It’s a great day and age. This economy has thrust many folks into changing their career, even starting their own business. The challenge is having your business sounding bigger than you actually are… larger than life. So how does one achieve this image while working out of their pickup truck from a cell phone or running their business barefoot in their boxer shorts from a bedroom in their home?

Many clients of OnHold123 by AudioMenu look to us to produce their custom greetings such as Voice Mail and Auto Attendant. So you can go from this, “Hey this is PJs cell phone, and I’m either drivin’ my truck with the windows open or up on a pole playin’ with 470 thousand volts of power, so please leave a message after the beep and I’ll call ya back” all the way to, “Thank you for choosing PJ Electrical Services. All of our representatives are currently assisting other callers. Please leave a detailed message, and we will return your call as soon as possible.”

So how do you get something like that with the voice and the music background loaded to your phone. We do it right from our studios.

If you want to take it a step further with a full menu of auto attendant greetings and on hold messages, this is really cool… it’s called RingCentral, and its designed for businesses as teeny tiny as the one that works from a cell phone all the way up to a huge conglomerate that doesn’t feel the need to spend money on expensive telephone equipment. We use it at OnHold123 and we love it.

It works like this… A customer calls your RingCentral number, a very professional auto attendant greeting answers the call (we will be happy to produce that greeting!) and you can have the call route to any phone or phones that you program it to. You can have your cell phone, house phone, office phone… all ring at the same time. If you don’t answer, it goes to your voice mail. You can even hit the “pound” key twice from the phone you answer on, and it will go into your On Hold Messages (That we of course can produce for you too!)

So even if your a pig farmer with a second job as a website designer and you work from a cell phone. You can sound bigger than the biggest website design company out there. Just be sure not to answer the phone when you’re surrounded by 16 loud and rather large pot-bellied pigs all fighting for your attention.

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Have you ever done business with one of those On Hold providers that handcuff you to a long term agreement? Read the fine print before you sign and overpay! It usually translates to something similar to the following:

“You have the right to remain with our long term agreement. Anything you say can and will mean absolutely nothing to us because we already have your signature. You have the right to choose another on-hold provider but we will charge you a hefty cancellation fee and keep the money you have already given us. If you cannot afford our hefty cancellation fee, a new sales representative will be appointed to you, which means absolutely nothing. Do you understand these rights or lack thereof?”

The relationship between a consumer and a provider is a two way street… or at least it should be. You pay the provider a fee, and they provide you with what is hopefully a great product with exceptional customer service; a great trade off. What happens when you purchase a product or service and you decide you do not like what you receive? You either ask for a refund or never buy from that provider again.

But behold… the “Long Term Agreement”. This scenario works great for the recipient of the fee, but could wreak havoc for the recipient of the product or service. This often translates into the service provider’s lack of confidence in their own service. “I’m Mr. Mega Conglomerate CEO and I will force my customers to stay with me or they will pay!”

How many reading this have mobile phone service or pay-television service and you are locked into a 1 or 2 year agreement? If you wanted to switch providers tomorrow, should you not have that absolute right?

A company that is confident in their own level of service never needs to force their customers to stay. Those customers will stay because they are treated right.

Shop carefully for your On Hold provider, and in this day and age, there is no need to be tied down to any long term agreement. We are On Hold 123.