addresses the increasing frustration that a caller is likely to feel.
Finally, within that new, bespoke, brand and mission aware music file, you have the opportunity to eliminate that old enemy… the stop-start of music and messaging. A fully-mixed in-queue experience can be created that incorporates the messages and the music in one beautiful, single file. The music can be dipped under each message, so the speech stands out, but the music continues. So your caller doesn’t think they’re about to be answered every time the music stops.
As an organisation dedicated to improving customer experience in the contact centre, we have a huge library of royalty free tracks at our disposal. More than that we have over 20 years of experience helping organisations select and deploy the right music to represent their brand or agenda within the contact centre.
If you would like to read more, check out our 'Music to your ears' article or many other great reads in The Good CX Guide or give us a call at Premier CX.